Habitat for Humanity of Catawba Valley built this 1,160-square-foot affordable home in Hickory, North Carolina, to the high performance criteria of the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program.

The energy-efficient home should only cost about $60 per month to heat and cool.

An energy recovery ventilator with a high-efficiency MERV 13 filter and low- and no-VOC paints and finishes add to air quality inside the EPA Indoor airPLUS-certified home.

A sealed, insulated crawlspace helps keep out humidity and bugs for this North Carolina home.

Before installing drywall, the walls are thoroughly air-sealed by caulking the framing to the sheathing and caulking wood-to-wood seams.

From the attic, the ceiling deck below is thoroughly air-sealed by caulking drywall to framing and caulking around wiring and light fixture holes.

Rigid foam provides a continuous blanket of thermal protection around the home. All seams are taped to keep out air and moisture then 1-by-4 furring strips are installed to provide a ventilation and drainage gap behind the engineered wood lap siding.

Unfaced batt insulation was carefully installed to completely fill the wall cavities between the 2-by-6, 24-inch on-center studs.

A single very high-efficiency (12.5 HSPF, 26.1 SEER) ductless mini-split heat pump provides all of the heating and cooling the compact home needs. The ducted ERV helps distribute the conditioned air throughout the home.

A dehumidifier is located in the sealed crawlspace to keep moisture out of the home.