Cree will hold a dedication ceremony tomorrow for the house it helped build in Durham.

It's the first home from a partnership between the Durham-based LED lighting company and Habitat for Humanity. It's also the first Habitat house with LED lights in every fixture.

Dozens of Cree employees helped build it, partly as a philanthropic effort, and partly to demonstrate its LED lights, which last longer and are more energy efficient than traditional lights, reducing electricity bills.

The three-bedroom, 1,150-square-foot house is now home to the Rahlan-Ksor family, originally from Vietnam. Prior to moving in, the family of four lived in a one-bedroom apartment. 

Cree plans to donate $1.5 million worth of energy efficient LED lights for kitchens of homes built by Habitat for Humanity.

The three-year partnership was announced today by Chuck Swoboda, CEO of the Durham company, during his keynote speech at the N.C. CEO Forum in downtown Raleigh.

The company's lights are designed to reduce electricity use and energy costs. But the Habitat partnership also will further Cree's efforts to encourage awareness of its LED lights, especially for residential use.

"I love things that are good for the environment, but they've also got to be good business," Swoboda said. "This is good for our business."

Cree's LED lights are more expensive up front, but save money in the end because they require less power and last much longer than traditional light bulbs.  

The Cree lights that Habitat will use in new homes are designed to last more than two decades and use 55 percent less energy than compact fluorescent bulbs.

Cree's LEDs are increasingly being adopted for commercial use, including in street lights from Raleigh to China, in more than 650 Walmart stores and more. The company employs more than 2,000 people in the Triangle and continues to hire locally.

The state has a new virtual marketplace where people can find, sell, barter or donate used, salvaged and surplus building material — at no cost.

The N.C. C&D Material Trader Web site was launched today by the nonprofit Reuse Alliance. Find out more about it here.

Construction on a Habitat for Humanity house to be built in the memory of a UNC-Chapel Hill fraternity president shot dead last year will get underway Saturday.

The parents of Courtland Smith will be present for a groundbreaking ceremony for the house on Gracie Circle, which will be the eventual new home for two UNC employees and their six children.

Smith was shot dead by an Archdale police officer in August following a showdown on the side of the highway. The shooting was later ruled justified, with Randolph County District Attorney Garland Yates finding that Smith had advanced on the police in a threatening manner and had told a 911 operator he had a gun.

The shooting jolted the UNC community, where Smith was held in high regard. Smith's fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon, took on the Habitat for Humanity project as a way to create something positive out of Smith's death.

“We see this project as an important opportunity for the DKE House to contribute meaningfully to the community and give the chapter, parents, and alumni a constructive way to cope with the enormous loss we suffered after Courtland’s death last August," said Davis Willingham, the incoming DKE president, in a press release. "His big heart and vibrant personality touched us and we feel this is a significant effort to honor his life, selfless nature, and affinity for service.  Building the house will benefit the Wei family and ensure Courtland’s legacy as an exemplary leader.”

The home will house Lion and Zar Ree Wei, two UNC housekeepers, and their six children.
 UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp will join Smith's parents, Pharr and Susan Smith of Houston, TX, at the groundbreaking.

The house will be built under the guidance of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.
  More than $60,000 of the $75,000 necessary for construction has already been raised. 

Bank of America alone contributed $25,000 and the fraternity hopes to raise more than the needed $75,000.  The 16-weekend construction effort itself begins January 30.

_{Photo credit: Daily Tar Heel}

Two weeks ago, we blogged about Lisa Pineiro, CEO of Technical Services Inc., as a heads up about her effort to recruit more females to the construction and contracting industry.

On Saturday, we brought you the full story about her work with female students over at Southern High School.

In case you missed it, there was also an audio slide show.

Though Southern High School has a separate Construction and Architectural Design Academy within the school, few female students end up participating.

But the field can be rewarding and lucrative. Lisa Pineiro, CEO of Technical Services Inc., wants to encourage female students to explore the field.

Pineiro (pictured here) has recruited more than a dozen Southern cheerleaders to spend the next three Thursdays learning how to use hand tools in carpentry.

Once they complete their basic training, they'll assemble playground equipment for a Habitat for Humanity house next month.

Pineiro, who lives in Bahama, says if other students see the popular cheerleaders -- often the girliest girls at school -- to explore a field that's traditionally seen as a man's world, then maybe more young women will catch on.