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Westwood Cohousing Community

Solar district heat & water system, building envelope efficiency, radiant heating

Address:
43 Vermont Court
Asheville, NC 28806
Buncombe County

www.westwoodcohousing.com

Click here for detailed contact information

24-townhouse community with extensive shared facilities & green space & central heat/water.

Owner: Homeowners association + 24 home owners
Occupant: resident owners + a few renters
Use/Occupancy: Residential
Construction: New
Completed: 1998
Size: 25K to 100K sq. ft.
1 to 10 acres

Site Conditions: Stream or other running water, Urban residential, Previously undeveloped land, Urban infill/redevelopment, Limited site disturbance, Limited building size, Located near mass transit, Supports use of bicycles, Supports pedestrian use

A view of the coomon area between homes.

(Photo: Jamie Hager, NC Solar Center)

Project Image Gallery
(Click on the thumbnail photo to enlarge and see caption.)

Green building techniques, strategies, and technologies
(Click on the paperclip to view attached Power Point presentations, documents, and images.)

Quality management

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Lifecycle cost analysis	Life cycle cost optimization was derived by applying major rules to design and construction: a)Just enough, just in time; b)Diversity factor; c)80:20 (20% of actions produce 80% of result; choose actions that produce maximum beneit & avoid those that do not); d)Extreme energy efficiency; e)Super quality building envelope design & construction, including moisture and air leakage control. Project was built & sold at figures comparable to the market at that time (1997-8). The appraised value included the extensive amenities. Construction alone, without the costs of land and development, ran approximately $60/SF. Each total unit price includes a share of the community building + land + development costs. In the 6 years since project completion, house sale values have increased approximately 44%. A typical mid-size house of 1265 SF sold originally for $137,000 in 1998 and resold in 2004 for $198,000. That size house bears the following approximate yearly utility costs (for 2003): Heat for both space heating & hot water $380, water $75, water treatment $96, electricity $286.
2	Commissioning	Commissioning focused on structure punchlist and 1 year observation of functioning of central heating system with district-heat network.
3	Post occupancy evaluation	6 months after first move-ins, development company hosted feedback session with residents & architect.
4	Post commissioning monitoring	The electrical/mechanical engineer & designer of central mechanical systems lives at Westwood, monitors the systems, and assists when needed in trouble-shooting & maintenance.
5	Design team integration	Architect, engineers, & developers/owners worked closely during design phase. Architect, engineers, developers/owners, & General Contractor worked closely during construction.
6	Residential blower door/ductblaster testing	Shelter Tech administered blower door test on every building prior to sheetrocking. There are no ducts in the buildings.

Site

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Wildlife corridor	Woods along creek & in two ravines were untouched by development except for replacement of leaking sewer lines.
2	Innovative method for reducing paved area	Parking at perimeter, and pedestrian park with only sidewalks & paths in interior of campus. Gravel driveway and gate in fence to city road for emergency vehicles’ access to all dwellings.
3	Plant rescue	Valuable small trees, bushes, flowers were transplanted just before construction and selectively re-planted after all danger was past.
4	Permaculture	Two Permaculture consultants guided design for solar collection, windbreaks, privacy plantings, energy efficiency, esthetics, edible landscaping, soil enrichment, etc.
5	Innovative stormwater management plan	About half of the total storm water from the site is collected in the 3 underground rainwater cisterns, which overflow into wooded areas with no exposed soil. Rainwater is collected from the parking lot, downspouts, and yard drains. Only the downspouts from roofs that face the back yard downhill slopes flow directly into the woods.
6	Rainwater collection & distribution	Rainwater is collected from parking lot, downspouts, & yard drains, and stored in 3 underground cisterns. Water gets pumped from cisterns to hoses near gardens.
7	Pervious paving	The emergency vehicle driveways are made of road bond gravel; some are soon to be planted with ground cover to be used for play areas as well. The community building deck and adjoining pedestrian bridge are wooden 2x6’s with spaces between the boards. Paths in the woods are mulched with wood chips, some with used carpet beneath the wood chips to keep weeds down.
8	East & west shading	Skylights were placed only on east- and north-facing roofs because here in the mountains in Asheville summer mornings are generally cool while afternoons are hot. Plantings are now contributing to shading.
9	Reflective roofing	Light-colored asphalt roofing material. Although an asphalt roof has little value in reducing heat gain, the light color is preferable to a dark color.
10	South facing orientation	Community building roof is oriented due south, and it has the active solar collectors used to heat water for radiant floor heat and DHW for the entire campus. This allowed for the focus of dwelling placement to be on creating outdoor social spaces.
11	Light pollution reduction	Path lighting is low-voltage and close to the ground. Parking lot lighting is low-wattage and only 8’ high.
12	Perimeter parking, interior pedestrian park	Cars are restricted to perimeter parking; materials & children are carried in manual carts. Thus the interior of the campus is safe, clean, and quiet. Clustered dwellings set in interior pedestrian-friendly, child-friendly park.

Water

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Rainwater collection & distribution	Rainwater is collected from parking lot, downspouts, & yard drains, and stored in 3 underground cisterns. Water gets pumped from cisterns to hoses near gardens. The parking lot rainwater is not collected separately or treated in any special way; however, the parking lot surface is watched carefully for signs of leaks from cars, and any problems are remedied quickly. We have noticed no adverse effects on gardens.
2	Xeriscaping	Many gardens were planted to withstand drought conditions.
3	Native plants	The Landscape Team & many residents favor native plants in the gardens.
4	Drought tolerant plants	Many gardens were planted to withstand drought conditions.
5	Low-flow fixtures	Manifolds and home run 3/8” cross-linked polyethylene tubing used for all domestic water plumbing, and all shower heads and faucets are low-flow Moen brand.
6	Water efficient appliances	All dish washers & clothes washers are highly efficient. Various brands.
7	Water distillation or purification	Central Community Building has a water filter in a special sink for all to use, and many homes also have reverse osmosis or filtered water systems. Various brands.
8	One central water meter for entire development	City water comes to the Community Building for heating & distribution to the dwellings. Residents pay according to the # of people living in each dwelling. This works fine.

Energy

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Energy modeling software used	Energy-10
2	Superinsulation	1” thick sprayed polyurethane foam in all wall cavities to achieve initial insulation and air tightness, plus fiberglass batts. Poly sheets applied to interior surface under sheetrock. Walls 24 R value. Roofs 30-36 R value.
3	Air filtration control	Air leakage specs: 5 air changes/hr. or less @ 50 Pascals for the blower door test. The actual blower door test confirmed that we achieved about 1/2 that--2-3 air changes/hr., very low air leakage.
4	High performance glazing	Low e & argon in all windows throughout the development.
5	Load management software	Firmware in Tekmar multi-state boiler control uses outdoor temperature and manually entered reset-ratio to continually adjust temperature of space-heating water, and to inhibit space heating when outside temperature rises above 65F. The same control accepts domestic hot water demand signals and delivers 125F water for 1 hour.
6	Motion/heat/light sensors	Radiant space heating zoned with thermostat in each zone. Daylight sensors on outdoor area lighting. Motion sensor on Community Building hall lighting.
7	Energy efficient appliances	All refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, central hot water heaters, and all installed lighting is highly energy-efficient. First refrigerators were Danish Vestfrost. All lighting is compact fluorescent.
8	On-demand water heating	Domestic Hot Water circulates throughout campus via underground conduits, available to each tap as long as there is demand. If not used for 1/2 hour anywhere on campus (e.g., at night), central system “goes to sleep,” stops circulating. Push of a button next to any tap (without running the water) begins circulation again immediately and reaches the houses within a few minutes. This saves energy as heat is not wasted on circulation when there is no demand.
9	Highly efficient mechanical system	Active solar with 1000 gallon storage used for primary heating of water for combined space heating & domestic hot water central system. Natural gas supplements solar. 30,000 SF of radiant floor heating on 4 acre campus, served by underground district heating system. Outdoor reset control plus on-demand DHW.
10	Passive solar heating strategies	Buildings with south and west faces have deciduous trees to allow sun in in winter and to shade it in summer. With the highly efficient radiant floor heat and tight construction, shading is more important than passive solar heating.
11	Passive cooling strategies	Buildings with south and west faces have deciduous trees to allow sun in in winter and to shade it in summer. With the highly efficient radiant floor heat and tight construction, shading is more important than passive solar heating. Trees for shade, superinsulation & tight construction of roofs & walls, low-e windows everywhere, strategically placed arbors & awnings & window shades.
12	Daylighting	Every room has windows on at least 2 sides, and most units have optional skylights on north or east facing slope.
13	Solar domestic hot water	Central 500 SF collector + 1000 gallon tank drain back active solar system for DHW and space heating for 24 buildings (30,000 SF) on 4 acre campus using district heating distribution coupled with on-demand, just-enough just-in-time control signals from all end-use points.
14	Solar thermal for space heating	Central 500 SF collector + 1000 gallon tank drain back active solar system for DHW and space heating for 24 buildings (30,000 SF) on 4 acre campus using district heating distribution. Dedicated computer outdoor reset control and primary/secondary nesting of solar thermal storage (primary) and gas-fired hot water heaters (secondary). Hydronic radiant floor heating, extremely efficient building envelopes.
15	Pre-design for future renewables	Space on community building roof for accomodation of future photovoltaic solar collectors.
16	HVAC controls staff training	Project is managed by homeowners association, which has a Technical Maintenance Team. Engineer/builder of system trained this team.
17	HVAC controls management plan	Completely automatic, highest quality up-front (Tekmar), operator-independent.
18	Distributed energy generation	District heating and hot water distribution to all buildings, using large-scale active solar collection & natural gas backup.
19	Back-up power system (UPS)	8 KW gas-fuel automatic change-over generator for critical circuits: space heating & DHW for entire campus, path & security lighting, complete functionality of central kitchen.
20	Highly efficient lighting system	Indoor all compact fluorescent. Outdoor paths all low-voltage.
21	Diversity factor used in district heat system	24 buildings containing 30,000 SF heated area would normally require 24 separate space-heat/hot-water systems with aggregate fired capacity of 2-3 million BTU/hr. All of that was replaced by central solar system and three 200,000 BTU/hr gas fired water heaters, servicing 24 buildings accessed by district heating network. This is the largest part of our 80:20 equation; this Total System Design is where the bulk of our extreme efficiency derives.

Materials

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Designed for occupant recycling	”Recyclatron” near road makes recycling easy for all residents. Compost bins distributed around the campus make composting easy. No garbage disposers.
2	Construction waste management plan	Contractor built walls in modules, in an off-site production facility, with one cut area and very little waste. At that time there were not many options for recycling gyp board or wood waste.
3	Salvaged equipment used	Active solar collectors for community building roof were salvaged from a hospital in Alabama.
4	Salvaged furniture used	Residents donated furnishings for community building, and supplemented with used furnishings.
5	Recycled materials used in landscape	Arbor vitae logs from pre-construction site have been used for benches, retaining walls, & path steps.
6	Environmental life-cycle analysis	Efforts throughout project to minimize site disruption (tree protection, zero-balance cut & fill). Building envelopes were designed & built for long life (cementicious siding, rain-shield (rain screen) walls, moisture control).
7	Panelized construction system	Builder panelized the walls for all the buildings.
8	Optimum-value engineering	Rigorous application of just-enough just-in-time and 80:20 concepts (20% of actions produce 80% of result; choose actions that produce maximum benefit & avoid those that do not) create results that are extraordinary.
9	Designed for future renovation	Blocking was installed for future grab bars in bathrooms if needed; kitchens were designed to be easily changed for handicapped residents if needed.
10	Saved materials with standardized floor plans & elevations	Floor plans were designed as stackable modules with standard footprint, and each house was a composite of modules. This standardization saved a great deal in materials.

Indoor environment

	Technology	Description	Docs
1	Controlled ventilation for fresh air	Swedish filtered passive wall vents on every level, and quiet Panasonic fans in all bathrooms pulling outside air in, for controlled fresh air ventilation. No heat exchangers needed in Asheville’s climate.
2	Construction IAQ strategies	--No combustion or combustion products in dwellings. --Exceeds ASHRAE ventilation standards.
3	Low-emitting flooring system	Extensive use of structural concrete as finished floors. Pre-finished wood floating-flooring in some units.
4	Air filtration control	Air leakage specs: 5 air changes/hr. or less @ 50 Pascals for the blower door test. The actual blower door test confirmed that we achieved about 1/2 that--2-3 air changes/hr., very low air leakage.
5	Natural ventilation strategies	Operable windows, Swedish air vents, design for cross ventilation in every building, ceiling fans.
6	Individual HVAC controls	Each house has a thermostat for each heat zone, two per level.
7	Temperature/humidity monitoring	District heating system temperature is modulated by an outdoor temperature sensor.
8	Daylighting	Natural light on at least 2 sides in every room.
9	Achieved view in 90% of occupied space	All dwellings open onto public space with gardens, paths, & picnic areas in front, and private gardens/decks/patios/woods in back. The design preserved much of the site’s woods, and dozens of planted trees are now maturing as well.
10	Radon monitoring	We tested the site for radon prior to construction and found none.
11	Innovative low noise system	--Walls between dwellings are 2 independent insulated walls, with 1/2” dead air space between. --No furnaces or hot water heaters in dwellings. Dwellings are QUIET. --Energy-efficient refrigerators & other appliances = QUIET. --Extra insulation & resilient channel in some walls in Community Building, buffering children’s play spaces from adult meeting rooms.
12	Low maintenance materials	--Siding & exterior trim is cementicious board. --Central top-quality heating and water systems are the best available, and are centrally maintained.
13	Rainscreen	Moisture & mold control built into walls--air space (rainscreen) between vapor- permeable-sheathing & siding.

Other Innovations

	Description	Docs
1	1. Central community building for shared optional daily use, e.g. guestrooms, shared laundry room, dining room & kitchen, meeting rooms, playroom, shared office equipment, etc. The availability of resources in this one building enabled 24 houses to be smaller and use less material, energy, and land. 2. Hot water wake-up button near every faucet, to distribute hot water only when in demand.

Contact Information

Specialty Contact Information

Click on the specialty technology in the table above to see contact and other information

General Project Contact

Elana Kann
Neighborhood Design/Build, LLC
Phone: 828-651-8206 x0
Email: ekann@bellsouth.net

Relationship to the project: Owner/manager

Project Team

	Involvement	Stage	Name/Address	Phone
1	Owner/developer	Design/Construction	Elana Kann & Bill Fleming Neighborhood Design/Build, LLC 2 Elliott St., Suite E Asheville, NC 28803 billf@sheltertech.com	828-215-8605
2	Architect	Design/Construction	Vince Wiegman Wiegman & Associates 3 Orchard Ridge Dr. Asheville, NC 28804 Vwiegman1@charter.net	828-255-7684
3	Engineer - civil	Design/Construction	now retired
4	Engineer - mechanical	Design/Construction	Bill Fleming Shelter Technology, Inc. 2 Elliott St., Suite E Asheville, NC 28803 billf@sheltertech.com	828-254-1635
5	Engineer - electrical	Design/Construction	same as mechanical engineer
6	Contractor - general	Design/Construction	Doug Chase Westwood Enterprises, Inc. 1345 Pinnacle Mountain Zirconia, NC 28790 westwood@A-O.com	828-692-2715
7	Contractor - mechanical	Design/Construction	Bill Fleming Shelter Technology, Inc.
8	Contractor - electrical	Design/Construction	Bill Fleming Shelter Technology, Inc.
9	Commissioning agent	Design/Construction	Bill Fleming Shelter Technology, Inc.
10	Environmental building consultant	Design/Construction	Bill Fleming Shelter Technology, Inc.
11	HERS energy rater	N/A	Isaac Savage Home Energy Partners 428-C Haywood Rd. Asheville, NC 28806	877-511-0117