WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderNew home only second of its kind built in Rockford

New home only second of its kind built in Rockford

Comprehensive Community Solution's Youthbuild students are about a month away from finishing a green house. But this one has nothing to do with plants.

LEED certification is one of the top energy efficient labels a business or home can get from the U.S. Green Building Council. This building will be only the second built in Rockford.

"Our company is committed to training our young men and women in green construction. All of our houses have been built using green construction techniques. For the last two houses that we've worked on we decided to go for the L-E-E-D or LEED certification," says Dan Danielowski, assistant executive director or Comprehensive Community Solutions.

Comprehensive Community Solutions has been building homes through its Youthbuild Rockford program for 17 years. The organization gives 16 to 24 year-olds who have either dropped out of school or are unemployed a chance to learn construction trades and earn a GED.

The house the students are building on the corner of Whitman Street and Rockton Avenue will be done in about a month. Besides earning LEED points for the way it's built like with energy efficient windows, less lumber and more insulation, it will also be put to the test.

"When we are all done we'll put a blower door on the front of the house and it has to get to a certain rating for us to be able to pass that part," says Danielowski.

For the students who will be Youthbuild graduates in about four weeks, they feel a lot of pride creating only the second LEED house in Rockford.

"I was here when we put the first walls up and the second walls up, and you know, this is our part of history out here," says student Michael Moore.

The five bedroom, two and a half bath home is for sale already. You can contact Comprehensive Community Solutions if you want to know more about it at www.youthbuildrockford.org.