Energy Efficiency, Air Quality and Climate Impact: Sustainability Trends Here to Stay

The future of multifamily residential design must be sustainable for the benefit of the planet as well as operators and residents alike.

While the industry continues to expand in sustainable practices, employing a holistic design approach that integrates health and wellness strategies can further improve the resident experience, significantly reduce energy consumption and save money.

Passive House design and building strategies

LRS Architects has seen increased interest from a variety of multifamily clients in passive design and building strategies to achieve energy efficiency and air quality goals. One route possible is through Passive House principles focused on five design features: insulation, airtight envelopes, high-performance windows, ventilation and minimized space conditioning.

We recently applied this approach in Portland for the senior living community Terwilliger Plaza’s new 11-story residential tower, Parkview. The property benefits from improved air quality—an enduring priority in a region prone to wildfire smoke—and a more efficient HVAC system with a photovoltaic solar array and an airtight envelope. Triple-glazed windows further reduce energy waste.

Parkview is the largest senior living PHIUS structure in the nation and the largest PHIUS building of any kind on the West Coast. Passive House certification made this project eligible for Environmental, Social and Governance “green bonds” saving $1.5 million on overall development costs plus reducing future energy costs. Parkview is one of many examples of projects that have followed energy-saving and environmentally-conscious programs, setting a trend for more large-scale PHIUS residential buildings in the future.

LEED certifications

The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification system has an enduring appeal for many multifamily clients. LEED is a popular standard for sustainability in multifamily design given its focus on clean air and ample natural light as commitments to healthier living and lower utility bills. Even when certification is not the end goal, LRS often uses the LEED scorecard as a guide to meet housing clients’ specific sustainability objectives.

With LEED, sustainability is customizable and the paths to success can be achieved through tried-and-true strategies as well as newer technologies and trends. Per example, differing ways to achieve success in carbon capture and carbon reduction through the LEED certification program can include everything from local material sourcing to the selection of renewable, low-carbon materials to emerging carbon capture technology. Clients can pursue their goals in whatever way best aligns with their resources.

Earth Advantage

One green building certification on the rise, tailored specifically to housing and residential design, is Earth Advantage. Earth Advantage focuses on health, energy, land, water and materials that support healthy, sustainable projects with a measurable return on investment. While this program has been a popular choice for many multifamily clients across the Pacific Northwest, it has been a particular asset to our clients in Central Oregon where climate resilience is critical.

At Canal Commons, an affordable multifamily project in Bend, Ore., LRS achieved Earth Advantage certification alongside other energy efficiency goals. Earth Advantage supported the project’s enrollment in the Energy Trust of Oregon’s Path to Net Zero initiative, qualifying for cash offsets for construction as the project consumes only as much power as it produces per year. Canal Commons features 100 percent LED lighting, which annually saves roughly 102,000 kWh for indoor lighting and 32,500 kWh on exterior lights, along with low-flow plumbing, Energy Star appliances and high-performance windows and doors. The community is the complete energy-efficient package—and one that can be replicated.

WELL and Fitwel

More and more multifamily clients are seeking and attaining certifications such as WELL and Fitwel which prioritize resident well-being, community health and comfort. Increasingly, wellness and sustainability are interconnected and mutually beneficial goals with shared strategies and outcomes.

Fitwel is a program focused broadly on healthy habitation standards with seven core categories: community health, reduced morbidity and absenteeism, social equity, well-being, healthy food, occupant safety and physical activity. We have particularly seen an increased interest in Fitwel among our senior living clients.

WELL offers a 3-tiered certification system focused on design achievement in 10 categories including air, water, thermal comfort, light, sound and materials. In residential design the built environment should make people feel safe, supported and welcome, things that the Fitwel and WELL programs bring a valuable focus to. Fitwel and WELL can be pursued in addition to other sustainable design programs but are increasingly popular as stand-alone certification goals.

With so many certification programs and standards available to multifamily projects there are many paths to sustainable design success and no two are the same. Aiming for industry sustainability standards such as LEED, WELL, Fitwel, Earth Advantage and Passive House for multifamily is a worthy goal. Increasingly, sustainability is understood to be a chief indicator of design excellence, contributing to homes that genuinely improve the quality of life for the people and communities they serve.

Trish Nixon is the president of LRS Architects, a managing principal and the co-leader of the firm’s Multifamily Housing Studio. Chuck Archer is a principal at LRS Architects and a co-leader of the firm’s Senior Living Studio.