Habitat for Humanity seeks contractor for two high-performance homes in Shelby and Crestline

Two lots are waiting to become homes: Sherman Avenue in Shelby and Wiley Avenue in Crestline. The contract to build them is on the table right now — Habitat for Humanity of Richland and Crawford Counties has a request for proposals live as of Sept. 21 for two high-performance homes, one in each town.

Aubri Them, the Mansfield-based affiliate's executive director, said the homes are "being designed with affordability in mind not only at the time of purchase, but for the years that follow." In plain money, that means spending more on the build itself up front so the house is cheap to run later — heat, air, and maintenance all landing lower month after month — instead of trimming the price only at the closing table.

"We want to build homes that are durable, efficient, healthy and economical for our partner families to live in long-term," Them said. Read in Ohio terms, that is a tight shell that keeps the heat a family paid for from leaking through the walls, a cold-climate heat pump that makes heat without burning fuel even in a January freeze, and fresh-air ventilation built to hand the warmth of the outgoing air to the incoming air before it leaves — so the bathroom fan is not throwing paid-for heat into the yard.

The clock for bidders

For a local contractor, the path runs on a fixed schedule. Questions are due by 4 p.m. Sept. 25, 2026, answers go out Sept. 30, and completed proposals are due by 4 p.m. Oct. 7. The affiliate is targeting contractor selection for Oct. 12, 2026. Both homes must be finished by Aug. 31, 2027.

The RFP prefers contractors with high-performance or airtight-construction experience, but a residential builder without that exact background can still bid by showing how it would meet the performance requirements.

What it builds toward

The two homes are the first in a wider push: the affiliate is working toward four new energy-efficient homes by the end of 2027, one in Richland County and three in Crawford County. For neighbors who want to see the work up close, the affiliate's 2026 Building Hope Gala fundraiser is set for Oct. 3, 2026, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The monthly math

Under Habitat's homeownership model, a partner family buys the home with an affordable mortgage rather than receiving it free, with payments set so they do not run past about 30% of the buyer's gross monthly income at closing. Paired with a house built to shave the utility and maintenance bills, that is the point: a steadier picture of what home costs every month, not just a lower number on the purchase price.

The lots are named and the clock is running; what decides whether these two homes open their doors by the end of August 2027 is a local contractor putting in a proposal before the Oct. 7 deadline. That bid is the open question.