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JARC Group Home in Huntington Woods Gets Green Makeover
Updated: Monday, 15 Aug 2011, 7:53 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 15 Aug 2011, 4:49 PM EDT
By ROBIN SCHWARTZ
WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com
HUNTINGTON WOODS, Mich. (WJBK) - From the outside it looks like any other house, but a home in Huntington Woods is unique in more ways than one.
JARC CEO Rick Lowenstein recently took FOX 2 on a tour of the Medow Home. It's the latest of the agency's 20 group homes to get a green makeover. They're slowly updating one at a time.
"Each home that we do a renovation, we're trying to make it green. We now have seven homes with geothermal heat. We have two with solar assisted hot water. We have one with bamboo floors. As we change out the lighting, we're making them energy efficient," said Lowenstein.
The Huntington Woods house, which was donated in 1982, got new insulation and new windows, eco-friendly paint and other green touches for the six developmentally disabled women who live there. No one was home when we visited because the residents were all at work.
"The counter tops in the kitchen are made of recycled glass. All of our appliances are Energy Star rated. All the lighting is high efficiency lighting, and it's these types of renovations that we've made that lower our operating costs," Lowenstein told FOX 2's Robin Schwartz.
JARC expects to save several thousand dollars a year for the Medow Home alone. Multiple that by 20 homes and that is a big savings over time. The project also made the house barrier free and more easily accessible. $140,000 in donations made it all possible.
At the newly renovated house a geothermal system uses the earth's consistent temperature for heating and cooling. It cost about $25,000 to install.
"Our payback was immediate ... because we did have (an individual) donate to do this home for geothermal heat," Lowenstein said.
JARC serves 600 people with disabilities and their families in a variety of ways. A majority of residents are Jewish, but the agency is open to anyone.
They also recycle, use environmentally friendly cleaning supplies and reusable shopping bags -- small steps that make a big difference in their mission to erase barriers and enrich lives.
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To learn more about JARC, visit www.jarc.org.
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