The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has named the recipients of its 2010 LEED for Homes Awards, recognizing  projects, developers and home builders who have demonstrated leadership in the residential building marketplace.

The awards were presented during the Residential Summit on Nov. 18, during the 2010 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo held in Chicago, Ill.

“This year’s winners embody the innovative work of dedicated leaders throughout the residential building community,” said Nate Kredich, Vice President, Residential Market Development. “These innovators are helping to transform the market toward more healthy, high performing homes that are regarded as some of the best in the country.”

The 2010 Project of the Year award was given to the 100K House in Philadelphia, built by Postgreen. The LEED Platinum home was recognized for its outstanding performance and innovation that soared above and beyond the scope, requirements and prerequisites of LEED.  The home was built for less than $100 per square foot by focusing on compact development, streamlining the design and construction process, and focusing on implementing energy-efficiency strategies.

Sacramento Habitat for Humanity received the award for Outstanding Program Commitment. In 2010 alone, seven of its homes earned LEED certification at the Gold or Platinum level.  Sacramento Habitat for Humanity uses LEED certification as a tool to support its organizational mission to provide long-term sustainability and affordability to its homeowners, whose income usually falls in the 30 to 50 percent Area Median Income (AMI) range. 

The Outstanding Production Builder award was given to Artistic Homes for its outstanding achievements – and future commitments – to green home building in New Mexico.  With more than 230 LEED-certified homes in its portfolio, Artistic Homes is the most prolific single family market rate builder of LEED-certified homes, and is the only production-scale builder in New Mexico delivering only LEED-certified homes. 

Blue Sea Development Company was honored with the Outstanding Affordable Developer award for projects like the LEED Platinum General Colin L. Powell Apartments, Morrisania Homes in the Bronx and the Eltona, the first affordable rental LEED Platinum building in New York State.

The Outstanding Single Family Project award was given to 3404 Talon Court in Wilmington, NC built by ILM Design Build. The gut rehab project is one of the highest scoring LEED for Homes projects nationwide, earning 113.5 points.

Outstanding Multifamily Project was awarded to Bastyr Student Housing at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA, built by Schuchart Construction. Though initially targeting LEED Gold, the project's final certification exceeded expectations by achieving Platinum, and completing the project notably with the project coming in under budget and ahead of schedule.  The finished product is the first LEED Platinum student housing project on the West Coast.

The 2010 LEED for Homes award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges nominated by the LEED for Homes stakeholder community, with winners drawn from among hundreds of nominations received through a public call for nominations. To learn more about this year’s winners, click here.