Recently the Police Chief, Dan Carlson and I visited an ambitious housing project taking shape. This is a classic example of the old saying, “Where there is a will, there is a way”. This house is called the “WHAHLT house”. “WHAHLT” stands for West Hennepin Affordable Housing Land Trust. The house is a cooperative project that includes cooperative efforts from The City of Eden Prairie, Hennepin Technical College, they built the house using the talents of their students in the Carpentry Program, Habitat for Technology (providing business donations to the project) and WHAHLT.
Of special interest to me was the inclusion of a residential sprinkler system in the construction of the house. Residential sprinkler systems are near and dear to my heart. These systems put out a lot of fire and can extinguish a fire or hold a blaze in check until the Fire Department arrives. The systems not only save property from the ravages of fire, but they are also a key element in buying time for occupants to safely exit their dwelling. Working smoke detectors are the other key element in saving lives. In new construction the cost of adding a residential sprinkler system is approximately $1.75/square foot or $3500 in a 2000 square foot house. The costs are slightly more in an existing structure. Exact costs depend on many variables including the overall finish of the structure and whether or not the basement has finished ceilings. In any case, the life safety advantages to a residential sprinkler system are many fold.
For more information on these residential sprinkler systems you can click on this highlighted link. Be a trend setter in your neighborhood while providing the maximum life safety technology for you and your family.
For information about purchasing this house, contact Homes Within Reach: www.homeswithinreach.org
The Police Chief as Tour Guide-he is pointing to a pipe that will attach to a sprinkler head in the living-room area of the house. Each room in the house has at least on sprinkler head.
An Exterior View of the House – It is located next to Little Red at Eden Prairie Rd and Valley View Road
