World’s First Truly Sustainable Homes: Generates More Energy Than They Consume and Can Withstand the Forces of Nature

New Orleans, LA, April 03, 2009 --(PR.com)-- The ReGen Group™, LLC announced that it has signed a contract valued at over $2M with OceanSafe, Inc., a manufacturer of steel structural insulated panels, to develop the Nation’s first mass-produced truly sustainable homes: the OceanSafe Sustainable Home.

The ReGen Group™, a diverse group of educators, engineers, architects, designers, developers and building science professionals, created the Standard of Sustainability (SOS) ™ in response to wide-scale building failures following Hurricane Katrina. The SOS™ provides a concise set of performance specifications that scientifically define how sustainability in homes is functionally achieved. These homes will generate all of their own energy, withstand Category-5 hurricane winds (+150mph), protect against mold, termites, fires and floods, and will be safe, healthy, comfortable and designed to last generations. They also integrate “passive survivability,” a concept that is defined as providing basic levels of safety, comfort, and health during power and water outages that routinely follow catastrophic natural events. The SOS™ home builds upon the shoulders of EnergyStar and LEED® for Homes standards and sets a new level of functional performance for the world’s housing. “Finally the American Public has something that allows them to know what Sustainability in Housing actually means,” said Christophor Faust, Managing Partner of The ReGen Group. Compared to simply code-compliant homes, these new SOS™ homes will have higher up-front capital costs, yet lower cost of ownership (i.e., lower monthly energy, insurance, maintenance and upkeep costs). “Their true value lies in the sense of security and independence these homes offer the homeowner and the community — a value that cannot be overestimated,” said Mr. Faust.

OceanSafe is a manufacturer and leader in the construction of lightweight, recycled steel, structurally insulated panels for both commercial and residential building applications. This line of quality green housing is unique in that its pre-engineered design offers lab-proven strength to withstand the forces of nature. The green technology used in OceanSafe homes provides owners with improved indoor air quality, as well as energy cost savings up to 72% (as compared to code-compliant homes). When combined with solar and geothermal systems, the savings increase to over 90%. OceanSafe has been chosen as the green-building energy-efficient material of The SOS™ standard, and has projects underway in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Louisiana and Mississippi. By utilizing the OceanSafe building system a home can be built in half the time and with half the crew of conventional construction and the building system can be adapted to almost all architectural plans. OceanSafe also has worked for two years with American Insurance Underwriters to attain a 10-year, renewable warranty covering the complete replacement of the OceanSafe System if damage occurs due to wind, mold or termites. Proudly made in the U.S.A., OceanSafe is the leader of a new wave of quality, green building systems. When partnered with The ReGen Group’s SOS improvements, the result is a new category of commerce: “The Sustainable Home.”

###