GAB Report library
Affordable Housing
-
Fighting for Our Message: Energy Efficiency and Beyond
The 2017 Beyond Energy Efficiency Conference hosted by Build It Green was an inspirational success, well attended by over 250 attendees including 43 speakers and 13 exhibitors. It took place at the Zero Net Energy Center in San Leandro, California, a training center for electrical apprentices from IBEW Local 595 and NECA, and the first…
-
Build It Green’s Beyond Energy Efficiency Conference
The What: The building industry is moving quickly beyond the standard practices on energy efficiency. Today’s ultra-efficient homes produce as much energy as they consume, and then some. Groundbreaking developments in building materials and technology ensure that homes are not only efficient, but also healthy for occupants. Build It Green’s Beyond Energy Efficiency Conference aims to…
-
Open-sourcing: Taking Sustainability to Another Level
Can you imagine receiving free tools and instructions to build your own house and building materials, and possibly start your own village? Open Building Institute, founded by TED fellow and founding member of the Open Source Hardware Association, Dr. Catarina Mota, has teamed up with Open Source Ecology to open source blueprints and tools for…
-
Net Positive Energy + Water Conference 2016
The What: The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is hosting its third annual Net Positive Energy and Water Conference, dedicated to the exchange of technical expertise, bold strategies and provocative case studies—all aimed at accelerating the global shift toward Net Positive Energy and Water buildings and communities. In the past few years, net positive energy and…
-
From Down and Out to Solar Pioneer
The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara (HACSC) has successfully transformed a previously foreclosed federal housing complex into a dignified and energy efficient, affordable family housing complex that annually feeds 244,350 kWh of renewable energy to the power grid and enables all the residents to “go solar” and reap the cost benefits of…
-
2014 AIA COTE Top Ten Green Project Winners Announced
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have just announced this week their selection of the 2014 Top Ten Green Projects, examples of sustainable architecture and ecological American design projects that protect and enhance the environment. The projects include new and adaptive re-use buildings, ranging from government offices to…
-
Historic YMCA Transformed Into Green Affordable Housing
One of the things I miss most from working at Citizens Housing is my weekly visits to our construction sites. I had the chance to witness buildings get built from the ground up and renovated into modern, seismically safe, and energy efficient buildings. You can imagine the excitement I had when I was invited to…
-
Zero Competition Architecture Responds to California’s 2020 ZNE Goals
Team Folium, consisting of Herman Coliver Locus Architecture, EBS Consultants, and Architectural Lighting Design, won the Special Recognition Award from the Architecture at Zero 2013 design competition. The Folium concept presents a fresh urban design solution that brings a sense of vitality and adds architectural interest to the surrounding neighborhood. A high-density, residential-commercially zoned site…
-
Gilroy’s First LEED Platinum Project
Gilroy, California is well known for its garlic crop, but it also has at least three LEED projects within its 16 square miles. The newly built Gilroy Sobrato Apartments developed by South County Housing is the first LEED for Homes Platinum rated project in Gilroy. It provides 25 studio units of permanent affordable housing for chronically…
-
Station Center Family Housing Wins 2013 ULI Global Award
Congratulations to developer MidPen Housing and David Baker Architects, one of my favorite San Francisco architecture firms to work with, for winning the 2013 ULI Global Award for Excellence for its LEED Platinum certified project, Station Center Family Housing in Union City, California. Station Center consists of two buildings housing 157 high-density affordable rental apartments, community gardens,…