Case Study 2: Colorado Court

Architects: PUGH + SCARPA

Case Study prepared by J.Pazdon, F03
 Design
• Provides high-quality, sustainable
housing to extremely low-income
residents
– 44 single resident occupancy units
– Community Room
– Mail Room
– Outdoor common courtyard spaces @
ground level and 2nd level
– On-grade covered parking for 20 cars
and bike storage areas
– Electric vehicle charging station, 1
parking space per four units

• First affordable housing unit in the

US to be energy neutral
• Units are 375 ft2 •Rent ranges from $337 to $386 per month
• 10 ft high ceilings
• Operable windows and transoms
for natural cross-ventilation
• Natural day lighting through
courtyard design and window
placement
 Air flow
Ground floor plan
Upper level plans

• Building plan incorporates three branches providing cross ventilation streams

 South facade

West facade

• 90% of the glazing is on the north

and south facades
• PV panels shade south glazing
• Minimum glazing on west façade
• Light colored walls
• Parking spaces located underneath
building to reduce heat island effect
• Air-conditioning needed in only one
office
• Double-pane, low-E, krypton-sealed, high-efficiency glazing
• Compact fluorescent, low-mercury bulbs
• Indoor and outdoor motion sensors for lighting
• recycled blown-in cellulose provides R-21 insulation throughout the building
• R-30 insulation in the roof
• Compact, energy-efficient, non-CFC refrigerators
 Photovoltaics

• Total Output of 28,560 Watts

• Output is greater than the daytime
peak energy use, excess power
sent to grid
• Southern California Edison buys
back this power at wholesale rate
of $. 04 / kW
• Wholesale rebate for electricity
sent to grid is 4 times less than
what the owner pays for it
 Natural Gas Fired Micro-turbine with Cogeneration System

• Micro-turbine converts natural gas

to electricity

• Turbine programmed on from 7

am to noon and 5 pm to midnight,
shuts off automatically if energy
demand falls below a certain point

• exhaust heat used to heat water

and for space heating

• conversion efficiency of 70%

versus 30% delivered by the grid
 Water

• 100% of the storm water

runoff from the entire city
block is collected on-site in
an underground chamber
system and allowed to
percolate naturally back into
the aquifer
• All units have low-flow toilets
and shower controls

• Interior water:
650,000 gal/year
(41 gal/day/resident)

• Exterior water:
150 gal/year
(3.4 gal/year/resident)
 Construction
• Reinforced concrete ground floor supports
lightweight timber frame for the upper
stories
• High fly-ash content concrete
• Recycled carpet material
• Formaldehyde-free wood chip cabinets
• Zero-VOC Acrylic Latex Interior Paints
• Recycled newsprint insulation
• Owner paid an estimated $10,000 to have
the site’s construction waste recycled.

• Hard cost: $155 per sq foot

 Annual Energy Use
Fuel Energy Use End Use Energy Use On-Site Renewables Energy Produced
   
Electricity 0 kWh Heating 375,000,000 Btu PV 21,000 kWh
Natural gas 1,173,000,000 Btu Cooling 0 kWh Solar thermal 0 kWh
Fuel oil 0 kWh Fans & pumps 30,500 kWh Wind 0 kWh
Biomass 0 kWh Lighting 16,000 kWh Micro-hydro 0 kWh
Other 0 kWh DHW 0 Btu Biomass electricity 0 kWh
Total 343,700 kWh Plug loads 38,000 kWh Biomass thermal 0 kWh
Other 125,000,000 Btu Other 0 Btu
(Clothes Drying)
Total 21,000 kWh

21 kW/sq ft 1.3 kWh/sq ft

Peak Energy Use

Energy Demand Peak Use
Electricity 30 kW 0.7 kW/unit
Natural gas 410 kBtu/hr 9.3 kBtu/hr/unit
Cooling 0 ft²/ton
Connected Lighting .35 w/ft²

Predicted energy use data from DOE2

 Sources
1. “Colorado Court Project” Santa Monica Green Building Program http://greenbuildings.santa-
monica.org/whatsnew/colorado-court/coloradocourt.html
2. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: High Performance Buildings Database,
Case Studies: “Colorado Court Affordable Housing.”
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/highperformance/case_studies/overview.cfm?
ProjectID=188
3. Global Green USA Case Study: Colorado Court.
http://www.livableplaces.org/resources/vlibrary/pdf/buildgreen-colorado-casestudy.pdf

4. Brooks, Angie and Raida, Robin. “Colorado Court – PV / Co- generation Case Study: 2003
Million Solar Roofs Conference Call.”
http://www.millionsolarroofs.org/articles/static/1/binaries/Colorado_Court_PV_Cogen_Case_Stud
y.pdf
5. Milionis, Allison. “Santa Monica Electric” Architecture Week March 12, 2003.
http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/0312/environment_3-2.html
6. “Energy Independence Day: Colorado Court Affordable Housing by Pugh Scarpa Kodama”
Design Architecture. January 24, 2002. http://www.designarchitecture.com/view_article.cfm?
aid=426
Van Geet Off-Grid Home
Denver, Colorado

Case Study prepared by T.Tsujita, F03

 Design Philosophy and Climate
• Design Philosophy
– Setting a goal for a low-energy building before the design begins.
– Designing the house as a single package where the components work together
– Tailoring the design for the local climate.
• Location & Climate
– Primarily cold and sunny.
– 2835 m (9300 ft) above sea level.
– 5345 heating ºC·days (9623 ºF·days).
– Zero cooling degree-days.
• Initial Concerns
– Remote site with no utility connections.
– Economy: minimize energy costs. (thermal and electrical)
– Environmental impact.
– Operation and maintenance requirements.
– Simple, compact envelope design. (low surface to volume ratio)
 Envelope Design
• Exterior walls:
– constructed of 8 in. dry-stack concrete blocks with 12.7 cm (5 in) expanded
polystyrene insulation on the outside.
• Below Grade:
– exterior of the 0.91m (3 ft) deep stem wall is insulated with 5.1 cm (2 in.) of
polystyrene
– 10.2 cm (4 in.) concrete slab is the floor on the lower level of the house.
(intended that that this thermal mass would be used for storing daylight) (no
insulation placed underneath slab)
• Roof:
– above the great room, kitchen, and dining room, insulated with R-38
– Above the bedrooms, insulations was blown onto the prefabricated trusses, for
estimated net thermal resistance of R-40.
• Windows:
– double pane, with low-e coating.
 Heating and Cooling
• Overall Thermal Design of House:
– Direct gain passive solar (10% of floor area)
– Trombe wall (3% of floor area)
– High mass exterior walls
– Wood stove
– Hydronic backup heating system (LPG)
– LPG range and clothes drier
 Hot Water & Electrical System
• Solar Domestic Hot Water System
– DHW heated by an active solar system with LPG backup.
– 11 m2 flat plate solar, two 303 l storage tanks
– Pumps powered by a dedicated PV system (25 w) circulate a solution of
propylene glycol through the collector, underground piping, and heat exchangers
into storage.
• Electrical System
– Daily load = 3.2kWh
– Nominal 1000 kW amorphous silicon PV array
– Nominal 42.7 kWh battery bank; effective capacity is 7.8kWh, or 58 hours of
average load.
– 4 kW inverter
– 7.5 kW LPG engine-generator set
 Performance

A combination of monitoring and modeling was used to achieve the most

accurate and meaningful analysis of energy performance possible.
Affordable Natural House

Case Study prepared by

Diane Loviglio, F03
Design
 Passive Cooling Design

No mechanical cooling. Roof overhangs shade the windows. The over-

sized roof ventilation channels keep the attic cooler, so less heat enters
the home. The insulated shutters are closed during the day, keeping
out the hot air.
 Passive Solar Heating

Combines south-facing windows and skylights with air-core floor as the heat
storage mass, calculated to work together. Heat from the sun enters the home
during the day and is stored for night time. High insulation levels, insulating
shutters and high-efficiency windows minimize loss of heat.
Technology
 Energy Recovery Ventilation
“air-to-air heat exchanger”

ERV uses the stale outgoing (warm) air to heat the incoming (cold)
fresh air.
 Mechanical Heating

Heat is delivered to different zones of the house via tubes in the ceiling
of the second floor "radiant ceiling” refurbished cast iron baseboards in
the living/dining area, and tubes embedded in the floor slab at the
first floor bathroom and bedroom.
 Air-Core Floor

It is a passive solar heat storage feature. Solar heat from the south-
facing windows and skylight is stored and distributed by circulating air
Through many channels below the floor slab. The 4" (10 cm) thick
base layer of earthen floor mix contains a high proportion of gravel, for
enhanced heat storage capacity.
Construction
Natural, low-pollution & low-toxin
materials & techniques
Faswall foundation
Timber framing
Straw-clay
Earth plaster
Earth floor
Milk paint
Re-Used & Recycled-Content Materials
old sections of concrete slab

porous pavers

roof shingles

antique carved stone sections