The Largest Passive House In North America: 154 Low-Income Housing Units (46 For Formerly Homeless)
Credit to Author: Cynthia Shahan| Date: Wed, 01 Jan 2020 06:27:10 +0000
Published on January 1st, 2020 | by Cynthia Shahan
January 1st, 2020 by Cynthia Shahan
Park Avenue Green by @BrightPowerInc is the largest certified #PassiveHouse in North America, and received honorable mention in the Multifamily category at the @PHUIS1 #NAPHC2019 Passive Projects Awards Ceremony.https://t.co/3J2cdK1alW
— PassiveHouseAccelerator (@PHAccelerator) December 18, 2019
This is such a nice story to ring in 2020 with. A thank you to Park Avenue Green.
Passivhaus, or passive house, is: “A standard utilizing various principles of insulation, passive solar climate control, and low-energy construction methods to create buildings which require very little in the way of fuel or electricity inputs to meet heating and cooling needs.”
The largest residential building built to the Passive House US (PHIUS) standard in the USA and the largest passive house building in North America came about at the end of 2019 for low-income tenants as well as others. Park Avenue Green worked with Bright Power on several existing buildings. The two pushed the passive envelope further with good housing for all.
Take note, all who say don’t bother to attempt passive house standards for lower income developments. This one combines social ethics as well as the passive house higher standard of sustainability. Park Avenue Green in this development has 154 units of low-income housing (including 46 for formerly homeless people). So, for all the naysayers who claim it can’t be done low income, think again.
The designers and architects, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, write:
“The development provides much needed low-income housing to the Melrose neighborhood while incorporating state-of-the-art building technology and creating a community of environmentally comfortable homes. A gallery and affordable artist studios are located at the ground floor for the not-for-profit Spaceworks, providing spaces for local artists visible from the street.
Image Credit: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, Park Avenue Green
“‘Park Avenue Green is an example of sustainable, affordable building, and it’s great to have Bright Power and our partners at Omni New York LLC and Curtis + Ginsberg Architects recognized by PHIUS,’ said Tyler Davis, Manager of New Construction at Bright Power.
“Park Avenue Green demonstrates that you can build energy efficient, multifamily affordable housing building in New York City, and we’ll continue to apply the lessons we learned from this project into our future work.”
The design integrates storm resiliency features, another plus for low income that often find the most difficult experiences during emergencies due to climate. Architects, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects note the virtues of the design for rugged weather impacts. The building is a highly insulated, a thoroughly sealed building envelope, and includes cogeneration, an extremely efficient variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heating and cooling system. There is an array of photovoltaic panels on the roof.
Approach in low-income projects with the neighborhoods in mind, often find sucess from employing those nearby. Bright Power creatively kept construction costs down –“Beyond downsizing oversized equipment and relocating systems, Bright Power worked with Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS+) to source specific project components from local manufacturers—reducing first costs for Omni, while still meeting strict performance requirements.”
We've come a long way from the first NAPHC held in Bemidiji, MN where we had 30 attendees. Click the link to read what Zach Semke,@PHAccelerator, had to say about how our movement has grown and where are collective energy will take us post #NAPHC2019https://t.co/0pSxDonHnZ
— PHIUS (@PHIUS1) December 19, 2019
Llyod Alter weighs in with praise of the dumb box designs in this large passive house project. There have been plenty of fine, beautiful images of passive houses. Yet, for crowded urban settings, it is not always about the outside, but about the inside and sustainability. Alter continues:
“It’s time for a revolution in the way we look at buildings, quoting Nick Grant: ‘Passivhaus advocates are keen to point out that Passivhaus doesn’t need to be a box; but if we are serious about delivering Passivhaus for all, we need to think inside the box and stop apologizing for houses that look like houses’ – or, in this case, like an apartment building.
“I also quoted Jo Richardson and David Coley about how we need ‘a revolution in what architects currently consider acceptable for how houses should look and feel. That’s a tall order – but decarbonizing each component of society will take nothing short of a revolution.’”
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Image courtesy of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, Park Avenue Green
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Cynthia Shahan Cynthia Shahan started writing by doing research as a social cultural and sometimes medical anthropology thinker. She studied and practiced both Waldorf education, and Montessori education. Eventually becoming an organic farmer, licensed AP, and mother of four unconditionally loving spirits, teachers, and environmentally conscious beings born with spiritual insights and ethics beyond this world. (She was able to advance more in this way led by her children.)