Green Affordable Housing Aaron Marcavitch Housing Nantucket

1. Aaron Marcavitch
Executive Director
Housing Nantucket
June 4, 2010
Green Affordable Housing

2. What we aren’t talking about
 Give you a chance to head for the exits….
 Commercial structures, large scale projects
 Entire community planning for green
 We are talking about:
 The general process
 Individual unit development (homes)
 Where the process can work between developers and planning
agencies

3. Housing Nantucket
 Private, non-profit organization
 Creating sustainable housing opportunities for
Nantucket residents
 Through three areas of focus:
 Rental Services
 Homeownership Services
 Technical Assistance

4. Who we are
 Grew out of needs for Housing Authority
 Grew out of perceived issues related to DHCD and
30B bidding
 Sought to fill gaps in housing needs for community
 Connective tissue between many stakeholders on the
island
 Un-biased, un-related group
 Seeks to create new partnerships with existing
groups and with Town of Nantucket

5. A few examples

6. What is Affordable Housing?
 Generally serves those earning below 100% of Area
Median Income ($88,900)
 Housing Needs Covenant serves those earning up
to 150% of AMI
 The residents are town employees, service workers,
construction workers, and health workers.
 Scattered sites – Surfside, Tom Nevers

7. Where do we fit within the government?
 Housing Nantucket sees itself as a “hole filler”
 We seek out issues that need resolved and fix them
 Primarily viewed as a developer
 We provide local level education, local level advocacy
 Same issues as land conservation advocacy groups
 Who are you
 Why are you involved in process
 You don’t understand the issue
 We seek to try to provide insight into housing

8. Our role in housing
 Organizational shift as land runs out
 Need to compact and intensify projects
 Be a better supporter and advocate for Town
sponsored initiatives
 Seek to diversify board
 Seek to continue to expand partnerships
 Seek to be an advocate for green methods, better
construction methods without bias
 Develop library and sources of information on green

9. Affordable and Green?
 One of the most important connections for
advocates and government
 Create solutions between those who earn less and
lowering energy costs
 Green building doesn’t cost more
 Opportunity for community consensus and
government support of project
 Opportunity for holistic project management

10. Methods for Achieving “Green-ness”
 From a Governmental Perspective:
 Transit Oriented Development
 Requirements for Smart Growth Principles
 Requirements/Goals of Green Certification in RFPs
 Participation in planning process
 From a Non-Profit/Developer Perspective
 How much will it cost?
 Why do it?
 Who will benefit?
 What is my return on the investment?

11. Envisioning a Green Community
 Several criteria can be used
 Most common criteria is the
LEED “standard” – but plenty
of options (Energy Star, Green
Globe, NAHB)
 Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design
 Developed by the US Green
Building Council

12. Green Communities
 State Level program (Green Communities Act)
 Loans, rebates, incentives
 Local Level initiatives
 Stick – Regulations requiring building green
 Carrot - Local level incentives/ tax breaks
 Needs for connecting government with developer
 Communicate and speak the same language
 Look for methods for streamlining permitting or finding more
carrots in the process
 Seek out innovative methods but understand the financial issues
 Seek ways to plan together during project (charettes, etc)

13. Building Green
 “The energy required to operate the
heating, cooling, and electrical systems of
the typical American house for one year
generates more than 26,000 pounds of
greenhouse gas – enough to fill the Goodyear blimp.”
 “Green buildings aren't just good for people and the
environment but, if measured against long enough time
frames, they make sound financial investments both in
terms of reduced maintenance and operational costs as
well as increased worker productivity.” (Or resident
retention.)

14. LEED for Homes
 A residential level version of LEED for New
Construction
 Less stringent, more responsive
 Less Cost
 Same basic areas of concern
 Uses “accountability forms” from homeowner

17. Benefits for Government
 Reduce load on infrastructure
 Water reduction
 Energy usage reduction
 Transportation reduction
 PR Value
 Chance to help influence the outcome of the project
with a developer
 Ability to know the “rules” for green developments
 Better tenants make better communities

18. Benefits for Developer
 Value Added
 Better living environment for tenant
 Tends to stay in unit longer
 More responsive to management
 Less complaints
 Longer life-cycle for components

19. But it Costs too much!
 “...a report commissioned by California's Sustainable Building Task Force, an upfront
investment of two percent of construction costs will typically yield life cycle savings of
over ten times the value of the intial investment.”
 However, most developers aren't interested in life cycle savings - it works for
homeowners and those in it for the “long haul,” such as affordable housing
developers.
 Studies have shown that cost increases have ranged from -18% to 6%
 Average cost increase is 2.4% (less than a standard
contingency)
 Most costly additions tend to be innovative design
and technologies

21. Housing Nantucket Projects

22. Our Projects
3 Norquarta Rear 2 Clarendon Rear

23.  Conceived as a two bedroom unit
 Built with Insulated Concrete Form System
 Intended to be higher quality than typical homes
 On-island LEED professionals directed to LEED for
Homes provider – Conservation Services Group
(CSG)
 Initial meeting was after design was approved and
contractor was selected
2 Clarendon Rear

24.  Initially was CSG, Housing Nantucket, and Andersen
Construction
 Housing Nantucket’s co-op student provided
significant support towards end of project.
 Hired Bartsch and Radnor as landscape architect
 Atlantic Landscaping provided landscape work
 George Hull and Ryder - electricians, Adobe Cinema
- energy monitoring system, Dave Kinney - plumber
 No mechanical engineer
2 Clarendon Team

25.  As our “guinea pig” project, we
made a few miss steps in the
documentation process.
 Could have developed a few more
points if the project were
submitted to the LEED program
prior to selecting a contractor and
developing the design.
 After connecting with CSG, we
made a few modifications to
project to allow for certain points.
Initial Process

26.  Conceived as a one bedroom unit
 Developed as an infill site
 Intended to be a construction counterpoint to 2
Clarendon by using stick framing
 Had preliminary conversations with CSG
 Project was never intended to reach high level of
LEED rating
 Took lessons from 2 Clarendon
3 Norquarta Rear

27.  Housing Nantucket and an internal project manager
lead project
 George Pappas and Matt Maryanski were primary
construction team
 Garry Caruso – plumbing, Ryder Electric – electrical,
Mr. T – insulation, Island Concrete – Foundation,
 Island Carpet – flooring
 Nantucket Housefitters – kitchen
 Atlantic Landscaping for landscape construction
3 Norquarta Team

28.  Since this was not intended to reach high levels of LEED
ratings, project simply proceeded as regular construction
project
 During process, CSG technicians provided feedback on
certain elements of construction and construction team
knew to look for innovative
construction methods.
 Team meeting was held during
process, but was not as formal
as required under LEED process.
Initial Process

33. Spray Foam
Used exclusively in 3
Norquarta
Suggestion from CSG
was to bury lines into
foam so that they would
be insulated.

35. Heating System
3 Norquarta utilizes a
“single point” heating
system. A single Rinnai
heater (82% efficient)
heats entire home.
Jump vent and fan to
move air

37. CFL/Natural Lighting
3 Norquarta utilized its
southern exposure to
bring natural light into
the main living space.
Dimmable CFL units
were used in recessed
lighting.

39. Materials
3 Norquarta used
cabinets from
Corsi/Greenfield which
were all low-VOC units.
Bamboo flooring
installed by Island
Carpet.

40. Landscaping
Utilized privet to keep units separated,
basic landscape design, gray pavers, turf
Minimized disturbed areas, used
naturalized plantings, used Nantucket
style landscape to blend with
neighborhood

41.  Innovation and Design
 Think about project before starting
 Location and Linkages
 Plan where you are putting your project
 Site Selection
 Have a landscape plan
 Materials and Resources
 Plan how you are going to build the house
 Lots of material options
 Nantucket gains points for recycling
Easy Points

42.  Water
 Runoff from roofs, rain barrels, irrigation, managing water,
erosion
 Not Nantucket style issues
 Not able to obtain points in these areas
 Landscape Design (Site Selection)
 Not usually considered when receiving RFP land
 Required more design and attention than other projects
 Mechanicals (IAQ/Energy)
 Lack of certified engineer on island
 Some calculations complex
Problem Areas

45. Thank you!
A a r o n M a r c a v i t c h
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