Page 108 - Designing for Zero Carbon-Volume 2_Case Studies of All-Electric Multifamily Residential Buildings

CASE STUDY NO. 5 CASA ADELANTE AT 2060 FOLSOM
Casa Adelante at 2060 Folsom
Case Study No. 5
Data Summary This final case study is the third affordable housing16 project treated in this book of all-electric
multifamily housing projects. In this case, the housing serves a general population of low-income
Project Type: Affordable Hous- residents of the Mission District of San Francisco, primarily families17 and Transitional-Aged
ing (New)
Location: San Francisco, CA California Climate Zone: 3 Clientele: Low-Income Families Gross Floor Area: 169,995 gsf Fully Occupied: 2021
Modeled EUI (Site):
14.0 kBtu/sq.ft. per year
Measured EUI (Site):
18.6 kBtu/sq.ft. per year
On-Site Renewable Energy System Installed:
76.3 kW (DC) Solar PV
On-Site Storage Battery:
None
Measured On-Site Energy Production:
115,900 kWh (9/2021-8/2022) 2.33 kBtu/sq.ft.-year
Owner/Client
Mission Economic Develop- ment Agency and Chinatown Community Development Ctr.
Design Team
Architect:
Mithun, San Francisco Office Y.A. Studio, San Francisco
Structural Engineer:
Structus, Inc., San Francisco
Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Engineering:
Integral Group (now Introba), Oakland
Landscape Architect
Mithun, San Francisco Office
Energy Code Consultant
AEA, San Francisco
Sustainability Consultant
Global Green, Santa Monica
General Contractor:
Roberts Obayashi, Danville
Solar Contractor:
Sun Light & Power, Berkeley
Youth (TAY)18. Whereas the two earlier case study projects are located in a rural and a subur- ban area, respectively, this third affordable housing project has an urban context and is a large multistory structure because of the density required. In this way, it differs from the other two in significant aspects, but there are similarities in the design solutions that make this an instructive case study.
Background
In the late 1990s, the traditionally working-class Mission District was undergoing significant community changes caused by the “dot-com boom”, which continued a few years later with the gradual influx of tech workers as the Internet underwent massive growth. The developing wave of high-tech offices and market-rate housing started to displace low-income residents and small businesses. In response, several non-profit organizations were formed to advocate for a community-based vision for the Mission neighborhoods and to influence planning decisions for those neighborhoods. Such neighborhood groups were formed to work on behalf of the current residents, many of whom were low-income, so that they would not be forced out by market de- velopers building housing that would essentially gentrify the area.
The Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), for example, is such a community devel- opment organization that started a real estate development activity as a way to bring affordable housing to residents. MEDA uses the identifying branding term, “Adelante” (Spanish for “For- ward”), in all its projects—thus the name of this particular case study project.
Another community organization, People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights (PODER), advocates in particular for low-income Latino families and youth. Concerned generally for environmental justice, PODER focuses on issues of land use, community planning and affordable housing to nurture thriving neighborhoods in the Mission District.
Together, these two organizations were key contributors to the ultimate approval in 2011 of the first step of the affordable housing project at 2060 Folsom Street by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, namely the land acquisition in the heart of the Mission District. As a result of this approval, two adjacent parking lots used by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SF- PUC) were turned over to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development for use as a new neighborhood park and the site of the mid-rise affordable housing structure.
As an initial development phase, PODER worked in collaboration with the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department on a community-led design process for the park, located on the south end of the site. This part of the project advanced ahead of the housing to open in June, 2017. The park was named In Chan Kaajal, (“My Little Village” in Mayan).
Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development issued a competitive RFP for the affordable housing portion of the project. Since MEDA did not meet certain financial
16 The reader is referred to the summary discussion of affordable housing, in the introductory paragraphs of Case Study No. 1, Ivy Senior Apartments, p.4 of this monograph.
17 To qualify, families must be at 40% to 60% Area Median Income (AMI).
18 “TAY are young adults, ages 18-24 (and ages 25 to 27, for those experiencing homeless- ness) who are transitioning from public systems like foster care and are at risk of not making a successful transition to adulthood.” From Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Develop- ment, SF.GOV.
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Designing for Zero Carbon: Volume 2