New Jersey Pilot House Earns Platinum Certification

A one-family house with integrated solar technology and metal roofing system in Patterson, N.J., has earned a Platinum score from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED®-H rating system, making it the first single-family residence on the East Coast and second in the country to earn Platinum certification. The public/private Partnership for Advanced Housing Technology (PATH) and BASF partnered to demonstrate how advanced industrial innovation can help build homes that are better for their residents and the environment, and the house served in a stringent peer review as part of the USGBC LEED-H pilot program to promote the design and construction of high-performance, green houses. The new house features materials and design strategies—including photovoltaic laminate on a metal, standing-seam roof—to make it 80 percent more energy efficient, more durable, and faster to construct than conventionally built homes in its area. The sponsors are donating the house to St. Michael's Housing Corporation, a local, nonprofit charitable organization, which in turn is giving the home to Richard Sosa, an 11-year-old quadriplegic, and his family to occupy. For more information, visit the PATH Web site.