Current Issue

Most Popular Stories

Posted 11.10.2009

CSDA winners: the complete list

Page 2

[csda] RESIDENTIAL
1st place
Edge House, Boulder

Overview
Located in a dense 50-year-old neighborhood, the property has easy bus access and is near  shopping and schools. The existing 43-year-old, 7,000-square-foot house was built substantially over the property lines, had no possibility for passive solar orientation, and contained six stories  and lots of asbestos. The project entailed deconstructing it, resulting in a 91 percent landfill diversion. An innovative “replacement value” accounting method for deconstruction tax deductions made the renovation financially competitive with demolition. The new exterior material palette reflects the predominant use of local materials in the existing neighborhood. By preserving the existing vegetation and augmenting it with native xeric plants, almost 30 percent of the site that had been previously built upon was restored to native habitat. The living and dining rooms bend around a large existing tree, creating a beautiful outdoor room.

Sustainable features
• The project introduced Boulder’s first legal gray water system, which required lobbying to change the building code, and a ground source heat pump. The design utilized an innovative sleeved technique to allow the hole to be drilled through 100 feet of gravel.
• The previously piped storm water system was opened up to restore it to its historic configuration as a natural, “seasonal wetland.”
• Energy strategies include passive solar design (window size, placement and tuning, paired with large calculated overhangs), natural daylighting (light from two sides of all major rooms, and a giant Kalwall skylight at the core), natural cooling (operable windows on two sides of all major rooms), and thermal mass at the core (three-story stone wall).

Judges’ comments
This LEED Platinum-certified, zero-energy home, featuring a climate-appropriate passive design, can help teach the world about the net-zero concept and how to be truly sustainable. Its water reclamation system – the first legally permitted gray-water system in the city of Boulder – can help promote how Colorado can attack its antiquated water use restrictions. In many ways, this home is a laboratory from which we can all learn.”

2nd Place
Ridge View, Nederland
Architect:  Weber Architecture

Overview
Nestled in the foothills above Boulder, this is the first of 30 homes planned for the net-zero community of Caribou Ridge. Cutting-edge sustainable building materials, renewable energy-efficient systems and conveniences of contemporary lifestyle are integrated into an architecture intended to celebrate its connection to the Rocky Mountains. 24 Ridge View represents the middle range of residential quality, home size and lot size available in Caribou Ridge. Although the home is a prototype for the net-zero community, it is not intended to be duplicated verbatim. Future adjacent homes will be similar only through their renewable energy systems, sustainable approach and general character. The home is also intended to be a Hybrid Renewable Energy project that incorporates multiple types of sustainable design practices.

Sustainable features
• 24 Ridge View has received the highest level of sustainable building certification by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) National Green Building Standard.
• Floor, wall and roof framing materials are engineered lumber systems and wood systems certified by the Forest Stewardship Council U.S. to ensure protection from over-forestation practices. All interior and exterior wood applications are recycled from local beetle killed trees or from FSC controlled forested products.
• The main tongue-and-groove wood flooring system is made from Trestle Wood reclaimed from train trestles located in the Great Salt Lake area.

Judges’ comments
The home at 24 Ridge View is the first of 30 planned for the net-zero community of Caribou Ridge. For the developer to design and build this one first is impressive, since it will be the prototype for the community. Wind turbines will provide plenty of power and are the first of their kind in Colorado for a residential neighborhood of this scale. Its contextual design includes entrances that will provide shelter from the wind. This project is designed with the micro-environment in mind.”

3rd place
Imagine! SmartHome

Architect:  PEH Architects

Overview
Imagine! SmartHome is a new one-story group home for people with developmental delays and cognitive disabilities. An energy-efficient building envelope is complemented by solar photovoltaic, solar hot water, geothermal heating and cooling, and passive solar design. In addition, the SmartHome technologies such as task prompters to assist in daily tasks, ceiling mounted lifts in bedrooms, and automated window blinds were incorporated into the design in order to aid the day-to-day activities of the residents. The approximate construction cost of the project was $1.2 Million.

Sustainable features
• On-site renewable energy systems supplement each other to take full advantage of “free” energy. Solar PV panels provide electricity for the geothermal heat pumps. Super-heaters installed on the heat pumps provide additional hot water to supplement the solar hot water panels.
• The orientation and roof slope were chosen to optimize the southern solar exposure for the solar panels. Long roof overhangs shade large windows in the summer, but allow passive solar heat gain in the winter.
• Multiple clearstory windows were incorporated throughout the building for natural light.
• There is no use of natural gas anywhere in the project. In addition, the house has been preliminarily rated at a HERS score of 24, approaching a net-zero energy home.

Judges’ comments
This one-story group home in Boulder houses people with developmental delays and cognitive disabilities. Its preliminary “home energy rating score” of 24 – which represents a 76-percent reduction in energy use relative to code – was achieved through the installation of photovoltaic panels, ground-source heat pumps and solar hot water panels. There are strong social aspects of this project, including its orientation to transit. The fact that it was built on a constrained urban site and achieved a strong space-to-unit ratio is significant.”

[csda] sustainable communities

1st place
Geos Net-Zero Energy Neighborhood

Architect:  Michael Tavel Architects and David Kahn Studio
Overview
Geos will be the largest net-zero energy, urban mixed-use neighborhood in the United States. Earth and sun power will completely sustain the community’s energy needs, and replace all fossil fuels. The project will consist of 282 dwelling units on 25.3 acres, including 8.5 acres of parks and 12.1 acres of parcels. The neighborhood is intertwined with natural systems, stormwater-fed landscapes, and civic places. Rain and snow melt feed street tree rain gardens, percolation parks, plazas and community gardens. Geos received final development approval from the city of Arvada and will begin construction in late fall 2009. This is a demonstration project in sustainable urbanism intended to encourage advancements in resource conservation in the American homebuilding industry.

Sustainable features
• The project’s solar orientation is designed to reduce energy demands by one-third. Deciduous trees have been selected to shade east- and west-facing windows in the summer but not shade photovoltaic panels – even in winter.
• Geothermal, solar thermal and photovoltaics are utilized for remaining energy needs. No fossil fuels or natural gas are provided to the site. Ground-source heat is provided through a horizontal loop field.
• “Percolation parks” are threaded through the neighborhood as common greens. These are usable, “mixed-use” greens that support urban agriculture, child play and wildlife habitat.

Judges’ comments

This plan for a project in Arvada aims to be the largest net-zero energy, urban mixed-use neighborhood in the United States. It combines an appreciation for an urban street network with interesting ways to orient the homes in a checkerboard pattern to best collect sunlight, with the “front” yards actually being on the side. The project has a great stormwater management system and strong architecture. This could be the first net-zero energy community that also features the lowest possible price, with relatively affordable homes and no energy bills. We can’t wait for construction to start.”

2nd place

South Main Neighborhood
Architect:  Submitted by South Main co-founder Katie Selby Urban and Director of Marketing Dustin Urban

Overview
South Main is a compact, dense, mixed-use neighborhood on an infill site previously used as a trash dump. The design concentrates open space on the Arkansas River, providing acres of riverfront park area frequented by residents of South Main, Buena Vista and the general public. The project encompasses 41 acres, with 327 residential units ranging in size from 740 square feet to 5,900 square feet, with an average living space of 2,039 square feet.

Sustainable features
• The street grid is ideally positioned for solar orientation of homes.
• The developers have used on-site rock (South Main is on a glacial moraine) for a cobblestone street.
• Developers required that homes be certified through Built Green Colorado, and though it is no longer certifying, the developers plan to keep building to that standard. The developers say most of the project’s homes exceed by several times Built Green’s requirement for certification.

Judges’ comments
This mixed-use community in Buena Vista, on a site that was formerly a trash dump, features good density and public spaces. It’s a walking community, adjacent to downtown, with such recreational amenities as kayaking and bouldering and includes a park. The choice to build at a high density in a rural setting is admirable.”

3rd place
Wellington Neighborhood

Architect:  Wolff Lyon Architects
Overview
Sitting on 85 acres a little more than a mile away from downtown Breckenridge, this project addressed the challenges of reclaiming the ravaged landscape of a former mining site. The Wellington Neighborhood project consists of 282 units ranging from 576 square-foot “carriage units” to 2,000 square-foot single-family homes.
The compact neighborhood plan features a simple grid of connected streets. Homes face each other across auto-free, village “green-courts” that allow neighborly interaction and safe, easily supervised child’s play. While the median cost of a single-family home in Breckenridge is $800,000, the Wellington Neighborhood achieves affordability for the middle-income people who work in Summit County by designating 80 percent of the units in the neighborhood as permanently affordable.

Sustainable features
• Connectivity to downtown, adjacent neighbors and surrounding open space encourage sustainable living and transporation choices.
• Each home features energy-efficient plumbing fixtures, shallow frost foundation systems and efficient building envelopes.
• Through building orientation and window placement, natural ventilation and light are provided.
• The planning team made traditional neighborhood design possible by working with the community to devise new zoning flexibility to increase density, reduce setbacks from houses to the street, create narrower streets, and allow for smaller lots. This new zoning encourages mixed use in live-work buildings.

Judges’ comments
This neighborhood, within walking and biking distance of downtown Breckenridge, reclaimed a former mining site. Eighty percent of its planned 282 homes will be affordable work-force housing. The community features well planned small open spaces and is close to the river. Its homes, 200 of which have already been built, acknowledge the architectural precedents in Breckenridge.”

Enjoy this article? Sign up to get ColoradoBiz Today, our e-mail newsletter that delivers exclusive editorial material, video interviews of area newsmakers and executives, and original business articles straight to your inbox.