The Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity is set to break ground on its first “green” house, a project that has been in the works for months.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, construction on the habitat’s first certified Green Build project, located at 407 Wise St. in Lynchburg, officially will get under way.

“This is going to be the beginning of the process of building and thinking in terms of the environment,” said Elizabeth Richardson, the habitat’s community resource coordinator.

The standards to which the house needs to conform are based on a point scale developed by EarthCraft House, a green building program that provides homebuilders with a set of guidelines to construct energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes.

Those guidelines include air-sealing measures, the use of energy efficient appliances and lighting, resource efficient design, and homebuyer education. The house needs to score at least 150 points on the scale to be certified.

“If we perform the various functions that we have outlined, we will have 252 (points),” Richardson said.

Local businesses have already volunteered their services and money for the project.

Among those helping out with construction and other aspects are Lynchburg’s St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Cycle Systems, one of the habitat’s recycling partners, and Randolph College.

Richardson said the college got involved since the project’s home partner, Valvette Spradley, is a long-time employee.

Because of the higher cost of using environmentally friendly methods and materials, the price of the house will cost more up-front than a similar house not opting for the same energy efficiency.

But the long-term payoff in money not spent on utility costs and energy is one of the draws of using “green” methods and appliances.

Richardson said the habitat’s intent was still to incur as little cost as possible, even in the construction costs.

“We’re trying to keep the cost low because we want this to be a sustainable project for us,” she said.