Green building shouldn’t be a luxury exclusively for high end condo buildings or big showpiece public projects. On the contrary green building is an important way of making housing affordable.
The Housing Authority of Portland (HAP) is taking this idea seriously, in part because of funding now available from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Stimulus funding—$250 million over 3 years—has been set aside for retrofitting low-income multi-unit housing, in particular, housing for seniors, disabled people and people who qualify for vouchers to help pay their housing costs.
To help think through the application process and their overall vision for greening their buildings (specifically Sellwood and Gallagher) and operations, Portland held an Eco-Visioning Charette in June. The purpose of the charette was to explore the best thinking on how to bring together their housing development and operations to maximize energy efficiency and reduce impact on climate and the environment.
A charette (a French term) refers to a brainstorm session by designers and architects to resolve an unusual or tough design challenge. The point of a charette is to inspire visionary thinking and big ideas that aren’t limited necessarily by budgets or politics. In this case HAP pulled together people who design buildings but also those who operate them to look at ways to improve energy efficiency through design, programming and efficiencies. The charette helped fine tune ideas for HAP’s application for stimulus funding from HUD for retrofits.
The charette produced some clear principles for HAP’s proposal to HUD and planning for the future. The Housing Authority of Portland:
- makes decisions based on long-term, life-cycle thinking that maximizes its return on investment
- takes a comprehensive approach (social, environmental, and financial) in assessing the cost and value of the services it provides to the Portland community.
- builds community, both within a building and a neighborhood, through design
- involves staff and residents in decision making processes
- values continuous improvement at all levels as it develops a culture of sustainability
And what about specific design ideas? The charette proposed some specific ideas for water, air quality and energy efficiency for retrofits. The recommendations fell into two categories. Sustainable rehabilitation requirements:
- Zero-net energy
- Closed loop water use
- Local materials
- Zero waste
And strategies that impact well being:
- 100 percent outside air ventilation
- Zero-VOC materials
- Connection to Nature
- Healthy interaction within the building community
- Connection to the greater neighborhood and community
Many of these ideas are consistent with improving overall health and wellness of residents [link] along with improving energy performance of buildings. We’ve seen already from a study completed by the Seattle Housing Authority that these kinds of considerations can accomplish these important goals.
HAP has submitted its proposals for $10 million in funding from the HUD program and should find out if the retrofitting projects will be funded this fall.
Rhonda Rosenberg
The King County Housing Authority also has many accomplishements on the “green” bulding front. Greenbridge, an award-winning mixed-income sustainable development in White Center is being constructed to 3-Star Built Green standards. In addition, the community itself is sustainable – on the campus is an elementary school, a community center, a library, a YWCA learning center, a Highline Community College classroomm gardens, walking trails, and neighborhood-scale retail. It also is located on a bus line. Birch Creek in Kent is being redeveloped to a 4-Star Built Green standard. It has a silver LEED-certifed youth center on its campus, as well. We have retrofitted older inventory with energy-efficient lighting fixtures, boilers, and improved ventilation. For water conservation we have individually metered about 1,200 units (which encourages users to conserve), replaced older toilets with high-efficiency toilets at virtually all of our properties. Our maintenance shops have achieved a 3-Star EnviroStars rating,as well. One of our senior high-rises and several of our community facilities sport solar panels on the roof – and all new construction is being wired to be solar ready. And we are planning to make even more improvements moving forward!