Pre-manufactured walls are expediting the framing process.  Constructing prototype buildings and tightly coordinating with the framing sub allowed us, and the general contractor, Sunseri Construction, to resolve framing issues and speed up subsequent work for this trade.   Construction efficiency is really amazing, with very little waste produced on site.  Framing is currently ahead of schedule and allowing the rough-in of electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems to proceed.  Note that many of the roof penetrations have been efficiently grouped, resulting in large expanses of roof being left free for the future installation of a solar PV array.

It’s an excellent  example of a New Urbanist project.   While it is unfortunately a “green field” development (not infill) and relies far too much on auto commutes, it is a beautiful place.  The buildings are traditional, but not afraid of innovation.  The streets are great to walk and there are excellent vistas set up to take advantage of the natural and less-natural features of the site.  I loved how the building sizes varied and how the “alleys” were nice enough for people to enjoy walking as well.  The pocket parks are interesting enough to make them destinations for a walk, but not too complex to over burden the HOA.

By the way, if you visit, definitely stop at the Hominy Grill for some shrimp and grits…Incredible!

- Renner

As you can see, the Community Gardens are a hit with the kids too, as well as the open park space in general.

Please excuse my brevity – this was posted from my Android Phone.

- Gerard

- Craig

http://grist.org/cities/the-new-revolutionaries-landscape-architects-reinvent-urban-parks/

Photo credit: fredericklawolmstead.org

Look for the green “tendons” just before they are encased in concrete. The tendons are steel cables bathed in a non-corrosive lubricant, then sleeved in green vinyl housing. The housing isolates the cables from the cured concrete so that they can move independently when they are “stressed” to very high psi with a couple of days after the pour. The tendons force the concrete into compression and allow the 8″ floor slabs to span greater distances without beams underneath.

Look for the “vibrators” that are tossed into the wet concrete that make it more fluid to reduce air pockets and bring smoother material to the top for finishing. Watch how the concrete changes when the vibrator is tossed into the mix.

Stud-rails, visible at the lower right at the beginning of the video near the column rebar cage, look like a line of big coins hovering among the rebar. The stud-rails terminate at the base of the column from all four sides. The disks are connected with a linear steel bar underneath that helps to transfer the load of the concrete slab to the column without the need to form dropped column capitals.

The crew moves across the concrete in about 10′ sections, the depth is controlled with the 2×4 rails along the side. Behind the vibrators a man does leveling, another worker checks concrete depth and coverage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc5YuWhkirY

Brown Construction was our generous suite host for the evening.

We enjoyed a night away from the office and the nacho bar as we cheered for the Kings. By the fourth quarter we were all up on our feet hoping for a W for the Kings, as the score was a very close 84-83 with just a few more tense minutes left in the game.

Unfortunately, our hometown team lost 93-85.  Despite the loss we all had a fantastic time.

Many thanks to Brown Construction!

- Monica

First, let’s establish how thermal mass can help with overall efficiency.  The slow absorption, storage and eventual re-release of energy impinging on the thermal mass assembly’s surface has several effects: the initial slow penetration/absorption means that it takes some time for the heat of the day to penetrate the envelope; the storage capacity of the material affects how efficiently this assembly functions, and the rate of re-release determines how wide the hysteresis of the temperature gradient inside the envelope is.

An example of this is sun shining on adobe, which warms slowly over the course of six to eight hours, stores that heat during the portion of the day where the temperature of the adobe surface matches the surrounding ambient temperature, and then re-releases that energy via radiation once the adobe is warmer than the surrounding air. If approached carefully, this can result in a close-to steady-state indoor environment, with very little or no requirement for additional energy inputs. This takes us back to basic physics: equalization of energy – if an assembly used for thermal mass “sees” (line of sight) a cooler material, some of the energy of the thermal mass will be radiated towards that cooler zone – this release will continue until the temperatures are equal.

In these diagrams, direct sun is shining on slabs that absorb heat, and later, once the ambient temperature has dropped, re-radiate that heat into the occupied spaces.

The thermal behavior of a material is a direct function of its density, thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity.  Thermal mass is a descriptive attribute representing the best combination of these three properties for absorbing, storing and slowly releasing heat.

Materials with good thermal mass readily absorb excess heat without getting hot quickly themselves.  Heat may be from the sun or internal loads. As a result, materials most effective as thermal mass are those that have high specific heat, high density and low conductivity.

The equation for thermal conductivity in a general sense is:

In other words, it is defined as the quantity of heat, Δ”Q”, transmitted during time Δ”t” through a thickness ”x”, in a direction normal to a surface of area ”A”, per unit area of A, due to a temperature difference Δ”T”, under steady state conditions and when the heat transfer is dependent only on the temperature gradient.

In direct contrast, insulating materials, such as fiberglass batts and polystyrene foam, have low conductivity, and their density and specific heat are far too low to provide good thermal mass; metals have high specific heat and density, but their levels of conductivity are too high for reasonable use as thermal mass – all their energy is either passed through (not retained) or re-radiated far too quickly.

Part of what this tells us is that when employing thermal mass as a strategy, great care is needed in locating it relative to other materials and assemblies: if the thermal mass can “see” a very conductive material nearby which is uninsulated, the thermal mass in that area will give up its residual heat far too quickly. Also, thermal mass assemblies should seldom employ any kind of insulation, as this impedes the ability of the thermal mass to re-radiate the stored energy.

Thermal mass, in concert with natural ventilation strategies and good solar envelope design, form the core of many of our more successful projects.

- Gerard

Even with all the foreclosures, California is still the 2^nd least affordable state for housing in the U.S.

In the short term, SB654 and AB1585 intend to “claw back” the money that was earmarked for affordable housing at the RDA’s that was never intended to be used for the general fund.  If these bills are not merged and placed into law in the next month or so, almost $1 billion will be lost to affordable housing. That would be pretty devastating to our industry and the jobs that it creates by attracting millions in private equity for investment in the state.

As of this writing, SB654 has passed the Senate, but without a needed “urgency clause,” and its assembly version AB 1585 with an urgency clause, has just passed committee.  The question remains, will they make it to the Governor before the dollars pass into the void, and will he sign?  CHC’s position is here: http://calhsng.org/chc-supports-ab-1585/

As an architect, affordable housing with redevelopment seed money has been one of the last construction sectors standing.

In the long term, our lobby efforts also focused on a “Permanent Source” of funding for affordable housing (HOMeS) SB1220. This bill proposes a $75 document recording fee for all real estate transactions in the state, something that is done in most of the other states to fund a Housing Trust. We need this in California too: http://calhsng.org/homes-act-introduced/

By the way: the photo is from the 4^th floor of the capitol building – an interesting architectural space in Sacramento.

For sustainable design in multi-family housing and all green architecture, it is critically important to start with energy efficiency before “plugging in” an expensive PV system, so note that before adding the PV in the equation, the 7th and H building uses almost 50% less energy than California’s challenging “Title 24” energy codes require.  We utilized many strategies like thermal mass, night ventilation, displacement ventilation and window shading.

In Sacramento, PV panels are really useful because we get a lot of sunshine and the peak power production for solar panels in the afternoon also coincides with the typical peak power demands from air conditioners.

The solar array is an example of an integrated design element as it serves a few purposes for the building. First, the array provides about 50% of the common “house” electric loads.  Second, it shades almost the entire roof in the summer, reducing the overall cooling load inside and likely extending the life of the roof membrane by limiting the UV exposure.  Third, array’s super-structure provides the support for a cantilevered “mono-rail” track for window washing and building maintenance.  And fourth, the array serves an important aesthetic purpose by creating an interesting cornice for the building.

The array is about 10’ above the building’s roof is to avoid mechanical equipment conflicts below and lets us add many panels beyond the edge of the building increasing the size of the array.  The superstructure is galvanized.

The developer, Mercy Housing California, made the PV array work financially by using a combination of the local electric utility’s rebate per watt and a 30% federal energy tax credit.

The array makes financial sense for an affordable housing project like this because the cost of the panels can be included in the building’s appraised value or “basis” and the significant energy savings over time is very helpful with long-term operating costs.

In addition to the PV panels on the roof, there are 23 panels for solar water heating that will be used to preheat water for the central boilers. The solar thermal panels will produce 45% of the domestic hot water for the project. If you consider that there are 150 showers, 150 lavatories and 150 kitchens in this building, you can see that is a lot of saved energy! The solar hot water will eliminate the need to burn 3,300 “therms” of natural gas annually.

– Renner