Castle Square Apartments will be a LEED project. In addition to energy savings, this renovation will utilize green building materials, improve indoor air quality, and reduce water consumption. Green building goals have been a major component of the team’s three year planning process for redevelopment of Castle Square Apartments. Hundreds of residents have participated in green design workshops to prioritize project goals. Castle Square Tenants Organization has facilitated resident involvement, a natural extension of its role of providing services to residents. The Castle Square Tenants Organization was founded in 1987 in response to the need to preserve affordable housing in our community. Residents are very active in leading local initiatives and serve as Board Members of the organization and members of the Construction Committee for this project.
The design team has substantial expertise in the energy efficiency arena, and includes Building Science Corp. (a technical provider of U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program), Elton + Hampton Architects, and Petersen Engineering. Working hand and hand with residents, the team has developed a strategy for how to achieve deep energy savings throughout the property.
U.S Department of Energy’s Building America Program: This project leverages the resources of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program. Building Science Corporation is a Building America Partner. As a technical provider of the Building America program, Building Science provides technical assistance, including indoor air quality analysis, envelope design, and air flow analysis.
A Tool for Education: The knowledge gained through the implementation of this proposal will be shared via publically accessible reports and education materials produced through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program and Building Science’s internationally recognized education website www.buildingscience .com. Such educational tools will assist other low-income housing owners and help train a green jobs workforce composed of designers and contractors qualified to implement deep energy retrofits on a large scale.
