Located in the Bronx, NY and opening in 2021, Sydney House is one of Habitat For Humanity’s largest multi-family building projects ever taken on by a local Habitat organization anywhere in the world. The building provides 56 hardworking families the chance to become homeowners. With the current pandemic and ongoing issues with Legionnaires disease in the Bronx, it was more important than ever for Habitat For Humanity to ensure that New Yorkers have access to secure housing and clean, healthy indoor environments.
As such, Habitat For Humanity rightfully needed to take extra precautions before letting any families move in. Enter Green Home Solutions, a proud national partner of Habitat For Humanity International since 2018, who partnered with Betterair to ensure that the Sydney House helps New York City families build healthier lives by reducing the risk of spreading pollutants or hazardous chemicals from outside or within the multifamily building.
“We’ve had a disinfection wing of the company for many, many years but when we saw the pandemic coming we ramped up that service as fast as we could to help as many people as we could,” said Green Home Solutions’ CEO Jeff Panella.
“We believe based on our protocols, based on everything we use, that we’re the best in the industry in disinfection. This is why we were immediately drawn to the Sydney House project and helping to ensure that the incoming families would have the cleanest air possible. Betterair shared those beliefs, resulting in their generous donation that will allow the air to stay clean and filtered long after the 56 families move in. Green Home Solutions places a large emphasis on giving back – it’s who we are as a brand and it’s in our culture. So when the opportunity to partner with Habitat For Humanity on this special project presented itself, there was no question about it – we were in.”
Green Home Solutions, a national leader in indoor air quality services, has worked to disinfect each of the 56 living spaces and multiple common areas prior to the tenants’ arrivals. The top-tier, full room disinfection that Green Home Solutions provides uses an EPA registered, proprietary plant-based enzyme solution that is known to kill more than 99.999% of all viruses and bacteria, including coronavirus. Altogether, Green Home Solutions has donated an extensive disinfecting service to the Sydney House project worth upwards of $35,000.
Betterair is also providing its unique solution to each housing unit. Each apartment will be equipped with a Betterair Probiotic Air Purifier – an ecological balancing system that disperses propriety strain probiotics which coat and shield the room with a healthy protective microbiome. Betterair’s probiotics proactively work to reset and rebalance the indoor ecology, eliminating inanimate allergens such as pollen, pet dander and mold spores before they even become problems, and prevents their return.
“Our mission at Green Home Solutions is to improve the air quality and better the lives for the people we work with, and we could not be more thrilled that Habitat For Humanity gave us the opportunity to do just that for residents of Sydney House,” said Panella. “We are grateful for Betterair’s participation and strategic alignment on this project and are honored with their contribution in benefitting the residents of Sydney House. We look forward to making Sydney House the cleanest, healthiest place to live not just in the Bronx, but all of New York City.”
On August 12, 2020, five franchisees and the CEO of Green Home Solutions gathered in the Bronx to perform a Level 1 disinfection service for the Sydney House and all of its incoming families. “I love working with Habitat For Humanity. We can come in, we can disinfect the entire units for them prior to them moving in, which for their families and children makes the home a lot safer,” explained franchisee John Frinzi of Green Home Solutions, Washington, NJ.
“We appreciate Green Home Solutions and Betterair’s partnership in promoting safe and sanitary living environments,” says Julie Laird Davis, Vice President of Corporate and Cause Marketing at Habitat For Humanity International. “At a time when staying inside is crucial to public health, their efforts make a significant difference in keeping families safe within their homes.”
In addition to being one of the largest projects handled by a Habitat affiliate, Sydney House received the Green Communities Certification from Enterprise Green Communities and the NYC Green Property Certification from the NYC Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation.
“We’re so excited that we’re out there trying to help people through the pandemic and we believe we’re doing that one home at a time,” Panella concluded.