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3 <br />3 Affordable townhomes <br />and multifamily housing <br />by Twin Cities Habitat <br />for Humanity will use <br />air-source heat pumps for <br />heating and cooling. Photo <br />courtesy of Twin Cities <br />Habit for Humanity. <br />Master Plan by architecture firm <br />Cuningham in 2022. <br />Three different energy sources will <br />power The Heights. One is an aquifer <br />thermal energy storage (ATES) system <br />that Ever-Green Energy designed and <br />will operate as a nonprofit community <br />entity. The second is electric heat <br />pumps. Habitat for Humanity has <br />been building 147 affordable <br />townhouse and multifamily housing <br />units with air-source heat pumps for <br />heating and cooling. The third source <br />is another aquifer energy storage <br />technology developed by the local firm <br />Darcy Solutions for Xcel Energy’s new <br />service center. <br />Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity <br />chief real estate officer Cecile <br />Bedor says The Heights offered an <br />opportunity to be part of development <br />“that reflected the values of our <br />organization.” But it came with <br />challenges. Habitat has never built <br />an all-electric development as large <br />as The Heights in Minnesota—or, <br />likely, anywhere else in the country. <br />The organization also had to rush to <br />prepare the site after it was chosen as <br />Habitat’s annual Jimmy & Rosalynn <br />Carter Work Project for 2024. The late <br />September and early October event <br />drew more than 4,000 volunteers. <br />The buildings, designed by in-house <br />teams at Habitat and Doran, employ <br />solar shingles, which Bedor says blend <br />into the roofs so well that people <br />rarely notice them. Their installation <br />requires unique roof pitches to <br />“The Heights design guidelines have <br />an energy use target that’s 50 percent <br />better than any current energy code in <br />the country, and geothermal is going <br />to get us there.” <br />412025 | ENTER MAGAZINE402025 | ENTER MAGAZINE