In Pompano Beach, the 27 Habitat for Humanity houses built or under construction on Northwest First Court are green, says Mary Lou Bowman Cubbin, architect and director of construction. The homes, designed to save energy costs and water for low-income families, feature double ceilings to cool air conditioning ducts, roof and soffit vents to ventilate attic space and R-30 ceiling insulation, more than the R-19 required by code.

Habitat has built 239 homes in Broward County, 68 of which are in Pompano.

From the exterior, the homes look like many other new neighborhoods, except that most are light colored to deflect heat, have two-foot roof overhangs and raised ridge vents along the rooftops.

Soffits below the roof line feed air up and out the roof vent in a system designed to draw warm air out of the attic.

Janet McIlvaine, a research analyst for the Florida Solar Energy Center, said, ``Usually, if it's 90 degrees outside, it will be 120 degrees with the vents. So really, the objective is to make sure none of the attic air gets into the house.''

Emphasis, therefore, is on tightly sealing the house.

For each of Cubbin's Habitat homes, McIlvaine runs a blower-door test, depressurizing the house to a certain level and then measuring the amount of air that flows in through cracks.

''Most Habitat homes are as good or better than general new construction,'' McIlvaine said. ``And because the homes are being built by volunteers, they are very careful to apply themselves to filling up all those holes.''

In Opal Chambers' 1,230-square-foot home, air conditioning ducts are not housed in the attic to roast in 120 degrees, but are sandwiched in a double ceiling in the hallway and then run through walls to empty cooled air into various rooms. By keeping the ducts in cooler air, the system doesn't have to work as hard to cool.

Chambers, a nursing assistant, keeps her thermostat set at 78 degrees, which she finds comfortable even in late summer's heat.

''I love it. I'm in heaven,'' she says of her home.

When she and her three children moved into the house in April, the weather still was cool enough to open the windows, and enjoy the cross-ventilation.

Cubbin has worked with FPL and the Florida Solar Energy Center to wring as much efficiency as possible from Habitat homes. Cross ventilation is provided in every room, kitchens have Energy Star appliances by Whirlpool (which donates them to Habitat), and ceiling fans are in the living room and bedrooms. Low-flow toilets are in the bathrooms.

''Half of our houses are on an east-west axis,'' Cubbin said. ``We build a lot on infill property, so not all of the homes can be oriented this way.''

The windows are regular glass, not hurricane glass. Replacement costs would be too high otherwise, Cubbin said.

Five trees, including two live oaks and a mahogany, are newly planted around Chambers' three-bedroom home. Just visible around the perimeter of the 50-by-100-foot lot is a swale that will capture run-off. The city requires an irrigation system, Cubbin says, but a sensor will turn it off automatically in rain.

''Habitat homes have a lot going for them,'' said McIlvaine. ``One thing is size. Being small is very green because you're using fewer resources. I grew up in affordable housing and with families concerned about affordability. People in Habitat are expert about conserving resources.''

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