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Emeryville Resourceful Building
Project
Creating Environmentally Sound, Affordable
Housing
by Siegel and Strain Architects
The Emeryville Resourceful Building Project (ERB) was
designed by Siegel and Strain Architects to provide
affordable, environmentally sound housing for first-time
home buyers. The three-unit infill project was funded by the
Emeryville Redevelopment Agency and received additional
funding from Alameda County Waste Management Authority to
demonstrate the benefits of incorporating environmental
goals and systems into affordable housing.
Green building principles have not been extensively applied
to affordable housing. There are a number of reasons for
this, including perceived higher construction costs and
reluctance to use new materials and methods for publicly
funded projects. Using quantitative studies of materials and
systems, Siegel and Strain Architects was able to show that
careful selection and installation of tried materials and
construction methods can create cost-effective,
environmentally sound, affordable housing - housing that is
ultimately more affordable.
The ERB sets several goals which are not typical for
affordable housing:
· Provide housing that is extremely energy
efficient;
· Reduce resource consumption;
· Provide housing that is easy and inexpensive to
operate and maintain;
· Create a healthy indoor environment; and
· Make it easier to build affordable, environmentally
sound housing.
To acheive these goals, Siegel and Strain Architects
assembled a consultant team to conduct research and design
work that was beyond the scope of a typical affordable
housing project. The consultants included Baker
Pre-Construction (cost estimating), Davis Energy Group
(energy analysis), Juri Komendant (structural engineering),
and Boustead Consulting and Associates (environmental
life-cycle inventories). The design relied on a cyclical
process wherein each piece of new research was integrated
with the other areas of research. The research goal was to
illustrate measurable differences between materials and
systems.
The overall approach was to compare complete building
assemblies - such as walls, roofs, and floors - rather than
individual materials. This creates a more realistic
comparison, because a material's performance is often
dependent on its relationship to other materials in a
particular assembly. As many as four alternative assemblies
were studied for the walls, roof, and floors, as well
typical assemblies for an affordable housing project, to use
as a baseline comparison. All of the consultants used these
assemblies as the basis of their research.
The cost estimate was indispensable to the study. Baker
Pre-Construction created comparative cost estimates for each
building assembly, with itemized costs for each material in
each assembly. This type of comparison allowed the
architects to understand where costs vary, where
cost-effective choices could be made, and, therefore, which
materials and systems could be effectively incorporated into
an affordable housing project. The architects also combined
some of the cost information with material warranties to
look at longevity of materials and long-term costs related
to maintenance and replacement.
After the design team completed initial selections and cost
estimating, Boustead Consulting and Associates conducted a
life-cycle inventory of all the materials in the
construction assemblies. The life of each material was
examined, including resource extraction, manufacture,
transport (during all phases), and the useful life of the
product. The budget did not allow for an analysis that
included disposal or recycling, but Siegel and Strain
considered these factors in their selection to the best
extent possible. The final inventory identifies measurable
environmental performance differences between products and
illuminates materials that have particular environmental
benefits or disadvantages.
The energy analysis conducted by the Davis Energy Group
pointed to materials and systems that produce long-term
operating energy savings for the occupants. The study
considered the effects of various energy efficiency measures
on energy consumption, and resulted in an economically
feasible design that minimizes energy use and reduces
operating costs, as well as associated environmental
impacts.
The architect and structural engineer worked together to
create a resource-efficent structural system. After looking
at several atlernatives, the team selected stick-framed
construction because it is the most common system used in
affordable housing on the West Coast. The goals, therefore,
were to optimize the use of material by
1) using the least amount of material needed to meet
structural requirements;
2) building durable structures; and
3) selecting wood from well-managed forests.
Reducing material use reduces deforestation and construction
costs, while wood from well-managed forests - "certified
sustainably harvested" - prevents habitat destruction. The
design ultimately saved an estimated 19 percent of wood
versus a conventional structure, with cost savings to
match.
The architects integrated all the research into their
standard design and decision-making processes without much
added design cost. The findings clearly demonstrate that
thoughtful interdisciplinary design can produce
competitively priced, environmentally sound, affordable
housing and reduce long-term costs to the homeowner or
managing agency. The ERB:
· Will reduce operating energy by approximately
one-third;
· Will reduce emissions from operating energy which
contribute to global warming by 23 percent;
· Will reduce emissions from operating energy which
contribute to acid rain by 16 percent;
· Reduced the amount of fuel used in materials
production by 50 percent;
· Reduced the use of wood by 19 percent; and
· Achieved its goals on budget
Most of the benefits result from using long-lasting
materials, reducing the amount of material used, and
employing energy-efficient systems. These translate directly
into environmental advantages -such as preventing
deforestation, minimizing landfill, and reducing fuel and
resource consumption - and into cost savings for the
occupants.
The construction of the project is nearly complete, with
occupancy expected in March. Siegel and Strain Architects
will be publishing a detailed report in May that will cover
the research, design, and construction of the project.
For more information, write to Nancy Malone at
info@siegelstrain.com.
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