Chatham Habitat for Humanity

 467 West St, Pittsboro, NC 27312

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 22, 2020 CONTACT: Ryan Smoot, PR Representative

828-301-9877, rsmoot@live.unc.edu

CHATHAM HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTEGRATING ELECTRIC VEHICLE

PLUGS

PITTSBORO, N.C. – Chatham Habitat for Humanity has begun to install electric

vehicle recharging outlets on the organization’s constructed homes in a long-term effort

to increase environmental sustainability and cost efficiency for families.

The effort reflects Chatham Habitat for Humanity’s mission to make their houses

affordable and adaptable in the long-term and allows families to have more options to use

renewable energy resources rather than fossil fuel.

“It gives our homeowners more options and also follows the forecast that electric

vehicles will be a growing and significant portion of cars moving forward,” Rachel

Horowitz, a Chatham Habitat for Humanity volunteer manager, said.

The move comes after the International Code Council approved adding electric

vehicle recharging outlets to its updated code in January. The ICC cited research that the

US will need 9.6 million new electric vehicle charging ports by 2030 and almost 80%

must be built in residential buildings.

--more--
ELECTRIC VEHICLE / Page 2

Building electric vehicle recharging outlets now saves building owners substantial

money in the long haul. It costs typically only $920 to add the charging equipment to

current construction whereas it costs approximately $3,550 to retrofit the charging

equipment to an existing home.

###

About Chatham Habitat for Humanity

Chatham Habitat for Humanity has created affordable housing for more than 130 families in
Chatham County since 1989 by connecting low-income families with hundreds of volunteers and
donors. We coordinate fundraising, land acquisition, site selection, partner family selection and
support, house construction and mortgage servicing in order to build safe, decent places to live.
We partner with families who are able to commit to a 20-30 year 0% interest mortgage and are
willing to contribute 350 hours of labor during the construction process.