Project Description
City View at the Park borders the rolling hills of South Austin’s Mabel Davis District Park. Abundant with old-growth trees, wildflowers, and wildlife, this 50-acre park provides a peaceful backdrop for City View’s patio and rear-facing apartments. While proximity to nature creates a respite from the urban environment, the residents also benefit from their location in a lively South Austin neighborhood. There is a bus stop across the street, and a variety of services and retail stores within walking distance.
To mitigate the impact of pollutants on the community’s natural surroundings, the design team installed a bio-filtration pond to cope with storm water runoff. The pond acts as a natural filter, channeling runoff through a series of grasses and plants. Additionally, City View at the Park exceeds the Land Development Code for pervious cover by 400%. This helps ensure that water passing through the site has ample opportunity to percolate into the ground. Natural processes then purify the water before it re-enters the surrounding environment.
Austin Energy and City View’s building team collaborated to select optimal heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) units for the apartments. Energy models suggested that correctly sized units would save more energy than higher SEER-rated-but-over-sized units. The team ultimately chose 13 SEER-rated HVAC units. The developer says, “Having Austin Energy Green Building on board from the early stages helped define the parameters of what we were going to be able to accomplish.”
Green building is about more than selecting the “right” materials. A building’s performance ultimately relies on the quality of installation and construction. For example, even highly-insulated walls will perform poorly if there are gaps in the thermal envelope. To identify such inefficiencies, City View underwent duct-efficiency testing to prevent or locate and repair wasteful leaks and improper room pressures.
City View sought financing from the Affordable Tax Credit Program and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs’ Energy Grant Program (TDHCA). The TDHCA requires the project be affordable for households making less than 60% of the Median Family Income (MFI). Tenants making less than 30% of the MFI may lease one of seven homes set aside for lower-income families. The maximum rent allowed for each income designation is based on a calculation of rent plus projected utility costs.
By building for optimal energy efficiency and affordability, anticipated utility costs for residents decreased by over $40 a month per unit, leading to annual energy savings of nearly $500. These energy savings allowed developers to divert money back into the project to reduce occupant expenses, construct a greener building, and increase return on investment. The developer notes, “If I can show that what we’ve done with City View at the Park means real dollars to the developer, other builders will take a harder look at green building and maybe take it more seriously.”
One of green building’s challenges is overcoming the misconception that building efficient, healthy buildings is simply too expensive. City View at the Park demonstrates that, as energy prices rise, building for maximum energy efficiency can both decrease tenant expenses and increase investor profit margins. Such win-win situations are key to promoting green building practices among multifamily developments. |
|
