The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) presented a 2007 Energy Star Award for excellence in energy-efficient affordable housing to Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity (NAHFH) at a ceremony in Washington D.C. last month.

NAHFH was one of only three organizations nationwide to win this award. The other two were in Denton, Texas and Worcester, Mass.

"In order to build all-Habitat neighborhoods with as many decent, affordable homes for as many families as we can, we've had to be efficient with everything," said NAHFH chief operating officer Gary Bigelow. "Efficient with land use, with funds, materials, volunteers…When you're in that mindset, it just makes good sense to build our Habitat homes to be as energy efficient as possible. It's not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for environmental preservation, but also to save money for the families who purchase these homes, all of whom have re-ordered their lives to afford a mortgage and maintenance costs."

In 2006 alone, Americans saved $14 billion on their energy bills and avoided greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 25 million vehicles. To date, more than 2 billion Energy Star qualified products have been sold, and more than 725,000 news homes and 3,200 office buildings, schools, hospitals and public buildings have earned the Energy Star label.

The Energy Star Awards were introduced in 1992 as a voluntary market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse emissions through increased energy efficiency.

In addition to the awards for energy-efficient affordable housing, Johnson presented awards for sustained excellence to 21 Energy Star Partners (of 9,000+ participating partners).