News Details

StalwartBuilt Homes Utilizes the Masco Environments for Living® Program to Erect 400 Green Homes in New Orleans

May 17, 2011

Daytona Beach, Fla. (May 17, 2011) - In late 2010, the Environments For Living® program, a suite of turnkey initiatives for builders from Masco Home Services, partnered with StalwartBuilt Homes to build 400 affordable, high-performance "Beyond Green" homes in a new Pontchartrain Park development to replace affordable homes lost in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

"A cornerstone of the Environments For Living program is its use of the principles of building science to help create homes that work as integrated, high-performance systems, rather than as a collection of individual materials and components," said Dave Bell, director of building science for Masco Home Services. "The Pontchartrain Park community project provides a real-world example of how green building can be accomplished on a large scale, while still being affordable."

Pontchartrain Park is one of New Orleans' 10 neighborhoods that have recovered 50 percent or less of their pre-Katrina populations, ranking 65th out of 74 neighborhoods in population recovery. Built to stringent standards in Masco Home Services' Environments For Living program, the 400 homes in the Pontchartrain Park community are designed to be more cost efficient, lower in maintenance and faster to build than conventional homes. The StalwartBuilt "Beyond Green" method of building incorporates the latest innovations of building science and technology into the building process. All aspects of the home are designed as an integrated system.

For these reasons, the GE ecomagination program, which contains the Environments For Living certification, was chosen to complement the other stringent building certifications for this disaster recovery and community revitalization program. The certifications include LEED for HomesTM, U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Builders Challenge, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR, WaterSense and Indoor airPLUS®.

The Environments For Living program provides tangible, performance-based results in heating and cooling energy use and comfort backed by limited guarantees. It addresses multiple home elements from framing and insulation installation to mechanical systems and moisture management.

For more information, visit http://www.environmentsforliving.com.

About Masco Corporation
Masco Corporation is one of the world's largest manufacturers of brand-name consumer products for the home and family, including Behr® paint, BrassCraft® water supply products, Delta® and Hansgrohe® faucets, bath and shower fixtures, KraftMaid®, Merillat® and Quality™ cabinets and  Milgard® windows and doors.  Masco is also a leading provider of services that include the installation of insulation and other building products through Masco Contractor Services and Masco Home Services.  For more information on the Masco family of brands, visit www.masco.com.

About Masco Home Services, Inc., and the Environments For Living Program
Masco Home Services, Inc., a Masco company, offers the Environments For Living program and Environments For Living Certified Green program to builders. Masco Home Services provides a complete suite of turnkey services for builders and issues and administers all limited guarantees* associated with the program. Masco Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading manufacturer of home improvement and building products and a premiere provider of services that include installation of insulation and other building products. http://www.environmentsforliving.com

About the GE ecomagination Program
Ecomagination focuses GE's imagination and expertise to meeting today's challenges and helping to create tomorrow's environmental solutions. The GE Ecomagination Homebuilder Program is a groundbreaking effort to provide comfortable, efficient homes that save homeowners' energy costs while easing the impact on the environment. For more information, visit http://www.ecomagination.com/.

About Stalwart Built Homes
StalwartBuilt is a building science technology company offering high quality, energy-efficient systems-built homes to developers and builders that are licensed and trained to provide consumers a true high performance home. "Beyond Green" construction uses innovative methods, superior materials, incredible efficiency, and virtually no wasted materials. For more information, visit http://www.stalwartbuilt.com.

*See the full guarantee for complete details and limitations; visit www.environmentsforliving.com or call toll free (866) 912-7233.

Contact
Karen Mendelsohn
Vice President - Sales & Marketing
313.792.6708
karen_mendelsohn@mascohq.com

Media Contact
Katie Feltz
MSL Chicago
312.861.5256
katie.feltz@mslgroup.com