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Finch Cambridge

Homeowner’s Rehab Inc. (HRI), a nonprofit, community-based affordable housing developer, saw Finch Cambridge as an opportunity to expand its commitment to healthy and sustainable housing. The area around Finch Cambridge has historically been dominated by commercial and light industrial uses. However, rapidly increasing market-rate residential development in the neighborhood inspired HRI and city staff to pursue development of an affordable rental project, meeting the area’s urgent need for more affordable housing options.

The development team was committed from the beginning to climate resilience and minimal environmental impact. The Finch Cambridge site was previously occupied by a gas station, then was vacant or underused for several years. Though the site is not in a current flood zone, potential flood risk exists because of the large amount of impervious surface as the neighborhood develops, as well as nearby freshwater sources.

The development team also assessed the local risks of extreme heat and the potential for associated power outages and loss of air conditioning. “There’s a high need for cooling as well as heating, and the cooling need has been increasing in New England,” says project architect Michelle Apigian, associate at ICON Architecture. Cambridge’s Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment report documents that the frequency and duration of heat waves are projected to increase, with as many as 68 days per year registering temperatures over 90oF by 2070.

“Passive House design is great for urban resilience because residents can stay in the building if there’s power loss and no air conditioning.”—Jane Carbone, Director of Development, HRI

HRI originally planned to develop Finch Cambridge “to meet the more energy-efficient and robust stretch code,” says Jane Carbone, director of development for HRI. Cambridge also has sustainability guidelines requiring Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Gold for new construction. However, HRI secured a waiver to pursue Enterprise Green Community (EGC) recognition instead because the EGC’s focus on multifamily and resident health better aligned with the project and the organization’s mission.

The city of Cambridge, MassHousing, TD Bank, and the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) are the project funders. The early sustainability focus allowed HRI to secure an additional $147,000 in grant funding from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and MassSave by expanding the project goals to include Passive Building certification as part of a state pilot program. Certified Passive Buildings are recognized for achieving quantifiable and rigorous standards for energy efficiency and indoor comfort.

Climate Resilience Strategies

The lobby at Finch Cambridge provides at-grade accessible entry while also limiting flood risk, sitting nearly 18 inches above the projected 2070 floodplain. In addition, no residential units are located on the ground floor, thereby minimizing the exposure of residents to floodwaters in the event of a major storm. In fact, the residential portion of the building is another five-and-and-a-half feet higher in elevation above the floodplain. The building’s mechanical equipment is also raised: some is located on the roof and some on the second floor. For the ground floor, the development team also chose materials such as durable ceramic tile flooring, dry wall, and metal accents that are unlikely to sustain significant water or mold damage if there is significant flooding.

Finch Cambridge has significant engineering elements to address stormwater, including an 8,000-gallon on-site tank (a requirement by Cambridge) to collect stormwater runoff. In addition, a CULTEC system collects stormwater from the roof and directs it to pipes on the perimeter of the property where it is held until it can dissipate as groundwater after a storm.

The strong stormwater infrastructure is “another deterrent to stop potential flood issues at the building” if there is a major storm, says Carbone. The system also allows Finch Cambridge to manage stormwater on site and not add to the city system during times when demand increases.

The six-story steel-and-wood-frame structure has an airtight building envelope composed of a three-layer air barrier, with additional air sealing at each opening such as windows, doors, and duct penetrations. Finch Cambridge also has fiberglass insulation in the wall cavities as well as a two-inch layer of continuous exterior mineral wool, made in part from recycled materials, to limit thermal bridging.

To address extreme heat risk, triple-glazed windows bring in ample light and cross-ventilation, and shades on the southern face of the building reduce overheating from solar heat gain in the warmer months. A 105-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array on the roof provides about 20 percent of the building’s electricity. Finch Cambridge also has a community space on the sixth floor that is linked to a generator capable of powering air conditioning, giving residents a place to comfortably shelter in the event of a power outage. The roofline, evocative of the wings of a bird in flight, provides important shade and a creative cue that inspired the team to rename the development “Finch.”

“We’re seeing a huge push for Passive building design in the market for affordable housing and for housing in general. . . . It just makes sense. We’ve all seen the advantages of it . . . and the state rebates are giving it traction, too.”—Matthew Smyka, Project Executive, NEI General Construction

Around the building, a portion of the hardscape is porous pavement that helps manage stormwater and works with drought-tolerant vegetation. Large trees also provide shade to residents.

Finch Cambridge is adjacent to a fresh-pond reservoir and has an on-site pocket park with a walking path for wellness, an outdoor patio at the building entrance, an outdoor dog run, covered and secure bike storage, and a free weekly farmers market. Another health and sustainability measure was eliminating carpeting, removing a source of allergens for residents and ultimately reducing landfill waste.

Business Outcomes and Lessons Learned

Finch Cambridge has been successful in terms of project cost, resilience paybacks, high tenant demand, and industry recognition. The building has earned Passive House, Enterprise Green Community, and FitWel certifications. Demand at Finch Cambridge has been very strong: the development attracted 2,600 applicants to a lottery for the 98 available units. The building is fully affordable at low-, moderate-, and middle-income levels.

“The costs of achieving all of the Passive House requirements were below 3 percent of total project cost,” says Carbone, and the additional grant money from MassCEC offset the extra expense. Much of the price premium over baseline code requirements was related to the high-performance building envelope, including air-tight and thermal continuity and thermally broken and gasketed windows, says Apigian.

The team managed costs and performance by keeping some spaces, such as the large lobby, outside the pressurized boundary, whereas all residential units remain inside it. Careful modeling of energy use and right-sizing of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning choices, including efficient electric heat pumps, give the building a projected energy use intensity (EUI) of 23, which is about 70 percent less than average and contributes to making Finch Cambridge one of the most operationally energy-efficient buildings in Massachusetts.

Though a small additional cost is involved in bringing fresh air to every room, that engineering decision has health benefits that are especially important because of the COVID-19 pandemic that was active at the time of resident move-in. The continuous, balanced ventilation and careful compartmentalization of space, as required by the Passive House standard, will help reduce the spread of germs between residential units, Apigian says.

Regarding the resilience measures, “there are some initial costs in terms of infrastructure, but the benefits far outweigh the issues,” Carbone says. “If you have an incident, the cost to remediate the building and just get it back to the way it was can be significant with insurance claims, bringing in subcontractors to demolish damaged materials, and reinstallations. There’s also the potential for time lost and resident impacts if families have to relocate. The benefits of making the building more resilient just far outweigh the costs.”

HRI estimates that the airtight building envelope and passive cooling systems will allow residents to remain comfortably in their units for several days in the event of a power outage during a heat wave.

The project partners agree that buy-in, close coordination, and thorough understanding of the project’s resilience and energy efficiency goals were key to implementing the details necessary to achieve the Passive House certification. “Passive House is all about being proactive with the architect during design and construction, and working through details,” says Matthew Smyka, project executive at NEI General Construction.

In addition to weekly owner/architect/contractor (OAC) meetings, NEI and the subcontractors held regular preconstruction coordination meetings and separate Passive House meetings to review the plans and specifications that were part of the upcoming phase, says Smyka. The extra coordination paid off: the construction team provided solutions to minimize thermal bridging along the edges of the building slab and on the steel components of the building and underground garage.

In terms of next steps, HRI plans to learn from Finch Cambridge by tracking a wealth of energy, water, and wellness data, especially on indoor air quality; the data will also be shared with residents and other stakeholders. HRI looks forward to sharing Passive House and Enterprise Green Community lessons learned with the affordable housing development community.

Pepperwood

The Tubbs fire, which at the time was the most destructive fire in California’s history, burned right through Pepperwood. “There’s been a lot of development in that fire corridor, so the building up of fuels, the natural patterns of fire, the terrain, the fuel types . . . they all exacerbated it. It was a devastating, catastrophic fire,” says Antonio Pares, principal at Mithun, whom Pepperwood hired for the rebuild.

“With a really short turnaround time for evacuation, the Tubbs fire was a life and death situation for members of my team. And we lost six structures that night,” says Lisa Micheli, president of the Pepperwood Foundation. The only major Pepperwood structure to survive the  Tubbs fire was the Dwight Center for Conservation Science, which was the newest building on the property and had been fabricated out of steel and built into the lee side of a hill. The remainder of the structures, including Pepperwood’s office and environmental education facilities, were built in the 1950s or earlier and were primarily constructed of traditional redwood shingle.

WILDFIRE RESILIENCE STRATEGIES

Pepperwood is rebuilding three structures. A 2,000-square-foot barn and office, a 1,900-square-foot residence for an on-site manager, and a 3,000-square-foot duplex for other staff and visiting scientists that will cost approximately $1 million, $1.5 million, and $2.5  million, respectively, to rebuild. The rebuild team considered if the structures should be rebuilt on the same locations and decided their  locations were optimal and necessary for their uses (although the footprint of one of the residences was reduced).

Other initial steps included analyzing the historical fire patterns in the area and establishing priorities. “We had two goals. One was to build as nontoxically as possible and the other was to build in as much fire-resistant capacity as possible,” says Micheli. The new buildings have a mix of noncombustible metal exteriors and cement fiber panel cladding as well as cement plaster walls and dense black locust decking to reduce flame spread. The buildings also have zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) clay walls in some areas and in others,  low-VOC paint. The surrounding landscape is beautiful and carefully planned but includes little vegetation as part of creating defensible space.

“One goal was to build as nontoxically as possible, and the other goal was to build in as much fire-resistant capacity as possible.” -Lisa Micheli, President, Pepperwood Foundation

In acknowledgment of the affordability concerns, Pares says the rebuild has “a nuanced approach where you’re really thinking about how fire acts in relationship to a structure,” which led to including many preventative measures for ember ignition such as optimal screening of openings, placement and orientation of vents, and eliminating structural depressions where embers could collect.

BUSINESS OUTCOME

Results from the Tubbs fire demonstrate that the land management strategies that Pepperwood practices and studies do have a positive effect. Staff noticed that the only areas not severely burned in 2017 were those that had previously been treated with prescribed, controlled burns to reduce vegetative fuel. Pepperwood’s response to the Tubbs fire also helped prepare it to survive the 2019 Kincade fire.  “In 2019, only about half the property burned. We were able to prevent the fire from getting to the rebuild sites,” says Micheli.  Ongoing construction on three buildings was also able to continue in 2020 because fire rebuilds are considered essential businesses and were not halted for the coronavirus pandemic.

Pepperwood now serves as a focal point for the protection of the wider community. It is part of a fire camera network, with two cameras that provide virtual, real-time data to firefighters about onsite conditions. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE) used Pepperwood as a staging area to fight the Kincade fire—the cameras were vital sources of information and assisted CALFIRE in preventing the fire from progressing further in that area.

The rebuild has led to many lessons learned for a team that does not specialize in large-scale construction projects, let alone complicated rebuilds. With more upfront knowledge about total cost, Micheli says, “I probably would have scaled back on some of the houses’ amenities.” However, she thinks the extra resilience measures are worth the cost, saying, “What we’re getting are incredibly resilient structures that are going to be in use for the next century of our organization.”

The total cost of the rebuild is about $5 million, including an estimated $1.25 million in sustainability and resilience improvements over what insurance would cover. Pepperwood launched a capital campaign to raise the difference and received large legacy gifts from several donors. The resulting structures will exceed local code requirements and are of significantly higher quality and resilience than the original buildings, especially with regard to the nontoxic materials.

Figuring out the insurance claim was a lengthy and difficult process that involved eight individuals negotiating for more than 12 months. Micheli’s advice to other property owners is to make sure that they have detailed site information before a disaster occurs, as one way to mitigate the difficulty of the process.

Antonio Pares’s main lesson learned on the design side is “to keep the buildings as simple as possible . . . and address the vulnerabilities of traditional structure” to ember ignition.

Rancho Mission Viejo

 

When complete, the Ranch will be home to about 35,000 residents. About 10,000 residents live in 4,000 homes on the site as of July 2020, and the site is approved for 14,000 homes and 5 million square feet of retail and commercial office space.

“Rancho Mission Viejo is at the far urban edge of unincorporated Orange County, adjacent to the city of San Juan Capistrano. There have been wildfires in and around the Ranch. Consideration of wildfires has been part of every major land use decision we’ve made since we started considering developing the property,” says Jay Bullock, vice president of planning and entitlement for Rancho Mission Viejo.

WILDFIRE RESILIENCE SOLUTIONS

Data-informed planning drives the wildfire resilience strategy at Rancho Mission Viejo, which includes a fire master plan, conservation of open space, building guidelines, and strict landscaping and defensible space protocols. The development team began with a fire behavior modeling study, using the Behave software system, to assess risk throughout the entire ranch.

“Consideration of wildfires has been a part of every major land use decision we’ve made since we started considering developing the property.” – Jay Bullock, Vice President of Planning and Entitlement, Rancho Mission Viejo

The results of the study inform the Ranch Plan Fire Protection Program, which was created in 2007 in partnership with the Orange County Fire Authority and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE) as the county’s first pilot test of  community wildfire protection plans. The protection program includes requirements for noncombustible construction materials and standards for automatic fire sprinklers everywhere in the community—not just in the riskiest areas.

In addition, “our site density works in the direction of safety,” says Bullock. Residential areas range in density, yet are clustered in neighborhoods. Each neighborhood is surrounded by a 110-foot-wide fuel modification zone (a mix of no vegetation, fire-resistant vegetation, and irrigated vegetation), which is extended to 170 feet near higher-risk areas. Certain plant species (such as pines, eucalyptus, and palms or anything with peeling bark) are prohibited. The typical site plan calls for five- to 10-foot residential backyards of mostly nonvegetated hardscape.

BUSINESS OUTCOME

The additional construction cost of making each Rancho Mission Viejo home wildfire resilient was initially between $4,000 and $10,000 when compared with the typical construction cost of a similar, but less wildfire resilient, home.

However, “as wildfire resilient construction techniques and materials become the new normal, the additional cost per home may be down to $1,000 or $2,000—far below the costs builders were facing when the state first introduced these requirements. It’s the cost of doing business in the wildland-urban interface,” says Bullock.

Much of the Ranch is in the wildland-urban interface because of its adjacency to the Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo, a large habitat preserve that will ultimately grow to encompass nearly 21,000 acres of Rancho Mission Viejo land.

“The Ranch doesn’t feel like anywhere else in Orange County,” says Bullock. “Ranch residents love the access to open space and the beautiful backcountry views of the Reserve, but with this comes the expectation of homebuyers that wildfire has been considered.”

Avimor

 

Wildfire resilience is top of mind in Boise, which had 32 wildfires within two miles of the city’s border between 2000 and 2015. Also, “the growth trend in this area is very fast. Boise is the major metro area, and it’s surrounded by several smaller cities that meld into one area. We’re running out of room quickly,” says Charles Baun, wildfire expert and owner of ECS Inc., which consulted on the project.

In addition to expanding wildland-urban interface (WUI) development, “we estimate we’re about 20,000 homes short of meeting the need in the valley, and Ada County is expected to grow by a few hundred thousand people by 2040,” says Dan Richter, managing partner for Avimor Development.

Avimor is the second community in Idaho to be a nationally registered Firewise USA community, and one of the first in the nation to earn the certification as a new large development. Development started in 2004, was approved in 2006, and the first residential unit was completed in 2008. Avimor has 600 homes and several commercial buildings completed or under construction as of July 2020. With 300 homes constructed each year, it will gradually expand to 10,000 homes and become the largest development in the county over the next 60 years.

WILDFIRE RESILIENCE STRATEGIES

The Avimor leadership team hired a consultant to update the original site plan to make the development more wildfire resilient and the team worked closely with the local fire districts (Eagle and Boise) on the overall approach. The consultant’s first step was to map and classify vegetation across Avimor’s 35,000 acres to model fire risk, while also identifying and mitigating impacts to habitat and wildlife in the region.

Avimor has centralized development within large expanses of open space and it has recreational trail and road networks that act as fuel breaks and buffers. These transportation corridors also provide defined, easily accessible points for wildland firefighters and their equipment to access the surrounding foothills and open space. As part of the planning process, the development team identified and
mapped all the access points for firefighters, which makes response easier, faster, and potentially safer. The team also developed several
on-site landscaping and fishing ponds that dual-function as dipping stations for firefighting helicopters.

“Proactive management of fuels in the adjacent open spaces coupled with Firewise landscaping guidelines and structural requirements save money, protect homes, and save lives.” – Dan Richter, Managing Partner, Avimor

The development team also created a wildland fire plan, a recreation plan, a noxious and invasive weeds plan, and a wildlife plan—most of which are above planning requirements. Avimor was the first development in Ada County to write its own fire plan. “NFPA 1144 standards [Standard for Reducing Structure Ignition Hazards from Wildland Fire] are guided toward single units that are surrounded 360 degrees by woodlands or other WUI areas. It’s not developed around planned communities or subdivisions, so we developed a new standard that incorporated the infrastructure found in these types of higher-density developments,” says Baun.

Avimor’s buildings have cementitious siding and class A roofs. Residential units located on the development’s periphery are required to have their landscape plan reviewed and approved by a certified Firewise USA specialist. Once units and landscapes are installed, the residents participate in an on-site review with the specialist to go over the Firewise aspects of the home and landscape plan, with a follow-up audit every five years.

In addition, Avimor charges tenants a fire impact fee. Homeowners contribute $10 each month to the Avimor Stewardship Organization to fund significant wildland improvement projects.

BUSINESS OUTCOME

Avimor reports that wildfire resilience was a “negligible cost increase” on new structures and a worthwhile upfront investment, especially because retrofitting homes and buildings to Firewise standards at a later point would have been significantly more expensive. The team saved money by not installing internal sprinkler systems—given the area’s topography, internal sprinkler systems might have been ineffective in the event of a fire because of the lack of water pressure. “Our prices are on par with homes being built in the valley where they don’t do all this wildfire resilience or have the open space. People feel like they’re getting a bargain here,” says Richter.

Across the development, the fire-adapted landscaping uses 60 to 80 percent less water than conventional designs in the region, and the site layout of clustered and buffered density contributes to cost efficiencies and resilience. Areas adjacent to the development are also mowed regularly to create strategically placed fuel breaks to slow external wildfires. “The slopes come back looking so much better. There’s a real difference between the slopes that have never been mowed and those that we treat,” says Richter. Tenants also appreciate the careful land stewardship and Firewise USA programs and turn out in significant numbers for volunteer trail maintenance and native vegetation planting days.

Avimor has weathered two recent fires—one in 2016 and one in 2018—that were started by vehicles on nearby roads. In both cases, the fire was directly adjacent to the property, but no people or structures were harmed.

Maceo May

 

Maceo May is the first building to go vertical as part of a master-planned redevelopment of Treasure Island, a 393-acre island in San Francisco Bay. The island will have all-new infrastructure, 8,000 new housing units, several commercial uses, and a considerable amount of open space. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the island in the 1930s in part to celebrate the completion of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. It hosted the World’s Fair in 1939–1940 and then a naval base, which was decommissioned in 1994.

Upon decommissioning, more than 200 units of military housing were set aside to serve as housing for the homeless and were managed by four organizations, including Swords to Plowshares, the co-owner of Maceo May. Thirty-nine resident households will move from that ex-military housing to Maceo May in spring 2022. The building will also have 65 apartments for veterans newly exiting homelessness.

The building’s resilient and sustainable features are essential for fulfilling the core purpose of the building—delivering stability, supportive services, and well-being for its residents. “Our desire to build resilience into this building was partly our values . . . and also a direct response to the current conditions on the island,” says Joanna Ladd, senior project manager and development strategist for Chinatown Community Development Center (Chinatown CDC). Power outages are a concern to residents currently living in the aging former military housing.

Swords to Plowshares and Chinatown CDC plan to own and operate Maceo May for at least 75 years, so the project team considered climate risk on that time horizon. “We were also thinking about the broader Northern California context, especially the catastrophic wildfire events in recent years, which coincided with public safety power shutoffs and hazardous air quality across the region,” says Hilary Noll, a project architect and senior associate and sustainability integration leader at Mithun. San Francisco’s air quality index reached 271 parts per million (ppm)—a “very unhealthy” level and the worst in San Francisco history—in November 2018 when the Camp Fire burned just north in Butte County.

Resilience Strategies

The design was guided by a set of outcome-based goals developed jointly by Mithun and the building owners. At the outset of the project, Chinatown CDC and Swords to Plowshares participated in a health charrette with Mithun that established continuity of operations and mitigation of climate change impacts on resident health as two key goals.

The Maceo May resilience approach also includes all-electric power (no natural gas), solar photovoltaic (PV) energy generation, and readiness for net-zero carbon operations as the California grid continues to meet carbon-reduction targets. Maceo May also features passive design strategies and backup power. Natural gas is a vulnerable infrastructure asset in San Francisco because earthquakes can damage gas infrastructure and lead to explosions and methane leaks, Noll notes.

Net-zero capable, Maceo May is designed to maximize energy efficiency with an energy use intensity (EUI) about 70 percent lower than an average multifamily building in the United States. Air-source heat pumps provide hot water four to five times more efficiently than does a typical boiler. A high-performance building envelope that incorporates 1.5 inches of rigid-mineral-wool continuous insulation minimizes heating and cooling loads, allowing smaller residential heating equipment and cutting costs. Occupancy sensors and daylight dimmers also limit electricity use

All Maceo May’s resilient design strategies come back to clear health and quality-of-life benefits for residents.—Joanna Ladd, senior project manager and development strategist, Chinatown Community Development Center

The development team also chose to install an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) with a MERV 13 filter for every residential unit. The ERV reduces HVAC electricity consumption, and the MERV 13 filter exceeds conventional practice and will help filter particulate matter and airborne debris to maintain better indoor air quality, which is a considerable concern during wildfire events and heat waves.

“Given that Treasure Island will be under construction for a long time after the building opens and that we’re housing a population who bears disproportionate health issues such as compromised immune systems and other effects from having endured trauma, designing for good indoor air quality is paramount,” says Noll.

Passive design strategies and superior ventilation also limit energy use, create good air quality, and support the thermal comfort of residents, especially during potential power outages. Maceo May is oriented to take advantage of San Francisco Bay breezes. Windows are operable and have a low u-value of 0.34 and solar-heat gain resistance of 0.19; double-pane low-E glazing is argon filled (indicating a high level of insulation and resistance to heat transfer). South- and west-facing windows are shaded. In residential units, ceiling fans and operable windows located at different heights maximize airflow.

A rooftop 123-kilowatt solar PV array with on-site battery storage is designed to prioritize powering a first-floor community room that doubles as a “resilience hub.” Inverters link the array to both battery storage and the local grid so Maceo May has the ability to be self-sustaining. The battery backup system is located on the top floor to prevent problems in the event of flooding.

The setup powers critical building systems that support resident well-being, such as refrigeration (for storing essential daily medications), basic power and light (including for charging devices), and cooling for data and wi-fi closets that are specifically circuited for the ground-floor community space. The resilience hub’s operability during power outages is a means of minimizing disruption in residents’ lives, a key resilience goal in a home for veterans.

During eco-charrette discussions with the owners, we learned that many of the residents suffer from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] symptoms. One of the best evidence-based design strategies to help someone with PTSD to heal is to create conditions of continuity in daily life.—Hilary Noll, architect, Mithun

Maceo May will also include sustainability and health and wellness amenities such as electric-vehicle parking, bicycle storage and repair, a forested healing garden, a playground and cookout area, and access to an adjacent community park and planned trail network.

Value Proposition

According to developer Ladd, the big takeaway is that “all-electric multifamily affordable housing is cost neutral at a minimum.” Going all-electric did not significantly increase costs, the design helped avoid some infrastructure expenses, and utility bills are expected to be much lower than for a typical multifamily building once the solar PV array is installed. Construction costs, which are bid out at $472 per square foot, are on the high end but not far outside the normal range for San Francisco.

Tax credits for efficiency

The financing for Maceo May is characteristic of affordable housing in California, benefiting from tax credits and tax-exempt bonds. Passive design and heat pumps (which cost more to install than conventional options) helped Maceo May qualify for federal tax credits provided to energy-efficient affordable housing. The development also received critical funding from the state’s Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention (VHHP) Program.

Avoided costs and operational savings

“Eliminating natural gas has an immediate co-benefit,” says Noll; the project will save about $250,000 by avoiding equipment such as gas piping, meters, and combustion venting. Another significant area of savings came from the Cadet heater units, which eliminate the need for the copper piping in typical hydronic baseboard systems. The money realized by the avoided costs was reinvested in the project via the installation of the ERV (a $1,200-per-unit cost premium over a conventional Z-Duct heat exchanger) and the resilience hub, an added cost of about $100,000.

Our efficient all-electric building and large solar array are an insurance policy against rising utility costs over time, which is huge for affordable housing developers with small reserves and operating budgets. —Joanna Ladd, senior project manager and development strategist, Chinatown Community Development Center

Future-proofing

By already meeting stringent energy efficiency and sustainability standards, Maceo May is positioned to adjust to any future legislation that increases minimum energy and sustainability requirements. California’s goal is zero net emissions by 2045, and the Berkeley City Council voted in summer 2019 to ban natural gas connections to new small and medium-sized residential buildings. Five other cities and counties in California are considering similar ordinances, and the Maceo May development team expects San Francisco to follow with a gas ban in the near future.

The development team also describes the solar PV array as insurance against potential rising utility costs. The solar PV array mitigates the risk of going all-electric before the co-owners have a wealth of building performance and benchmarking data on air-source heat pump hot water systems from Maceo May and other developments in the region. The solar array is designed to cover about 80 percent of the common-area loads of the building, which could be a long-term economic resilience boost to the owners.

Awards and public support

Maceo May is pursuing Fitwel certification and is on track to earn GreenPoint Gold. It is also a pilot project for the LEED Integrative Process for Health Promotion credit, a category the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Green Health Partnership introduced in 2019. The city of San Francisco was also supportive of the development, making the approval process efficient and relatively easy. The city is committed to making municipal buildings all-electric and was eager to learn from the experience of developing Maceo May, especially because the project costs were within a normal range.

Lessons Learned

  • All-electric affordable housing in California can be cost neutral to build.
  • The cost of resilience features can be offset through savings from sustainability measures.
  • Engagement between the building owner and design team in setting outcome-based design goals preserved essential design features, saved time through the process, and illuminated opportunities to achieve co-benefits.

Bagby Street

Bagby Street, originally a four-lane throughway, is located in a tax increment reinvestment zone in Midtown Houston, a central neighborhood just south of the downtown core that has experienced significant growth since the early 2010s.

With that growth and increased demand on public infrastructure and utilities, the Bagby Street corridor was in need of major repairs and upgrades, especially to its stormwater infrastructure. “We saw it as an opportunity,” says Marlon Marshall, director of engineering and construction for the Midtown Redevelopment Authority (MRA), “to develop a sustainable capital improvement project to try to induce additional development in this area.”

Mitigating the urban heat island to ensure pedestrian comfort was a central design strategy; hot temperatures in Houston are a concern from May to October. The project team, led by Walter P Moore, also wanted to improve stormwater management to be prepared for Houston’s occasional heavy rains and hurricanes.

Before the reconstruction, 10 of Bagby Street’s 13 sidewalk blocks were in disrepair, and commuters used it primarily as a cut-through to reach two nearby highways. In addition, Bagby Street required significant drainage and utility updates, and averaged a summer surface temperature of 108°F.

Bagby Street has been reconstructed to provide more public space, attract development, and remain comfortable, walkable, and usable during times of extreme heat and flooding.

Extreme Heat Resilience Strategies

To meet the Midtown Redevelopment Authority’s goals, Walter P Moore and landscape architect and urban planning firm Design Workshop proposed reducing Bagby Street from four lanes to two, incorporating pedestrian safety features and adding significant green infrastructure. “We were able to improve levels of service even though we reduced the number of lanes,” explains Edwin Friedrichs, senior principal at Walter P Moore, “because with two lanes, it was much faster to walk across the street. We could give more through time on the roadway.” Less traffic also meant less waste heat production from cars idling at traffic signals or in traffic.

With reduced traffic delays and car idling, there is reduced emissions and waste heat.—Jennifer Peek, Executive Director, Infrastructure Group at Walter P Moore

Downsizing the road also allowed for a 38 percent increase in seating and social gathering space, which has contributed to “increased pedestrian activity,” says Marshall. To support the increased pedestrian traffic, the project team used heat-resistant paving materials and landscaping to maintain a comfortable environment. The team selected pavers with a high solar reflectance value and 25 percent recycled material content. “The pavers cost about double what concrete would generally cost,” says Alex Ramirez, associate at Design Workshop, “but they contribute to the branding and identity the Midtown District desired.”

The team also deliberately decided against brick pavers to minimize erosion and maintenance costs. According to Friedrichs: “We are experiencing more rainfall events with four to six inches of precipitation in just a few hours. That running water washes the sand out of brick pavers, which then need to be repaired.”

We put Bagby Street on a ‘road diet’ and gave a bunch of space back to the public.—Alex Ramirez, Associate, Design Workshop

The extra social space allowed the addition of 175 new, large shade trees along the corridor, which would also reduce temperatures and improve the pedestrian environment. The redesign also included rain gardens with heat- and drought-tolerant plant species and aligned new permanent irrigation infrastructure with a small park adjacent to the street.

When some property owners along Bagby Street initially opposed the removal of short, non-native tree species to make way for larger, native trees, the project team led a significant and successful community engagement effort. “We held meetings with every property owner to show what was going on through construction, what the completed project would look like next to their property, and to explain the benefits of low-impact development and trees,” says Friedrichs.

Outcome 

The corridor’s new design has significantly improved local business, the pedestrian experience, and environmental outcomes, earning its place as the first Greenroads-certified project in Texas and the highest-scoring Greenroads project for several years until 2017, when the Sellwood Bridge in Oregon surpassed Bagby Street by one point in the rating system.

Bagby Street has also received recognition from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Council of Engineering Companies, and the Congress for the New Urbanism. One lesson learned from the certifications and awards processes is to document all the activities related to the rating system in order to achieve full credit, advises Jennifer Peek, executive director of the infrastructure group at Walter P Moore.

Moreover, “we’ve shown that green infrastructure can be beneficial from a dollars-and-cents standpoint,” says Marshall. In the first year after the reconstruction, nearly $30 million in private development was invested along Bagby Street. Property values along the street have increased 25 percent and 20 percent for the rental market. “Abandoned parcels were redeveloped into bars and restaurants,” says Ramirez.

Bagby Street has become a significant node of attractive establishments. It’s been very successful over the last four to five years.—Marlon Marshall, Director of Engineering and Construction, Midtown Redevelopment Authority

MRA and its partner organization, Midtown Management District, responsible for operations and maintenance, have also realized cost savings and work efficiencies from the redesign. By aligning Bagby’s irrigation infrastructure with the nearby park, for example, Midtown has seen a steady 10 percent water bill reduction every year since the reconstruction.

In addition to installing new heat-mitigation features and additional stormwater infrastructure, the project team and MRA coordinated with the local utility providers to replace overhead utilities on taller poles and consolidate poles on one side of the street. Those changes eliminate half the street’s overhead powerline conflicts with the big shade trees and allow the trees on the side of the street with utility lines to grow larger before needing to be trimmed, thereby reducing maintenance costs.

“Bagby has become a model project,” says Marshall. “We’ve had national visitors and presented it at many conferences as a prototype of tackling a number of aspects, including human comfort from a heat perspective.”

Design Workshop used a heat gun to measure surface temperatures at the street level; “there’s about a 20-degree Fahrenheit difference between areas where the direct sunlight is hitting pavement to pavement in the shade,” says Ramirez. The new design achieved a 42 percent increase in shade on sidewalks, allowing 90 percent total shade coverage and a 14 percent reduction in surface temperatures throughout the corridor.

The green infrastructure is also an asset during times of heavy rains and hurricanes. Since completion, Bagby has weathered three major floods, including Hurricane Harvey (2017). “While many other areas of Midtown Houston flooded,” says Marshall, “there was no flooding on Bagby Street during any of those major flood events. We’re proud of how Bagby performed.”

Sundance Square Plaza

The design of the plaza was driven primarily by programming; even when it was parking, events were held there year-round. A key concern was the comfort and experience of the occupants. According to landscape architect Michael Vergason, “Summer heat was part of the discussion from the first conversations.”

We thought of it in terms of ‘how do we make this a comfortable space for people to gather in before, during, and after their experience downtown?’ –Johnny Campbell, CEO, Sundance Square

The goal was to develop an effective, comfortable space that would allow expanded programming but would also be architecturally beautiful.

Extreme Heat Resilience Strategies
The plaza’s most noticeable heat-mitigation feature is its four 86-foot mechanically operable shade umbrellas. Imported from Germany, the umbrellas provide almost 5,800 square feet of shaded space, are illuminated at night by multicolored LED lamps, and can easily be closed on cooler days when the warmth of the sun is welcome. Cedar elm trees provide additional shade along the sidewalks.

There are also two water features in the plaza—a large fountain and a water wall—that provide tangible and psychological cooling. Terraces around the park not only are comfortable places to sit but also effectively provide eddies for draining and funneling water toward the vegetation. Red-brick pavers match the nearby roadways and have a higher solar reflective index than the previous black asphalt.

I have never seen a shopping center make such a jump in sales at that age and at that level of maturity. It’s been four years of double-digit growth. –Johnny Campbell, CEO, Sundance Square

Outcome
According to Sundance Square CEO, Johnny Campbell, the plaza was an excellent investment “in terms of driving vibrancy, creating foot traffic and making sales happen.” The number of people attending events increased on average by more than 10 times, and retail sales in the vicinity jumped over 20 percent after the plaza opened. The per square foot sales price of downtown residential units also jumped 5 percent in the six months after the plaza’s opening.

The plaza has also demonstrably changed people’s opinions of and experiences in downtown Fort Worth; it’s not uncommon to hear “I’ll meet you under the umbrellas.” “The city is now seen to have a center,” explains Vergason; “it has become a destination.”

 

SkySong

SkySong is a partnership between Arizona State University Foundation, the city of Scottsdale, and Plaza Companies, as master developer. Plaza Companies and Holualoa Companies are partners on the office buildings. The center is a hub for academic and private entrepreneurship that has revived the previously declining McDowell Corridor neighborhood. Before the center’s construction, surrounding companies were relocating and property values decreasing. SkySong itself is on the site of Los Arcos Mall that had been sitting vacant since the mid-1990s.

The center includes five class A four- and six-story office buildings, built between 2008 and 2019, 325 luxury rental apartments, a 157-bed hotel, retail shops, and several restaurants supported by an on-site urban garden. SkySong totals about 1.2 million square feet of commercial office.

The center’s sustainable design and extreme heat management features address local climate extremes, demonstrate Arizona State University (ASU)’s renowned built environment programs and initiatives, and are integral to SkySong’s ability to attract and retain innovative tenants. “The goal,” says Sharon Harper, president, CEO, and cofounder of Plaza Companies, “was to create healthy buildings and healthy environments that would set SkySong apart.”

We started with understanding our climate and understanding the new way that people and companies are spending their days. We are tremendously successful because of that sensitivity. –Sharon Harper, President, CEO, and Cofounder, Plaza Companies

Extreme Heat Resilience Strategies 
Organized in four quadrants around an iconic, 150-foot-tall shade structure covering a central plaza, SkySong’s buildings are near one another, thus allowing the structures themselves to provide shade to neighboring buildings as well as the pedestrian circulation points around the site. The buildings are oriented to minimize solar heat gain and incorporate multiple facade improvements, including horizontal and vertical shade screens, high-performance window glazing, and small windows on the west and east-facing sides.

Each building capitalizes on the north face with “windows to innovation” where clearer glass components allow additional natural light and views while vertical shade elements prevent glaring sun during parts of the day and year when solar angles reach that face of the building. SkySong buildings 3 and 4 use a standard metal lath in a favorable solar orientation such that the shape of the punch in the panel provides transparency at lower viewing angles and opaqueness at the higher sun angles.

The site layout facilitates efficient pedestrian travel between indoor, air-conditioned lobbies and comfortable and engaging outdoor spaces. Buildings share centralized parking to minimize outside travel time, and pedestrian pathways are well shaded by vegetation, built structures, or both. The centrally located custom 50,000-square-foot shade structure consists of eight conical-shaped pieces covered with tensile fabric supported by eight, 111-foot-long steel legs. Indoor bike parking, showers, and connections to two nearby parks encourage non-motorized travel.

Developer Sharon Harper also notes that “the efficient operation of the buildings is a key component for investors and tenants and for managing temperature.” SkySong has LED lighting as well as daylight harvesting and motion sensors to minimize lighting use. All cooling equipment has nighttime setbacks when buildings are less occupied and staggered start times to minimize peak electric demand. Similarly, SkySong’s construction was largely completed early in the morning and partially at night to protect workers’ health and ensure daytime heat exposure would not reduce the quality of building materials.

SkySong is architecturally appealing with functional components for managing heat.  –Korey Wilkes, Principal, Butler Design Group

Outcome
Achieving the objective of revitalizing the McDowell Corridor neighborhood and spurring innovation, SkySong has generated over $588 million in local economic output with a projected regional output of $32.17 billion by 2046. “The economic output is phenomenal,” says Harper. SkySong draws over 5,500 visitors each month and houses 57 companies.

The first two commercial buildings are over 90 percent leased, the more recent SkySong 3 and 4 are 100 percent leased, and the new SkySong 5 is nearly 80 pre-leased. Prominent tenants include multiple enterprising cloud computing firms such as Oracle, photography and imaging equipment supplier Canon, CenturyLink Communications, TicketMaster, Groupon, a research and development subsidiary of Bridgestone Tires, and companies in accelerator programs run by ASU’s Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Many of SkySong’s early tenants have experienced significant growth and relocated to larger office spaces within the development.

SkySong’s buildings are all LEED Silver certified and have achieved Energy Star certification. The heat-conscious landscaping and design creates outdoor amenity spaces that are enjoyed year-round. “Even when it’s 115 degrees,” says Harper, “there are people sitting in the shade, connected and social.

FDR Park Master Plan

Context

Originally called League Island Park, FDR Park was designed by the Olmsted brothers (sons of Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted) in 1914. The 348-acre park is located in South Philly, one of the city’s most densely populated and diverse neighborhoods. FDR Park is currently well used, but has not seen significant investment in decades. Some park facilities have been closed to the public due to disrepair while others, like the 18-hole golf course, are no longer viable in the face of changing climate and recreation trends. The master-planning process was a chance to restore the designers’ original vision of the park as an urban oasis while adapting to the needs of present and future Philadelphians.

As Philadelphia’s only estuary park, FDR owes its existence to human intervention; fill material from the construction of the nearby Broad Street Subway line was used to convert the original tide marsh into usable park space. Today, the transformed landscape is still shaped by its proximity to water and tidal influences. The park also receives unfiltered stormwater from adjacent impervious surfaces, including I-95. Much of the park lies below sea level and water can drain out only when the Navy Basin is at low tide. Consequently, the park floods often. A tide gate installed over 100 years ago has struggled to drain the park effectively. As a result, trails, roads, and other amenities in the park show signs of significant flood damage.

Climate projections indicate that Philadelphia could see four to 10 times as many days above 95° F by 2099 and average summer temperatures could increase by 5° to 9° F. Average annual precipitation could increase by five inches by 2099. In a business-as-usual emissions scenario, local sea level could rise by as much as four feet by 2100. The park is an important natural asset for the city and has been identified as a resilience hub by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Resilience hubs are open spaces located near infrastructure and population density, where communities can maximize return on investment and achieve multiple community resilience and conservation outcomes.

“This plan is the act of balancing water, nature, and activity.”—Allison Schapker (Fairmount Park Conservancy)

The master-planning process began in 2017 as a joint effort of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, and Friends of FDR Park. WRT was selected from 15 proposals to complete the master plan, which was funded by the Friends of FDR Park, a grant from the William Penn Foundation, and City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson’s office.

The master planning process included an in-depth hydrological study of the area, made possible by the William Penn Foundation funding. Most of the park sits in a 100-year floodplain and the park is also located in the drainage area for three combined sewage overflow discharge points into the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. With these risks in mind, the project team needed a complete understanding of how water flows into, out of, and through the park. The study tracked how water moves between the park’s creeks, lakes, and lagoons, and its findings informed the proposed placement, location of amenities and design of the stormwater management infrastructure.

Community engagement was a critical component of the master planning process. The team engaged community members through public meetings, hands-on workshops, and surveys. In-park engagement included mobile planning booth with opportunities for residents to give feedback by designing their ideal park.  The project team also hired 5 park ambassadors from the surrounding neighborhoods, to engage park users and their fellow community members. With 19 different languages spoken in the census tracts bordering FDR Park, much of the engagement work was done across multiple languages and cultures.

After a one and a half-year planning process, the master plan was revealed on May 22, 2019.

Innovation

The master plan envisions a park that serves both people and nature. Its design is delineated into two zones: the Urban Edge and the Ecological Core.

The Ecological Core proactively acknowledges the park’s flood risk by increasing the park’s capacity to manage water while simultaneously providing opportunities for visitors to connect with nature. “Mother nature will do what it’s going to do, and this park will flood,” said Charles Neer, senior associate with WRT. “We want to create a park that responds to the needs of mother nature and users.” Expanded creek systems and restored wetlands in the Ecological Core are designed to accommodate flood and stormwater, facilitating its storage, filtration, and movement through the park while providing a chance for visitors to connect with nature.

The planned wetland mitigation and stream restoration projects will produce a significant amount of fill material. The master plan proposes repurposing this material to create The Hill, a 36-foot elevated section of the park that will provide views of the city skyline and additional recreational opportunities. Fill material will also be used to elevate athletic fields and other amenities in the Urban Edge out of the floodplain.

The planning team often refers to FDR park as a “bathtub” due to its topography and tendency to store water. If the park is a bathtub, then the tide gate is its drain. In recent years, the tide gate and its associated system of culverts have not been effectively draining water out of the park. Replacing the tide gate is a top implementation priority.

Amenities in the Ecological Core are also designed with potential flooding in mind. Asphalt trails, which tend to deteriorate with prolonged water exposure, will be replaced with wooden boardwalks. Picnic areas will be elevated to ensure their continued use; an important consideration in Philadelphia’s most popular picnic site.

“The park needs to be flexible to a rate of climate change that we can’t predict anymore. We can’t engineer out of this situation, but we can adapt.” – Charles Neer (WRT)

The Urban Edge encircles the park, providing an attractive and welcoming interface with the community. “The park itself is a place of climate refuge [from extreme heat],” says Alison Schapker, director of capital projects at the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and the Urban Edge welcomes visitors with abundant shade and a network of green stormwater infrastructure, designed to manage runoff from the surrounding urban areas. Twenty acres of the park will be reforested with species like sweetgum that are expected to thrive in a hotter, wetter future. The master plan team also worked with Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability, Water Department, and Floodplain Manager to analyze impacts of climate change, flooding and sea level rise.

Stormwater management interventions within the park are designed to exceed PWD stormwater management goals by managing surface runoff from outside park boundaries. Green stormwater infrastructure is proposed near the northern and southern borders of the site to manage water coming from surrounding roads.  This is especially important near Interstate 95, where 15 acres of untreated highway run off onto the park, creating significant maintenance issues within the park. Natural filtration systems ensure that the park can accept stormwater from the roadways without degrading water quality in the Park’s lakes or impacting park infrastructure

The City’s Green Plan, a long-term vision for the citywide open spaces, suggests the creation of green streets surrounding the park that act as neighborhood cooling corridors and comfortable park access routes. Although FDR is the only large park in Philadelphia that is directly connected to a subway station, most visitors arrive by car. The master plan aims to make FDR park a destination for walkers and bikers, both by improving trail systems within the park and by creating more welcoming entrances for alternative transportation.

The Urban Edge will also be home to the park’s recreational amenities, including athletic fields, playgrounds, pavilions, and comfort facilities. Some of these amenities will be elevated to ensure their continued use during flooding conditions.

The master plan anticipates the projected impacts of climate change and envisions a park that not only retains its recreational value in a hotter, wetter future, but also actively mitigates the impacts of higher temperatures and more frequent flooding. The park’s mitigative capacity extends beyond its borders, providing essential services to the surrounding area.

Value Creation

FDR park can only provide environmental, recreational, and economic benefits to the community if it is adequately funded and maintained. Concurrent to the development of the master plan, the team worked with the City and recreational consultant Greenplay to develop an operations and maintenance plan and operating proforma for FDR Park. As a result, the master plan reflects the importance of creating a self-funding park that balances opportunities for revenue generation with access and equity. If successful, FDR Park will be the first self-sustaining park in the city, generating enough funds to cover its operations, maintenance, and staffing costs.

According to Schapker, “Many of the things people the community are asking for will generate revenue for the city,” including bike and boat rentals, trails, athletic fields (which generate tournament fees), and food vendors. The 15-acre Great Lawn may host events while the multi-use trail also doubles as a 5k course. The master plan also anticipates ways that the park could capitalize on its proximity to three of Philadelphia’s major sports venues: the Wells Fargo Center, Lincoln Financial Field, and Citizens Bank Park by offering parking and dining opportunities for fans.

Maintaining consistent staffing is also integral to the overall resilience of the park. As Neer explains, “When the park has dedicated staff, they will be more aware of the environmental situation. What’s working? What’s not? They will be able to calibrate and schedule use of the park accordingly.” With a consistent revenue sources, the master plan hopes to make dedicated staffing possible.

Next Steps

The first phase of implementation will include the creation of almost 40 acres of wetland on the park’s southwestern side, completed in partnership with the Philadelphia International Airport. With the creation of a mitigation wetland in FDR Park, the Airport will be able to pursue its own development projects while also improving the hydrologic function of FDR Park and providing fill to elevate new amenities out of the floodplain.

As of July 2019, funding remains to be secured for the remainder of the master plan. The project team anticipates it will be funded with a mix of local, state, and federal funds as well as private corporate and philanthropic partnerships.

“FDR Park is an example of a public/private partnership; an example of civic investment; and an example of climate resilience. The opportunities in all of those areas work together rather than against each other.” – Allison Schapker (Fairmount Park Conservancy)

Although it may be years before this new vision for FDR Park is fully realized, the master planning process provides an exciting path forward for the creation of a park that is vibrant, self-sustaining, and resilient, that can serve as a blueprint for park development in Philadelphia and beyond.

Sources

District Wharf

Developed by PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette, with partners E.R. Bacon Development, City Partners, Paramount Development, and Triden Development, The Wharf is a public private partnership with the District of Columbia’s Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. It is an ambitious project that has transformed what was once a low-density, commercial development strip into a bustling mixed-use quarter. Proactive investments in resilience and sustainability were key components of the development team’s proposal for this high-profile site. A strong vision for a sustainable urban waterfront helped the development team secure the site and advance this high-value project.

The Wharf’s 3.2 million square feet of development are located on 27 acres of land and 49 acres of water along roughly one mile of the Washington Channel. The $2.5 billion mixed-use neighborhood integrates many innovative ideas in waterfront design, construction, and operations. These elements include extensive and intensive green roofs, parks, and public spaces that manage stormwater beyond the District’s current requirements, cisterns to collect water for onsite re-use, a cogeneration plant for energy production, roof top solar panels, and a promenade and piers designed to resist storm surges and flooding. The revitalization project also is advancing economic and social resilience by providing opportunities for increased tax revenue for the city, high quality jobs, affordable and workforce housing, open space, recreation opportunities, and connections to nature in Southwest D.C.

The Phase 1 development of apartments, condominiums, retail stores, offices, hotels, restaurants, performing arts hall, and parking, as well as the waterfront park, promenade, and piers, was completed in the fall of 2017. Phase 2, in which broke ground mid-2018 and will complete in 2022, will include additional office, hotel, retail, restaurants, parking, marina, and residential development as well as significant public space improvements.

Mitigating Risk

From the start of the project in 2006, master developer Hoffman-Madison Waterfront and architects Perkins Eastman focused the design process on sustainability, authenticity, and connectivity. The previous 1950s-era commercial district on the site was composed of one to three story buildings housing large format restaurants and a motel. The buildings formed a near-continuous wall along the waterfront that blocked quality public access to the water’s edge. The Hoffman-Madison team leveraged the site’s location close to two Metro stations served by five metrorail lines to create a multimodal walkable, bikeable, and transit-accessible neighborhood, with full access to the riverfront and a new transit mode: water taxi, with service to other waterfront locations along the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers.

The Wharf features a permeable development pattern—an urban grid with a walkable waterside promenade with frequent openings to Maine Avenue, the waterfront’s main arterial. The waterside Wharf Street, a woonerf-style shared street, is the ‘spine’ of the neighborhood, connecting apartments, offices, hotels, restaurants, shops, a 6,000-seat indoor performing arts facility called The Anthem, the historic municipal fish market, a food pavilion, and underground parking for 2,500 vehicles. The urban fabric is connected by 14 acres of public spaces, including a waterfront park, four new piers, a new marina, yacht club, and recreation pier for launching kayaks.

The master plan focused on “bringing the connective city to the waterfront,” with the greatest challenge being “on one hand, calling for buildings to be built up above the 100-year flood plain, and on other hand, permitting people to interact with the riverfront,” notes Perkins Eastman Principal Hilary Bertsch. The commitment to sustainability and resilience, she says, is found in the design focus on connectivity within the site, making development parcels smaller for better permeability to the waterfront, and public space that constitutes half the site and provides systems to recycle stormwater.

Along the water, the property line is set back 20 feet from the previous development line to increase resilience to flooding and create placemaking opportunities with a 60-foot-wide promenade. Buildings are elevated an additional 1.5 feet above Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements. Some facilities, such as piers and the marina, are “designed to get wet” in extreme events. While the majority of the newly developed buildings have been brought above the floodplain, a renovated historic building and other new structures at the historic Maine Avenue Fish Market rely on floodgates and panels during major flood events due to the existing grading of the site, which could not be modified.

“The public environments are where we’ve incorporated a lot of those sustainability and resilience features, using really robust materials, things that are going to last,” says PN Hoffman Vice President Matthew Steenhoek. “From an investment perspective,” he says, “we are not merchant builders, and we spend upfront money on beautiful buildings and systems that have a longer payback.”

The Wharf neighborhood is equipped with multiple on-site energy conservation and production sources, including a cogeneration plant and solar panels. A natural gas 250kW microturbine cogeneration system installed atop The Wharf’s largest residential building decreases the draw of local power, which is primarily coal-derived. The microturbine generates continuous, reliable, and low-emission electricity which will service constant electrical needs in the below-grade, two-level garage for lighting, exhaust fans, sump pumps, elevators, emergency power systems, and public restrooms. The electricity produced on-site reduces the cost of purchasing approximately 1.9 million kWh of electricity from the local utility, resulting in a significant annual savings. In addition, the 1.2 million Btu/h of ‘waste heat’ created in this process is used to heat domestic hot water for the residential building, resulting in an overall efficiency of 64%. Lastly, the cogeneration system generates fewer CO2 emissions than conventional coal-fired power generation, resulting in a CO2 reduction of over 1,400 metric tons per year.

The site’s stormwater management system is designed to capture 3.2 inches of rainwater on site. This value is more than twice 1.2 inches required by the city’s Department of Energy and Environment stormwater retention requirements, which are among the most progressive in the nation. About one-third of the site is permeable, compared to 10 percent of previous development. Green infrastructure includes living roofs that cover half the buildings, permeable cobblestone paving, and rain gardens in the parks. Mature oaks were preserved, and 300 new trees are being planted. Three large cisterns housed in underground garages can manage up to 700,000 gallons of stormwater, diverting untreated runoff from the river channel. In the past year, around 547,000 gallons of the stored stormwater was filtered, treated, and used for landscape irrigation, toilet flushing in public restrooms, and make-up water in the co-generation cooling tower.

Creating Value

The Wharf is designed to achieve LEED® ND-Gold rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development program, with individual buildings achieving Gold or Silver ratings. The plan exceeds many of the requirements of the District’s Green Building Act and the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative. Sustainability was always a critical component of the project and was emphasized throughout the project’s Planned Unit Development (PUD) process with the D.C. Zoning Commission.

The extensive investments in energy and water efficiency are also projected to reduce operational costs. All stormwater will be reused on site, decreasing the need for potable water for landscaping and other purposes. Financial returns include savings on energy; at operating capacity, the micro-turbine will recover approximately 1.2 million BTUs to generate hot water, which translates to a minimum 5 percent in energy-cost savings.

The project also presents economic development and tax base-expansion opportunities for the District. At full buildout, the development is projected to create 7,200 permanent jobs and during the construction of Phase 1, over 8,500 people worked at the Wharf. The project’s for-sale real estate, retail, restaurants, entertainment venues, and recreational services will produce significant annual tax revenues for the city.

Upon completion, the Wharf we be home to approximately 2,100 residents. Social returns include new affordable and workforce housing comprising one-third of the approximately 900 rental units in Phase 1 and Phase 2. Half of the affordable units are reserved for households earning 60 percent of area median income (AMI) or less, and half are reserved for households earning 30 percent of AMI or less. The depth and breadth of the Wharf’s affordable and workforce housing program greatly exceeds the Inclusionary Zoning requirements elsewhere in the District.

The developers aim to employ District residents in at least half of the created construction and service jobs and have targeted purchasing 35 percent of needed goods and services from local sources and establishing a 20 percent ownership stake in the project through Local, Small, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise participation. In Phase 1, this translated to more than $388 million in goods and services going to the local targeted businesses. The new parks, open space, and recreational facilities offer many opportunities for healthy and active living and social gatherings, important aspects of a sustainable neighborhood.

The neighborhood’s diverse mix of hotels, culture, and businesses with affordable, workforce, and market rate housing is unusual in a “world class waterfront development,” says Elinor Bacon, president of E.R. Bacon Development. She notes that outreach efforts such as inviting local residents to help design the waterfront park and a free apprenticeship program that trains public housing residents for construction jobs have engaged the local community.

“Social equity and community contribute to resilience,” says Bacon. “Strong culturally diverse communities in which people know, respect, and care for each other build social structures that strengthen the fabric of community. This is something that drives us. These principles and strategies exemplify our community engagement at the Wharf.”

Cira Green

 

Context

The Cira Centre South neighborhood in University City is comprised of FMC Tower, a vibrant mixed-use high-rise described by developer Brandywine Realty Trust as “Philadelphia’s first vertical neighborhood,” and Evo, the nation’s tallest student housing tower. Cira Green, with its panoramic view of the city and the Schuylkill River, connects the two towers and is one of the signature amenities that Brandywine built as part of the development. It offers a public gathering place that is home to Sunset Social a casual new restaurant concept featuring signature burgers, beer, wine and cocktails. Additionally, Cira Green boasts Philadephia’s largest outdoor HD media screen, and is host to a robust line up of exciting programming and events for the community to enjoy. The roof is also reservable for private events. It was built with the intention to create a welcoming, inclusive destination for West Philadelphia while contributing to sustainable practices by avoiding flood-risk contributions in Philadelphia through proactive and innovative stormwater management.

Completed in 2015, Cira Green sits atop a concrete parking deck. It was imagined, in part, with the need for more green space in the neighborhood and to fulfill Philadelphia’s stormwater management regulations, governing the Cira Centre South development. Its innovative design approach makes this award-winning park a welcoming place for Philadelphians and visitors alike to enjoy the outdoors while leveraging a host of stormwater management strategies, both natural and engineered.

According to Charlie Miller of Roofmeadow, the landscape architect behind Cira Green, “The exciting thing about doing roof greening is that there’s all this space—what we call ‘the Urban Plateau.’ It’s a whole new landscape. [Cira Green] was an effort to take over an acre and convert that into public green space. It was one project, but it’s linked visually to a dozen other projects that you can see from Cira Green that are also green areas. You can start to conceive of the Philadelphia roofscape as being green.”

Innovative Features

  • Unobtrusive “pancake” cisterns: By incorporating water management beneath paved walkways and plaza space with the rainfall-capturing “pancake” cisterns that are no more than two inches deep, the design supports the gradual release of water to reduce runoff while maximizing the space on the roof for the public to enjoy. These uniquely flat cisterns allowed the Cira Green development team to avoid installing traditional cylindrical rainwater cisterns for stormwater management that would contribute to neither the aesthetic design nor the irrigation needs of the planted elements on the roof. According to Charlie Miller of Roofmeadow, the landscape architect on the project, “It’s never practical to put a stormwater cistern inside a building; they’re always in basements, and don’t contribute in any way to the design. So as long as it could be built completely flat, we could build a cistern and only take up two inches in depth across the roof.” This clever design meant that the development team did not have to compromise space for public enjoyment with an unsightly cistern.
  • Biodiverse, native planted roof areas: By using a combination of large lawn and meadow space, trees, and colorful perennials, Cira Green uses native plants to support biodiversity and add visual appeal. These plants also help with water management through evapotranspiration—the process whereby water has greater opportunities to evaporate or be absorbed due to the distance and material over which it must travel—where there would have been impermeable concrete atop the parking garage. The trees planted on Cira Green, like oak and locust trees, were also thoughtfully considered. Because of the high-speed winds common to the area, finding ways to plant the trees without bolting them down or otherwise tethering them to a structure that might potentially inhibit their natural growth was challenging. The design team decided to install the trees by using a buried structure that harnessed the weight of the soil to keep the trees in place. The habitat created on Cira Green is also a hospitable environment for bees and offers enough native plant species to support them.
  • Sloped topography: Cira Green incorporates curvatures in the landscape, achieving 35-degree angle slopes at its steepest points. To accomplish this, the development team had to be mindful of the roof’s load margins, or limits that restrict how much weight can be added to avoid damaging the integrity of the structure beneath. An additional challenge was accommodating the variation in load margins across the structure. They achieved the existing Cira Green topography despite these constraints through use of a veneered landscape. A veneered landscape uses a stepped, lightweight structure as a framework that is filled with soil and plants to create a slope, rather than building up the incline with heavy soil alone as might be done on the ground where no weight restrictions apply. Another major challenge of rooftop outdoor space is its increased exposure to high-speed winds that are less obstructed at a higher altitude. To make the park a desirable place to spend time, the sloped topography slows the wind and prevents it from ripping through the planted elements of the roof, in addition to aiding with channeling water. Avoiding a flat design also improves the visitor experience and supports the social objectives of Cira Green by adding visual interest, making Cira Green a destination.

Value Proposition

The application of the blue-green roof design helps manage stormwater runoff and allowed Brandywine to avoid the cost of engineering water management systems to suit the capacity of the Cira Centre South development. By installing Cira Green, the stormwater tank initially built for runoff from the garage was re-purposed for the neighboring Evo tower as a result of Cira Green’s blue-green roof design that reduced the runoff enough on its own in accordance with the city of Philadelphia requirements. In particular, the Philadelphia Water Department changed its stormwater fee structure for large private property owners in 2010, now collecting based on the amount and type of impermeable surfaces a property has, rather than metered sewer usage. In addition, the cost avoidance from construction of a new stormwater tank at that site alone was substantial. Instead of traditional construction, the Cira Green team used the design of the park as an opportunity to address stormwater management creatively. They used the challenges they faced to their advantage, and built stormwater management features directly into the more aesthetic elements of the design.

Because Brandywine built Cira Green, “we saved easily half a million dollars on pure stormwater system construction costs for Evo, not even including the difficult task of designing and engineering a system within these constraints,” according to Chris Franklin, Brandywine’s director of construction on the Cira Green Project.

The addition of this publicly accessible park in University City is helping support biodiversity and community gathering in a part of town that was previously lacking in green space. By converting a would-be vacant parking deck into a vibrant outdoor attraction in the middle of the city, the city of Philadelphia gained an amenity that also serves to draw potential tenants to Brandywine’s Cira Centre South and the neighboring area. According to Ron Pluto, director of engineering for Brandywine Realty Trust, “When we first came to this neighborhood in 2005, this wasn’t a normal place to put residential and office development. But we’ve helped create a dynamic neighborhood with huge plans to carry that forward. [Cira Green] is an important ingredient to our long-term development of the area.” With its public events like yoga regularly drawing interest from more than 50 attendees, this new addition of green space is helping entice visitors and residents to gather in a neighborhood that was previously not perceived as a destination in Philadelphia.

 

Lessons Learned

Consider logistic constraints during construction: Needing to use 2,000 cubic yards of green roof media, the Cira Green team was up against spatial challenges. During construction, there was no staging area to store material near the site, so delivery had to occur exactly when installation would begin. Toward the end of the project when construction began on the FMC tower site where a crane had been situated, the limited space between buildings required the development team to acquire special permits to allow the placement of a crane onto the nearby bridge so that final material could be lifted to the roof for installation. Meanwhile, ensuring the continued operation of the garage and the safety of those within it remained a top priority. Each of these constraints meant that tight timelines and high costs of installation left little room for schedule setbacks, so the team had to stick closely to plans and work with close attention to the Cira Centre South sitewide development as their multiphase project progressed.

Inspire interdisciplinary collaboration from the beginning: At the heart of Cira Green’s success, as cited by both Roofmeadow and Brandywine, was the interdisciplinary nature of the project from start to finish. The architecture and landscape architecture firms were included early in the project, affording them the opportunity to contribute design-based solutions to some of the constraints surrounding the development of Cira Green, and to answer questions with unconventional ideas. The blue-green roof design was a product of early architect involvement as a joint solution for promoting the community purpose for the space, managing stormwater up to city code, and maintaining the planted elements of the roof all in one.

Brandywine also emphasized how much the Cira Green project benefited from close collaboration with the City of Philadelphia Water Department. Brandywine, with Roofmeadow and EM Architecture, presented ideas early on to the city for not just meeting stormwater management requirements as prescribed, but identifying opportunities to supersede the requirements with greater efficiency.

Chris Franklin described this public/private teamwork with praise of the municipality, stating, “When we began to talk about the elevated areas, the blue roof concept, and the way we would get water from blue to green areas, [the City of Philadelphia Water Department] rolled up their sleeves and worked with us to ask questions and help provide answers about the project to get us across the finish line.” The project team was able to build a relationship where the city could be “a partner instead of an approval agency.”

Use smart project phasing to maximize benefits: The Cira Green project is an evolving project, and that is what the developers intended. They conceived of the elevated space by first considering the end uses it would serve: a public park amenity that would also be a creative stormwater management solution for the Cira Centre South site. By considering all the purposes they wanted Cira Green to serve, the team members were able to plan for how they could best fuse creative engineering and architecture with user-centered design that served a dual purpose of addressing stormwater management needs—the flat cisterns that water the planted roof while allowing for maximized paved space for accessibility; the sloped structure to add aesthetic value and minimize wind speed to protect trees and to preserve public enjoyment; and the inventive use of traditional materials to build dimension without overburdening the structure. And they are still making progress. They planned for continued improvement, allowing for the public park opening to be a stepping stone, rather than the end result.

Smart project phasing with the Cira Centre South development also positioned Cira Green as a win/win for Brandywine and the city, creating a community amenity while slowly building out the stormwater management system for the site. With the foresight that Brandywine would need to address the stormwater management needs of the future Cira Centre South buildings, the water tank built initially to support the parking garage was able to be repurposed for the neighboring Evo Tower, since the addition of Cira Green reduced enough runoff that the parking garage no longer needed a tank of its own.

“Evo benefited from Cira Green as much as anything else. You have the cost savings associated with not having to use a different tank, plus a streamlining of the approval process because we already had a stormwater management tank in place. It was a win/win from a development standpoint to be able to time Cira Green and Evo the way we did.”

Meander Bend Park

Context

The goal in using TBL software was “to focus on the projects that give us the highest benefit,” said Marie Light, program manager for the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality. The idea was to design one park as a test case for the TBL analysis before using the software for other green infrastructure projects across the county.

In total, the TBL cost-benefit analysis for Meander Bend Park yields an estimated $9.8 million in TBL net present value (NPV) over 50 years. The TBL NPV is a result of quantifying the value of the social and environmental benefits of the resilience and sustainability features in the park design less the value of project costs. Some of the social and environmental factors considered in the analysis include property value, risk reduction, and recreational value. Capital expenditures as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) costs are subtracted from the TBL NPV as project costs.

Pima County chose Meander Bend Park as the pilot because of its location; in a high-temperature/low-tree-canopy area, the creation of this park will create a pleasant recreation area for residents of the nearby middle-income neighborhood and users of the Loop, an adjacent regional biking/walking trail.

“Understand that sustainability isn’t ‘a nice to have.’ Sustainability can have demonstrable impacts on your own bottom line, so you need to consistently value the broader benefits.”—Simon Fowell, Economist, Autocase

Meander Bend Park is located along a bend in the Santa Cruz River that was isolated during the 1980s by a bank stabilization and floodwater control project. This meander in the river was not required to carry the floodwater volume; therefore, it was cut off from the main river channel, leaving a large void. The Regional Flood Control District partnered with landscape architecture Wheat Design Group for the design and with analytics specialist firm Autocase to analyze the proposed plan.

After the TBL analysis was complete in early 2018, the Regional Flood Control District began filling the void with sediment dredged from the river, which has the additional benefit of increasing the river’s flood capacity. As soon as the void is full, the county will begin installing the planned stormwater harvesting infrastructure, vegetation, and amenities.

Even though construction of Meander Bend Park is not yet complete, the climate-aware TBL approach and the new site plan demonstrate methodologies and best practices that can be incorporated into a variety of green infrastructure and landscaping projects.

Innovation

A New Model for Climate Projections
Instead of following the standard process of using temperature data from the past 30 years, Autocase built a new model to calculate social, environmental, and economic benefits under projected climate conditions 30 years in the future.

Arizona is one of the fastest-warming states in the United States. Pima County’s average temperature is 2°F warmer today than its pre-industrial average, and property damage from dangerous heat days, severe storms, flooding, and other extreme events amounts to more than $9.4 million in Pima County each year.

The team worked together to define assumptions and gather the data necessary to build a model that would realistically represent future climate. First, they chose a high-emissions scenario (IPCC RCP 8.5) in which there is little to no climate policy action and high rates of greenhouse gas emissions. Next, specific regional values for the climate model were drawn from NOAA data sets and from research conducted locally by University of Arizona scientists. The county and district contributed localized information so that Autocase could successfully model not just future climate but small-scale microclimates (and stormwater and rainwater harvesting capacity) created by the variety of desert and mountainous landforms in and around Pima Country.

Urban Heat Island Mitigation
Incorporating future climate was key to accurately pricing the benefits of urban heat island (UHI) mitigation. While it is becoming more common to consider the long-term impacts of UHIs on infrastructure, comprehensively internalizing the mitigation benefits remains a challenge.

An essential step was determining how the park design would reduce temperatures (as well as energy use) in the area. The software then uses the relationship between temperature and heat stress to measure the factor by which mitigation reduces heat mortality. With green infrastructure, Autocase economist Simon Fowell elaborates, “there’s a lower likelihood of people falling ill from heat stress.”

Climate and User-Aware Landscape Design
Another unique aspect of this project was that the team had the opportunity to understand how each of the design features would affect the overall climate performance of the park. The team used the TBL cost-benefit analysis software to evaluate the upfront capital and O&M costs of different storm- and rainwater management options.

The opportunities to make changes—such as increasing the size of an infiltration basin and including tree species with wider canopies to increase shade cover—also improved the final performance.
Part of the TBL analysis includes social factors such as the number and types of visitors to the site. “That makes you think, ‘What kind of amenities should I be using to get more visitors there?’ or thinking about different seasonal amenities so someone can comfortably use the site every day of the year,” says WDG designer Alex Stoicof.

When complete, Meander Park will have native vegetation for shade and food production, infiltration basins, a rainwater harvesting ramada and cistern, vegetated swales, places of respite, and a connection to the Loop regional recreation trail.

Value Creation
The results of comparing the value of the green infrastructure plans under current and future climate scenarios are striking.

“What we found was that the benefits of green infrastructure are twice as large when you factor in climate change and future temperature projections.”—Simon Fowell, economist, Autocase

The Autocase analysis for Meander Bend Park shows an estimated $9.8 million in triple-bottom-line net present value of social and environmental benefits over a 50-year time horizon relative to the base case scenario. The value of heat island mitigation is the second-most contributing factor in this analysis, with an estimated value of $1.8 million over 50 years under the RCP8.5 climate scenario. Even under a “business as usual” scenario using historical temperature data, UHI mitigation is valued at $0.9 million.

The combination of drought-tolerant landscaping and the inclusion of a water harvesting ramada also eliminates the need to import irrigation water. This self-reliance is critical in Tucson, where the potable water supply is at risk due to regional water shortages and drought. In response, Evan Canfield of the Regional Flood Control District explains:

“It is important to develop designs that rely on locally available water supplies like rainwater and stormwater, while still providing amenities to the community.”—Evan Canfield, civil engineering manager, Regional Flood Control District

In total, the TBL results of the green infrastructure stormwater design (considering factors such as capital expenditure, water costs, water quality benefits, and others) show environmental and social benefits that are over six times the cost of capital expenses and operation and maintenance.

The public has responded positively to the level of detail in the analysis. Pima County administrators concerned about municipal credit ratings have also been pleased to see proactive action to account for extreme weather.

Even though the majority response has been positive, there are some who are wary of the triple-bottom-line approach because it is a departure from the traditional method of evaluating green infrastructure on a per-unit basis. However, “it’s really hard to get a per-unit cost,” explains Marie Light, because “the value of above-ground green infrastructure depends on its location within the urban area.”

Meander Bend Park was just a test case; Pima County is creating and evaluating plans for other park renovations using the TBL-CBA approach and the climate projection model developed during this project.

Lessons Learned

  • The value of green infrastructure will likely increase under future climate projections. While there is a return under current and future climate conditions, the triple-bottom-line analysis found the benefits of green infrastructure to be twice as large for this pilot project when considering climate change and future temperature projections.
  • Consideration of climate impact and user experience leads to different landscape design. Understanding the climate hazards and the criteria by which a design will be evaluated can improve the overall performance and value of a park.
  • Accurately valuing urban heat island mitigation is a challenge and an emerging specialty. There are still many unqualified factors. Expect continued refinement and sophistication of the tools to meet the increasing demand from the public sector to quantify the benefits of mitigating extreme temperatures.

Resources

  • Interviews with: Alex Stoicof, designer, Wheat Design Group; Evan Canfield, civil engineering manager, Regional Flood Control District; Interview with Marie Light, program manager, Pima County Department of Environmental Quality; Simon Fowell, economist, Autocase.
  • Autocase. Triple Bottom Line Cost Benefit Analysis of Green Infrastructure for a Proposed Meander Bend Park and the Southern Arizona’s Children Advocacy Center for Pima County. 2018.
  • Garfin, Gregg, Guido Franco, et al. “Southwest.” Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment. 2014.
  • Bakkensen, Laura A., and Riana D. Johnson. “The Economic Impacts of Extreme Weather: Tucson and Southern Arizona’s Current Risks and Future Opportunities.” Making Action Possible in Southern Arizona. 2017. Online.