A Personal Note

Followers of this blog:
There hasn't been a lot of activity lately because something of a family emergency has presented itself, which, given the nature of my family relationship with the Property Management firm I'm working with, has put a lot of things on hold.

Recently our family welcomed a new member, a baby boy, but he surprised us all when he was diagnosed at birth with Down's Syndrome. We had no idea of his condition, as these things sometimes happen. As a result, the family business has been operating at minimum levels, basically the wheels are turning but no forward motion is happening. Most family members have been devoted to helping our new family member get over some health hurdles he's had to face, so the project has been somewhat slowed.

After researching groups in the Bay Area for families with Down's Syndrome, my interest has somewhat shifted towards starting a web community to help these families.

Feel free to e-mail me with any input.

Village Homes Visit

On Friday I went up to Village Homes in Davis, CA to visit the community that has become something of a gold standard for Green Communities in the US. Village Homes was considered revolutionary when it was built in the late 1970s, because it was the first community ever built in the United States that attempted to be entirely green - using natural drainage, edible landscaping, passive and active solar on all the homes, and many other features.

I had previously read some criticism of Village Homes that people were not maintaining their property, people have used their carports as storage spaces for garbage and junk, and some of the original models were not as energy-efficient as many thought (http://www.acfnewsource.org/science/eco_homes.html).

When I visited the Community, I was able to park in one of the Visitor parking spaces on one of the narrow streets. I was struck by how much cooler the neighborhood was than surrounding areas in Davis I had been in that day, but also how the streets felt more like shared driveways than streets. Once I parked, I was able to walk around and explore the neighborhood. There are many trails to shared areas between the houses, that boast many beautiful fruit trees, chicken coops, and small plots of vegetables. It was nearing dusk, and there were many people walking around in the neighborhood, visiting with one another, walking their dogs, riding bicycles, and enjoying eating fresh pomegranates that were abundant throughout the neighborhood common areas. Many people who lived in the surrounding communities around Village Homes flocked to the area for evening walks as well, and there was a strong sense of community.

The biggest problem I noted with Village Homes was there was a lot of overgrowth of plants. Nearly all of the community landscaping was not maintained, plants like ivy and myrtle were strangling and suffocating other plants, and this overgrowth made it difficult to navigate through certain common areas in the neighborhood. Additionally, many people had taken to using their carports more like storage facilities, which was pretty unsightly, though wasn't doing any real harm to the neighborhood.

I could not locate the fabled "Village Homes Apartment Community", though I did find several co-ops run by nearby UC Davis students. These co-ops raised vegetables, small game and livestock, and even made their own honey.

The main thing I felt when I visited Village Homes was that this neighborhood was inviting and comfortable, but certainly not for everybody. I surprised myself when I told my friend I visited with that I felt the community could have benefited from a Home Owner's Association. If everyone who lived in the community agreed to pitch in and do their part to keep the community well kept and beautiful, there would not be any sort of problems. However, Village Homes needs to be maintained by a large force of people with a knowledge of gardening, so perhaps it would be in the community's interest simply to pay dues to hire a community gardener.

The overall point is that Village Homes is a great example of all the things that can be done right in a Green Community, and all the things that can be improved.

Click Here to View Photo Gallery

New Solar Community in Concord

This week I am planning on visiting Village Homes on Friday, but recently while driving in Concord I saw an entirely solar community that is currently leasing and selling homes. I plan on coming back to visit the community sometime in the next week, or after I visit Village Homes.

While many of these newer "Green" communities have adopted many aspects of eco-friendly construction, not many seem to follow a lot of the models Village Homes started.
For example, Village Homes uses shared parks and open areas between houses that utilize natural drainage and runoff, requiring very little water to stay alive. In addition, homes have their own private yards where residents are encouraged to grow their own food, which they can sell, keep, or donate to the community. Finally, Village Homes implemented a system of streets that were several feet narrower than typical streets with a lot of tree cover, encouraging cars to drive more slowly, and keeping the overall neighborhood temperature down.

Newer communities I have seen utilize many Green building methods and drought-tolerant plants, but none have implemented some of the other more unique and desirable qualities that continue to make Village Homes one of the most distinctive Green Neighborhoods.

Afterthoughts on the Green Home Community in Contra Costa County

Originally, a part of my thesis for this project was to investigate why the initial sales of the green home community in Contra Costa were failing, and what this could indicate for future developments for other Home Development Companies like CXP. Upon visiting the new community of homes, I saw that they were doing extremely well and had sold almost half of their units. Granted, the company had thrown in substantial incentives for buyers, like a hybrid car that’s MSRP starts at $22,000 and has a several month waiting list, but nevertheless, their homes were selling.

It is important also to note that these homes were several million dollars, well out of the majority of the population’s price range. The questions I ultimately were left with after my visit were the following:

• What is the statement that is made by building a $2 million dollar “Green Home”?
• Does this mean that at this point you need a lot of money to build and buy Green, or is it just that the developers have discovered a wealthy set of investors for their product and want to benefit from them?

Additionally, there were only two floor-plans for all 10 houses that I saw, and none of the houses differed very much except one had carpeting in some bedrooms, while another had bamboo composite. One side of the street seemed to completely be the two-story model, while the other side of the street was all the one-story. How do buyers feel about not having choices and variety for their homes?

I hope to answer these questions by looking at another larger Green Home community by this same developer, and by visiting Village Homes in Davis, CA (the original Green Development from the late 1970s). I will be visiting Village Homes around the third week of October, so stay posted for my findings after my visit.

Investigation of a New Zero-Energy Community

Today I went into Contra Costa County to investigate an infill community within a long-established neighborhood in the East Bay. The new development features 10 Zero-Energy Homes all priced around $2 million dollars. The majority of the homes are under construction still, and none are occupied yet although 5 have been sold already.
The homes include:

• Power: Passive solar, with a solar forced-air system (which uses water instead of gas to heat the air) and separate solar panels for water heating and electricity
  
• Interior: Bamboo and concrete flooring, double pane windows, aluminum backed plywood in the roof (for insulations, solar tubing in most rooms and closets (skylights) and Styrofoam-insulated walls
• Appliances: All appliances are energy-star certified.
• Water Use: Home features low-flow toilets and all drought tolerant plants.
  
• A Brand New Prius! (That's right. The home comes with a Prius!)
  

According to two contractors I spoke with, the community has been Gold Sealed by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which is their second highest approval rating.

I observed some of the on-site construction practices and was overall very impressed. The power-tools on site were all (apparently) using power from the solar panels on the existing homes, and nearly all the waste on site was recyclable.

(A power-saw drawing power from a solar home)

I was able to go into the attics of one of the homes and it was (due to efficient insulation) around 70 degrees, even though it was at least 90 outside.

My biggest question after observing the site was the impact of using Styrofoam insulation for so many different aspects of construction - not only was it used as insulation for the homes, but also for many of the molding-details, such as on fireplaces. Even though the homes are permanent structures, how was excess insulation or molding disposed of? While visiting the site, I found several pieces of discarded molding lying around, and even though they were not huge I questioned what the site looked like when the interior walls were being insulated. I will have to look further into this topic in a future post.

The contractors I spoke with said the developer was initially somewhat concerned with being able to sell these homes, since they were a noticeably higher price-point than the existing homes in the neighborhood, but these homes were newer and many of the buyers were convinced they would save exponentially in the long run (especially by being able to sell unused energy units back to PG&E). All things considered, in the current economy it is amazing that over half of these homes have sold already - something that CXP will definitely recognize.

If you would like to see other images from my visit to this new Community, click here:

Photo Gallery


Also, the home-builder's website is below:
http://www.clarum.com/HLE.html

Some links...

Here are some links for Residential Solar Panel installation:

An article about implementing solar in apartment communities
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/californias_fir.php

Pacific Gas & Electric Company's California Solar Initiative Website
http://www.pge.com/csi/

Go Solar California!: Information for Builders and Developers
http://gosolarcalifornia.com/builders/index.html

Sustainable Home Development, Construction, and Property Management: Project Intent

Project Intent
In the late 1970s, an environmentally sustainable community of homes in Davis, California was built called Village Homes. This community was the first of its kind and has remained one of the most valuable and sought-after places to live since its initial construction. In an age where Green awareness has saturated so many parts of our culture, it seems strange that nearly no other developers have copied the Village Homes’ model. The following is an investigation as to why this method of green home building has not yet caught on, and to help figure out how to encourage more home development companies to switch to this Green model. The eventual goal is to prove that this method of building is not only environmentally conscious, but also can help bolster sales and strengthen business for companies who subscribe to this new model.

The investigation will center around a Real Estate Development, Construction, and Property management firm in the San Francisco Bay Area we will call Company X Properties (or CXP). This business currently constructs, owns and manages residential apartment communities throughout California and is looking to possibly begin investing in home development and sales, if it proves to be profitable. As the situation stands already, CXP has many possibilities for retrofitting their apartments to include solar power, grey water systems, natural drainage, and low-water landscaping.

This project will research the following investigations and practices, which will be presented to CXP and its partners in the late Fall:

• The Village Homes Community in Davis, CA (which includes private residences and several green apartment complexes)
• The Costs and Benefits of Solar Power in an Apartment Community
• Why a recently constructed Green Community in the Bay Area is failing in initial sales
• How Green construction practices can easily and cost effectively be implemented in CXP’s current construction projects
• Why the adoption of a Green Business Model insures the company’s continued success in a changing market.