Success Story Archive

Success Stories are listed in alphabetical order: A - L M - Z

20th Street Apartments—Santa Monica, California
When the inefficient radiant ceiling heating system in the 20th Street Apartments needed replacing, the City of Santa Monica and the Community Corporation of Santa Monica used the opportunity to undertake a more comprehensive energy retrofit of the property. Based on recommendations from consultants, a number of measures were installed, including repair of solar-assisted hot water heating system, Energy Star refrigerators, increased attic and wall insulation, double-glazed windows and sliding glass doors, compact fluorescent lighting, setback thermostats, and skylights. The measures will collectively reduce electricity consumption by 39% and natural gas consumption by 22%, totaling some $10,000 each year.

Affordable Modular Housing Project—Carbondale, Colorado
Developers of a new modular housing project in Carbondale, Colorado, are relying on energy efficiency to make the homes affordable for residents. The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) and Steven Winter Design made energy recommendations for the project based on lessons learned through other Building America projects. The 52-unit modular home development—which includes both single- and multifamily units—will boast many energy-efficiency features and keep energy bills low for residents over the long term. A model home for the development is now complete. Building America is a project of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Arizona Tribes Leverage Funding with Weatherization
In Arizona, Indian tribes have banded together behind a regional organization - the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA) - to coordinate weatherization work on reservations. ITCA coordinates training and technical assistance and is responsible for monitoring program implementation as well as administrative reporting requirements for the DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). View more information about WAP and its potential for Indian tribes.

Boston Solar-Powered Housing
Maverick Landing, a redevelopment of the Boston Housing Authority’s Maverick Gardens public housing development, is building 396 new rental units with several advanced efficiency features that promise to save the authority energy and money. Almost 80 percent of the apartments will be available for public housing residents.

The project will include solar photovoltaics, a solar hot water system, and microturbine, as well as efficient lighting and appliances. The development will be certified under the LEED Rating System.

For more information, visit http://www.masstech.org/Project_lst_rslt.asp?ID=449 or contact Sam Nutter, Project Manager, Green Buildings & Infrastructure, at (508) 870-0312 x277 or nutter@masstech.org. View the BHA press release at http://www.bostonhousing.org/detpages/press35.html. Learn more about building with solar from the Southface Institute’s Solar Roadmap at http://www.southface.org/solar/.

Brookview Senior Housing—San Diego, California
San Diego Interfaith Housing Foundation developed a 102-unit senior housing project that boasts improved energy performance, substantial comfort improvement, and significant operational savings. Installed measures include through-the-wall heat pumps for each unit which provide both heating and cooling, recirculation loops with temperature controls to provide efficient water-heating, and windows that reduce solar heat gain by an impressive 75 percent. These measures increase initial costs by only $6,749, yet reduce energy costs by nearly $10,000 each year.

Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority
A major infrastructure renewal program is saving the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority more than $875,000 in energy costs annually. The $7.2 million program affects more than 4,600 housing units at 33 developments and 900 scattered sites. Implemented measures include boiler replacements, water conservation efforts, chiller replacements, comprehensive lighting retrofits and replacements, and energy conservation training and awareness.

Citizens Housing Corporation—San Francisco, California
Citizens Housing Corporation is responding to the severe shortage of affordable housing in San Francisco by building new affordable homes and preserving existing units that are at risk of conversion to marketrate housing. With assistance from HUD's Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), CHC is building 98 units of multifamily housing affordable to residents at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income in the heart of San Francisco's South of Market district. The development includes several innovative technologies that improve energy efficiency, health and accessibility.

City of Raleigh Housing Authority Designs HOPE VI Project to Earn the ENERGY STAR^®
The Housing Authority of the City of Raleigh is working with its partners Advanced Energy, North Carolina State Department of Energy, and Progress Energy, to design and construct a HOPE VI revitalization of Chavis Heights. The housing authority has requested an ENERGY STAR designation.

The development will consist of senior housing (40 one-bedroom and 15 two-bedroom units), villas (40 one-bedroom units), and town homes/triplexes (46 two-bedroom town home units and 27 three-bedroom triplex units). Ninety-five of these units will have tankless water heaters. Tankless water heaters can cut water-heating bills by 10 to 20%.

To learn more about this project, contact Gail Keeter at 919-831-8300.

Denny Park Apartments
The planning and design of Denny Park Apartments, a 50-unit development of affordable housing serving families in the South Lake Union area of Seattle, will create several benefits for residents and the surrounding community, including storm water retention through collection of water in landscaping planters, durable 50-year exterior materials (roofing and siding), efficient centralized heating and hot water system, maximum natural lighting, energy efficient lighting and controls, continuous ventilation of bathrooms for moisture control, and low maintenance landscaping.

Denver Housing Authority
In October 2002, Denver Housing Authority upgraded plumbing fixtures in its Hirschfield Tower building. The project involved installation of low-flow toilets, faucet aerators, and shower heads. These measures reduced water consumption in the complex by 22%—enough for 10 Denver homes each year—saving some $6,000 annually in water and sewer costs. Denver Water provided funding for the $116,000 project cost.

El Paso Empowers Residents to Take Charge of Energy Costs
The Housing Authority of the City of El Paso, Texas (HACEP) has experienced first-hand that resident education is a remarkably effective energy conservation strategy. In 1998, residents of the Kennedy Brother Memorial Apartments began complaining about high electricity bills. The general contractor for the development conducted several random inspections, which revealed residents' lack of operational knowledge of the air conditioning units; improper closure of doors and windows; inadequate cleaning and/or replacement of air conditioning filters; and incorrect preventive maintenance. The housing authority responded quickly by arranging energy conservation seminars for residents. Over the first 2 years of the program, Kennedy residents’ electric bills gradually diminished to tenant-acceptable levels.

Eureka Audit Reveals Opportunities for Energy Improvements

In August, the City of Eureka Housing Authority completed a comprehensive energy audit. The Auditors determined that lighting and laundry accounted for the majority of annual electricity consumption, while water heating was the biggest consumer of natural gas.

• Adjust water heating settings to 120 degrees
• Install water tank wraps and pipe insulation
• Install heat traps on hot water tanks
• Install CFLs in existing fixtures
• Install low-flow shower heads
• Educate tenants on energy and water conservation

For more information about this project, contact the City of Eureka Housing Authority Executive Director Bob Morelli at (707) 443-4583.

Gold Dust Apartments
The non-profit organization homeWORD made an important contribution to the community of Missoula, Montana, with its new Gold Dust Apartments. The housing complex provides 18 affordable housing units that highlight energy efficiency, renewable energy, and overall sustainable design. In addition, the project relied on recycled materials, and is located near public transit. According to Mayor Mike Kadas, the project "serves as a model for other new housing construction in the city." Funding for the project came from both public and private sectors.

In addition to straw bale construction, the Hotevilla house also features a frost-protected shallow foundation, a compact design that can accommodate disabled residents and the elderly, radiant floor heating, solar panels, ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent lighting and an ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerator.

Housing Authority of the City of Houston
HACH and the City of Houston Water Conservation Branch partnered in a pilot project to assess the cost-effectiveness of installing water-efficient plumbing devices in a low-income, multifamily housing project. Following a water audit, existing toilets at the 60-unit Kennedy Place were replaced with ultra-low-flush models, leaky faucets were repaired or replaced, low-flow faucet aerators and individual water meters were installed to monitor consumption. Additionally, the project included water-conservation education for tenants. Following the upgrades, average water savings totals nearly 1 million gallons each month, or 72% of the average consumption for the complex. Average monthly combined water and sewer bill decreased by 79%. Total cost of the project was about $12,000, shared by the two partners.

Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh
A comprehensive energy plan undertaken at the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) will reduce energy consumption and save the Authority more than $4 million over 10 years. The plan includes a host of measures for eight properties, including a lighting retrofit, water-conservation measures, and installation of radiator control valves, boiler controls, and domestic hot water temperature controls. The project is funded through an energy performance contract.

Housing Authority of Henry County (Illinois)
Led by the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce, Rebuild Kewanee is taking a multi-tiered approach to addressing local energy issues and is developing programs and incentives to increase awareness among residents and businesses of the benefits of adopting energy-saving practices.

HUD Forges Partnership in New York

The City of Binghamton stands among the Catskill Mountains and at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers. Binghamton’s ethnic heritage typifies American culture and remains a distinct historic niche of upstate New York. The quaint temper, however, has not kept the city’s Housing Authority from embracing innovative approaches to energy efficiency. Energy performance contracting saves Binghamton significant capital, and has provided public housing officials with experience, which will continue to improve the quality of programs.The 640-unit Authority had, for years, used underground hot water distribution systems installed during the 1940s. Realizing the inefficiency of a centralized heating system prompted Binghamton representatives to contact Ken O’Connor, General Engineer at HUD’s Buffalo field office. Together they began constructing an energy performance package aimed at modernizing its outmoded equipment. After receiving an initial grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the Authority acted as its own energy services company in structuring a two million dollar financing package. To leverage additional capital for the second phase of the project, Binghamton leadership built partnerships with other organizations, including a private ESCO. Currently, the Authority stands to save more than $300,000 annually.

Jacksonville Housing Authority
The authority uses a procurement system to efficiently secure discounted rates for appliances including refrigerators and electric and gas ranges.

The procurement policy, first developed in 1995, has been in practice for over 10 years and the authority has seen real benefits from its continued use. It is designed to comply with applicable Federal standards, HUD regulations, and state and local laws while enabling the authority to open the product purchase process to competition.

Louisville, Kentucky - Report Documents Development of High-Performance Hope VI Project
“High Profile at Low Cost: Introducing a Multi-Family Residential Market to High-Performance Building Design and Construction” discusses the development of an energy-efficient housing project in Louisville, Kentucky that has earned the ENERGY STAR^®.

The Louisville Metro Housing Authority broke ground last December on this Hope VI Project on the site of the Clarksdale public housing complex. Phase I of the project will replace a 65-year-old public housing development, which includes 713 residential and 15 non-residential units. It will be completed in 2008.

Louisville Metro Housing Authority and Philadelphia Housing Authority Garner 2007 Energy Star Awards

Low-Income Housing Rehabilitation for Sustainability and Affordability(pdf)
Reports on a study of the Johnson Creek Commons project in Portland, Oregon, which successfully achieved affordability and ecological sustainability. Improvements included energy-efficient windows, increased levels of insulation, water-saving measures, and a new energy-efficient heating system.

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