CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A Cedar Rapids nonprofit is almost finished building three net-zero emissions homes.

“Every amount of energy used by the people living in the home is produced here on site,” said Clint Twedt-Ball, executive director of Matthew 25.

That’s what Twedt-Ball said is what makes homes net zero. Although he says building homes with a healthy climate footprint is one of the goals of Matthew 25, he said making homes energy efficient also makes life much cheaper.

“Public services are virtually zero or very low cost. Which makes it much easier to know what’s coming and be able to budget reliably,” Twedt-Ball said.

Matthew 25’s mission is to invest in affordable housing and support neighborhoods.

Twedt-Ball said net-zero homes have been a project for years and the nonprofit hopes the project can encourage growth in the area.

“In older neighborhoods, some of the housing stock may start to decline, so it’s very important to have new investment,” Twedt-Ball said. “It’s intentional that we build them in this location, a location that’s still recovering from the flood, derecho, all that.”

The nonprofit says all three homes will be completed and ready for sale without income restrictions by the end of the month.

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