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Jodie Mekled is looking forward to cheap utility bills this winter.
The retail worker from Sterling Heights could pay as little as $40 a month for natural gas thanks to energy-efficient home improvements made through Habitat for Humanity.
The nonprofit group recently completed a rehab on a foreclosed home in Sterling Heights that Mekled will close on and move into this month with her two sons. She was living with her parents when she found out about the city's Neighborhood Stabilization Program and applied.
The 900-square-foot home has achieved LEED certification, which measures how well a house performs in eight areas including water efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality and innovation. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
It's the first LEED-certified home the Macomb County Habitat for Humanity has built.
The home features bamboo flooring on the first floor, spray cellulose to insulate the walls, recycled paper countertops, bamboo cabinets in the kitchen, a solar tube in the kitchen ceiling that reflects light from the sun and moon into the home and low-flow plumbing.
"I love the bathroom. I love my kitchen," said Mekled, 41, who helped retrofit the home through hundreds of volunteer hours. The bathroom features recycled glass tile and porcelain tiles.
Brandon McCullough, field operations manager for Macomb County Habitat for Humanity, said less-expensive energy upgrades are becoming more common. Such improvements include added insulation, rain barrels and compact fluorescent light bulbs.
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