For immediate release
Contact: Chellee Siewert, Metropolitan Builders Association Executive Director, 262.436.1122
Wisconsin Trend Home™ Showcases Technologies and Features of 2020 Home - Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee to Host Waukesha Mayor, Donors and Beneficiaries for Private Preview Night on Friday, August 8 at 5 p.m.
(Waukesha, WI) August 6, 2008 – On August 8, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Metropolitan Builders Association (MBA) of Greater Milwaukee will host Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson, local manufacturers, contractors and suppliers to preview the Wisconsin Trend Home™, 1512 Rock Ridge Drive, Waukesha, and showcase technologies and features that will be prevalent in homes in the year 2020.
The preview night at the Wisconsin Trend Home™ will honor more than 120 contractors and suppliers who donated time, labor and products to the 2,100-square-foot, environmentally friendly home.
The Wisconsin Builders Association (WBA) Foundation, with assistance from members of MBA, built the Wisconsin Trend Home™ to illustrate to both the construction industry and the public that the ideas and environmentally sensitive technologies featured in the home can be incorporated into new and existing homes today. The MBA also plans to document energy usage and other aspects of the building and use this documentation in the association’s educational programming.
In an effort to conserve energy and minimize energy costs to the homeowner, the Wisconsin Trend Home™ was constructed using Structured Insulated Panels, a tempered passive solar orientation, solar electrical generation, solar hot water heating, ENERGY STAR® appliances, computer operated mechanicals and special windows.
The home also features a state-of-the-art hybrid heating and air-conditioning system and energy is conserved with the 95 percent efficient gas furnace which exceeds the federal government’s ENERGY STAR® standards. All of these innovative products will help reduce homeowner energy costs by as much as 40 percent.
Water conservation technologies include permeable pavement that allows rain and melting snow to seep through and replenish ground water. What’s more, the home is the first residential application in the state of Wisconsin for a gray water reuse system. Estimated to save 12,000 gallons of water a year in this home, the gray water system collects and filters shower water for reuse in the home’s toilets. Meanwhile, a rainwater catchment system will collect and store an estimated 43,000 gallons of water a year from the home’s roof and reuse it for landscape irrigation.
Faux-slate shingles made from recycled baby diapers, tires and plastic bottles, bamboo floors, engineered wood and a host of other innovative products and technologies make the Wisconsin Trend Home™ a one-of-a-kind structure in the state of Wisconsin. The home provides an opportunity for the public and builders throughout the state to view firsthand the components in the home and gain a better understanding of the benefits they provide, both in terms of their environmental impact and the savings associated with them.
La Casa De Esperanza, WBA Foundation to Benefit from Home’s Sale
In addition to the educational aspect of the home, there is also a charitable aspect. The home will eventually be sold to a private homeowner, with proceeds providing a $200,000 grant to Waukesha’s La Casa De Esperanza to help train low-income workers in the construction industry. The remaining funds will go to the WBA Foundation to assist with job training in the specialty trades.
Tim O’Brien Homes coordinated construction of the Wisconsin Trend Home™, which has earned Green Built Home certification and Wisconsin Energy Star Home certification. The project involved more than 120 sponsors and donors. Signage referencing the products and services will be on display throughout the home.
The public is invited to tour the home, free of charge, during a grand opening celebration that begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 16. The home will be open to the public on successive weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m., through Sept. 14.
QUOTES
Chellee Siewert, Executive Director, Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee
“By entering into this partnership with the Wisconsin Builders Association, the Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee is excited to play a role in the grand opening of this one-of-a-kind structure. We have successfully combined an educational opportunity with a charitable cause and created a home which looks to the future with its green building products and technologies, but also fits into the contemporary home market by illustrating that all of these technologies can be incorporated into a new or existing home today.”
Tim O’Brien, General Contractor, Tim O’Brien Homes, Inc.
“The Wisconsin Trend Home showcases the latest advances in residential construction, pulling together a wide array of resources, many of which are from the state of Wisconsin, and providing a philanthropic tie-in at the same time. We carefully selected the products and technologies that are included in the home, limiting our selections to those which offer the best opportunity to improve energy efficiency, conserve natural resources and minimize their impact on the environment while ensuring a safe, comfortable and affordable home.”
