The Bernice Elza Homes project will take affordable housing to a new level by incorporating sustainable design techniques. Richard Wesley and Ali Malkawi, faculty in the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, in collaboration with John Fox Hayes, Principal at Blackney Hayes Architects (BHA), led a team of Penn undergraduate students in pioneering this new concept in conjunction with the Peoples Emergency Center Community Development Corporation (PECCDC).
Bernice Elza Homes, located in West Philadelphia Mantua Community, will provide much needed low-cost housing for formerly homeless teen mothers and their children. PECCDC, the developer, also envisions an on-site case management office to coordinate services for the families as they transition to independence.
The project began several years ago as part of a COPC Grant for the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, aimed to encourage collaboration between the university and its surrounding community. As a part of this initiative, students not only mastered theories and practices of affordable housing in the classroom, they also received an opportunity to work directly with the community leaders and development sponsors to better understand the depth of the issue.
Within the "design studio" class, the Penn students took on a real project to develop Bernice Elza Homes. The students started by reexamining all aspects and assumptions of traditional affordable housing. Then, they tested and explored different ideas, which ultimately led to a greater vision and a broader perspective on the issues surrounding affordable housing. Throughout the semester, they compiled research and explored six different design approaches, eventually electing only three viable options to be presented to the community for review.
The selected scheme then headed to the offices of BHA, where three of the students, Juila Cox, Jason Niebish and Feifei Cao, under the mentorship of John Hayes, developed it into a final set of construction drawings.
The final Bernice Elza Homes design presented an affordable solution through the use of sustainable design features, such as natural day lighting, ventilation, storm water management techniques, incorporation of low VOC paints and materials for interior finishes. The project group also hopes to receive additional funding to support the use of photovoltaic panels to harness solar power. The incorporation of this technology could help reduce the energy bills by as much as 50% in summer and 25% in the winter months.
SUSTAINABILITY NARRATIVE:
The Bernice Elza Project is based on a concept of "whole architecture," which takes economic constraints and social issues into account during the design process. To adhere to all the socioeconomic demands, the team has formed a unique partnership between the University of Pennsylvania, the architects at Blackney Hayes Architects, community outreach programs, government agencies, and last but not least, the Mantua community.
In addition, the extensive involvement of the community in the design and development process had a substantial impact on the Penn's relations with the nearby Mantua neighborhood. Mantua residents often considered Penn as an institution that tends to expand at expense of neighborhood's land. However, the efforts of the University Architecture Department and those of local and national organizations dramatically improved the relationship with the surrounding community. As an indication of the partnership success, the community leaders approached the University with a list of 22 more sites in need of housing developments.
Sustainable affordable housing is generally a largely untapped area often due to the sizable costs to install the systems and reluctance to explore new ideas on modest budgets. However, most developers don't realize that the savings in energy costs far outweigh the initial investment. Bernice Elza Homes incorporate various sustainable design features keeping in mind the rigid cost limitations associated with the project:
Lighting will be provided by Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs in conjunction with motion sensors on the exterior lights to reduce the electric load. To optimize energy performance of windows, the design proposes the use of Energy Star Cetified "LOW-E" windows. In addition, Energy Star rated home appliances will be installed where possible to further minimize energy demand.
By placing windows on at least two walls in all living, dining and kitchen spaces the design allowed for cross ventilation and allowed for maximum utilization of natural day lighting. The same tactic was used in the majority of the bedrooms. Also, to further enhance ventilation a combination of double hung, single hung and casement windows were used.
Interior materials selections are less harmful to the environment than their conventional counterparts because they either have low VOC emissions, are sustainable produced, or are made from recycled content. For example, bamboo flooring will be used instead of conventional wood flooring and a crushed limestone composite material will be used instead of VCT. Additionally, all carpet and paints are low VOC emitting; paint is Green Guard Certified
To minimize the demand for potable water, rain barrels will collect and store run-off
from the roofs for later use to water the gardens. These barrels may also be hooked up to a low-tech irrigation system that will pipe the water to the site's landscaping. The indoor use of potable water will be reduced by almost 25% through the installation of low flow fixtures.
Addressing the need for a green garden, the project plans for landscape features that can minimize the demand for water and synthetic chemicals, such as planting of native species, limiting turf and applying mulch around plants. Additionally, pervious pavers will be used for the garden path, which will limit the storm water runoff.
The evident success of the Bernice Elza Homes initiative may and will serve as a model for other successful affordable housing projects targeted to rebuild our urban communities in the immediate neighborhood as well as the Greater Philadelphia region and the state of Pennsylvania.
