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♪ Music ♪
>>Student: I have the one
of you painting. I didn't put in
the one of you caulking.
But I can print it out.
[Laughter]
>>Narrator: April Randall and
RIT students recall memories of
Randall's journey of building
her own home.
A longtime dream for Randall
and her family come true thanks
to RIT, Flower City Habitat for
Humanity and Rochester-area
businesses.
>>"Oh, beautiful job!"
The walls went up on Randall's
home in November 2009. [Cheers]
>>April Randall: You guys have
touched me and shown me that
compassion is still out there.
It's still there and I would
like to say thank you, thank you
so much.
>>RIT President Bill Destler
had an idea to build a house in
the city of Rochester with
sustainable features.
He challenged students to make
it happen.
>>Kaity Werner: This project
has proven to be highly
multi-disciplinary and
we believe it will show the
community some of the best
things that RIT has to offer:
collaboration, innovation,
student leadership, experiential
learning, community service and
awareness.
>>Bill Destler: I just couldn't
be more proud of the RIT
family today.
>>Randall: Soon this house,
will be a home...my home.
And your statement in our
community that says being a
trendsetter can and does change
outlooks on people's lives.
>>Destler: I think that
all of us want to work toward a
more sustainable world.
One in which we consume less
natural resources and live more
responsibly with the resources
we've been given.
>>A strong advocate of RIT's
green initiatives, Destler and
his wife Rebecca Johnson, lead
a green lifestyle themselves,
often leaving the car behind and
riding electric bikes.
>>Rebecca Johnson: We just
think taking care of the earth,
leaving something for future
generations, is really
important.
>>To incorporate green features
into the home, student members
of RIT's Habitat for Humanity
Club and Engineers for a
Sustainable World worked with a
local architect to modify an
existing floor plan.
>>Alex Ship: The real goal was
to focus on repeatable features
that were not super
extravagant, that were
affordable, and repeatable for
future projects.
>>Kelly Downs: Some of the
sustainable features in the
house include a 95-percent
energy efficient furnace...
A tank-less hot water heater
which runs on demand, cutting
down on heating costs
considerably...
The plumbing system is a system
which is called Pex, and it is
plastic-based, and cuts down on
the amount of copper that is
needed...
And the foam insulation is a
soy-based product, versus
petroleum.
And in true RIT "innovative"
fashion, the house has solar
panels to bring in natural light
and cut down on Randall's
utility bills.
Crews installed high
performance windows and the
siding is made of a composite
wood material.
To build the house, RIT raised
$75,000.
>>David Lahn: We are raising all
$75,000 through cash donations
and gifts-in-kind of materials
donated.
>>Student organizations like
members of RIT fraternity Phi
Kappa Psi supported the cause
selling wristband and t-shirts.
>>Josh Torrey: Our fraternity
is really devoted to serving
the great joy of others...
it's like our motto.
So we try to get out every
weekend to philanthropies.
>>The fraternity members were
also among the many building
volunteers.
>>Matt Teagarden: We have been
working on a lot of painting.
Cleaning up a lot.
Getting ready for the final
paint, hopefully, getting ready
for the move in.
>>Randall herself logged 200
hours on the house.
>>They want me to tape up the
wall here so when I go to clean
I don't wipe this and make it
soft and mess up the dry wall.
>>And five months after the
walls went up, Randall and her
family celebrate their new home
with all those who helped make
it possible.
>>Arthur Woodward: It's really
a great pleasure to welcome all
of you to this fabulous
dedication.
It's one of the most special
things we do at Habitat because
it not only celebrates all of
your efforts to build this
house, but also the efforts of
April and her family.
>>Edwin Mageary: I would just
like to thank Habitat staff,
Hammer and Saw crew and RIT and
especially friends of RIT that
did a lot of work in this
house. You should be really
proud of yourselves...
>> We are so excited to be here.
I just can't believe it.
After working with April we know
that no one is more deserving of
this house than her.
>>"Enjoy your house!"
>>"Oh, God is good.
RIT, you guys are the best."
>>Randall cherishes the
lifelong friends and memories
she's made on this road to
homeownership.
And she looks forward to making
new memories.
>>"Definitely...Awesome!"
>>Gardening, barbeques, just
sitting out on the porch and
swatting the mosquitoes off, you
know.
Just enjoying life. And seeing
my kids actually have a
backyard where they can play,
and we can play football
or kickball and dodgeball.
>>For Campus Connection,
I'm Kelly Downs, RIT University
News.