Student Home Design Looking for a Builder

Land Bank Congratulates Local Students on National Award for Net-Zero Home Design
5/8/2014

A team of students from SUNY ESF, Onondaga Community College, and Syracuse University was recently named winner in a national competition held by the Department of Energy and the National Association of Homebuilders. The team won the grand award in the single-family detached home category for its Craftsman-style, sustainable design.

They designed the home for a Land Bank-owned vacant lot at 201-205 Hubbell Avenue in Syracuse's Strathmore neighborhood. The home is designed to be capable of net-zero energy consumption, accessible to persons of all physical abilities, affordable to a homeowner making the area median income for Onondaga County, and compatible with the neighborhood's architecture.

Furthermore "infill" construction on buildable lots in urbanized areas supports Smart Growth patterns and reduction in energy usage for transportation. The Greater Syracuse Land Bank seeks to encourage this kind of development within existing neighborhoods.

The team hopes a local builder will complete the project, which they estimate can be built and sold for $190,000. Vito Sciscioli, chair of the Land Bank's board of directors, points out that many Land Bank-owned properties would support this kind of sustainable infill construction.

The full selection can be viewed on its website at www.syracuselandbank.org.

An event that included speakers from the student design team, SUNY-ESF, the Greater Syracuse Land Bank, and the Syracuse Onondaga County Planning Agency was held May 8th at the property to celebrate the team's victory and promote this development opportunity to local builders.

The team's competition sponsors include Home Builders and Remodelers of Central New York, Central New York Center of Excellence, King + King Architects, Hueber-Breuer, QPK Design, Parsons-McKenna, Destiny USA, and Home HeadQuarters.