Issaquah Highlands Zero Energy Affordable Housing (WA) - YWCA
The YWCA Family Village at Issaquah, Net Zero Energy Approach Project provides a compelling model for how the nation can seriously respond to the critical need for affordable housing while advancing environmental standards and reducing economic inequities. Affordable housing developments for vulnerable members of the community and in today's workforce cannot overlook issues, such as climate impact, energy security and water conservation. This project's advanced building design was based on the goal of creating a 100 year building that could achieve net zero energy usage if funding had been available to support the final pieces of energy generation. The team worked closely with community stakeholders to ensure the baseline components of high quality and efficient building envelopes along with efficient systems were in place to set the stage for future incorporation of energy generating systems such as solar panels. As built, these 146 homes, large child care center and community services areas are proving the value of investing upfront for the benefit of future generations by reducing ongoing utility and maintenance costs with an eye toward environmental stewardship and community/resident education. The DOE award helped fund two critical energy conservation features for the YWCA Family Village at Issaquah campus: 1) super-insulated roof assembly with a continuous air barrier and 2) domestic hot water preheat system. The roof system at the YWCA Family Village at Issaquah project was built to include 6" of Polyiso rigid insulation (R-38) on top of the roof sheathing to provide a super-insulated roof in line with the other green features of the project. Placing the rigid insulation on top of the roof sheathing allows the building to have a continuous layer of insulation and provides a continuous air barrier. The domestic hot water preheat system includes flat panel arrays on roofs of the buildings that heat the water using solar power, which reduces the amount of heating needed from the gas-fired boilers. The flat-plate panels on the roof of the building heats the water using solar power. A heat exchanger transfers heat from water warmed by the panels to potable water for the units. The warmed potable water mixes with the tap water supply to create hot water for the buildings. This boost of water warmed by the solar panels reduces the heating costs for eh project by reducing the need to heat the water via gas-fired boilers. Both of these energy upgrades were chosen because they significantly improve the energy efficiency for the life of the building and are reducing monthly utility costs for both the residents and the owners. Since the owner is a not-for-profit dedicated to long-term ownership and serving households with very-low and low-incomes, the costs savings will ultimately benefit current and future residents as the dollars saved will either be realized directly by the resident or be invested in the project. Technically, the design of these systems is easily understood and the principles could be applied to other projects. The incremental costs depend largely on the existing market rate of the components-none of which are considered "cutting edge" so a market does currently exist.
- Research Organization:
- King, County Of
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0003897
- OSTI ID:
- 1083759
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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