CertainTeed recently helped achieve LEED Platinum certification for 335 Freyling Place—the milestone 300th home built by Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, Mich., (Habitat Kent)—with a donation of M2Tech Moisture and Mold Resistant Gypsum Board. With its enhanced resistance to mold growth, the product was a natural fit within Habitat Kent’s goal of providing healthier affordable housing with high indoor air quality.

“Indoor air quality is very important to our homeowners because many of them have become ill in rental situations where they’ve gotten sick from breathing contaminated interior air,” said Connie O’Toole, construction director for Habitat Kent. “Having moisture- and mold-resistant board in a home certainly helps support higher indoor air quality, so we’re thankful to CertainTeed for donating its M2Tech gypsum board to this project.”

Designed by Image Design, LLC, of Grand Rapids, Mich., 335 Freyling Place was built to achieve LEED’s highest level of green building certification while complementing the classic 1880s-era architecture of the neighborhood’s existing homes. Utilizing affordable, sustainable design, a highly energy-efficient thermal envelope, renewable energy strategies and appropriate building materials, the home sets a benchmark for sustainable affordable housing and is one of Habitat Kent’s most energy-efficient dwellings to date. In addition to achieving LEED Platinum status, the home is GreenBuilt Michigan Gold and ZeroStep certified.

335 Freyling is one of 10 homes in Habitat Kent’s ongoing Wealthy Heights project, the revitalization of a historic Grand Rapids neighborhood in partnership with the City of Grand Rapids. So far the project has included road renovation, preservation of existing homes, repairs and historically accurate new home construction.

In addition to M2Tech, the project also featured CertainTeed’s Type X and Regular Gypsum Boards, WeatherBoards Colormax Smooth Lap fiber cement siding and Landmark Solaris solar-reflective roofing shingles. 

Image Design was pleased with CertainTeed’s contribution to the project.

“CertainTeed was a big help to us on this project,” said Eric Hughes, principal of Image Design. “One of the things I like about them is how their green building products catalog breaks down products by LEED points so I can add those points to my CAD drawings, which is very helpful.”

M2Tech provides enhanced protection against mold growth, through a water-resistant core and mold-resistant paper facings. It is designed for use on interior walls and ceilings in standard residential, commercial, and institutional applications where enhanced mold resistance is preferred. The product achieves GreenGuard GOLD and GreenGuardCertification, making it an ideal choice for green building projects.

Offering a broad range of gypsum and finishing products for interior and exterior needs, CertainTeed Gypsum has served the North American building industry for more than 80 years and is a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, the world’s leading producer of gypsum products. This, in combination with the full range of affiliated CertainTeed Corporation building products, provides architects, contractors, builders and dealers one partner to provide service and support for commercial and residential building projects. For more information, go to certainteed.com/gypsum.