By: Matt Martinelli
New apartment developments seem to be breaking ground all over town, but the 65-unit complex coming to The Distillery in South Boston will be different. When the first 28 artist-occupied apartments open along East First Street this summer, it’ll be New England’s first multifamily passive house—an ultra-energy-efficient building designed to have comfy interior temps year-round with little or no heating or cooling required.
“What you want to have for a passive house building of any type is a continuous airtight barrier between inside and outside,” says Michelle Apigian, project manager at ICON Architecture, the Boston firm behind the project. That’s no easy feat. When ICON got its first estimate in 2010, the pricing for its plan was prohibitively high, and the project was at a crossroads until the property owner met a passive-house consultant at a conference. “He looked at the drawing and said, ‘You guys are following traditional German practices…. I can show you a different way,’ ’’ Apigian says. “We kind of reinvented it. The design basically stayed the same, but the way it was built changed dramatically.”
The team moved the airtight layer from the interior of the building to the exterior, simplifying the structure and reducing the installation expense. But the design doesn’t end with the airtight barrier. “The main thing you’re thinking about for mechanical systems is not heating or cooling, because there’s very minimal need for either one. The primary thing is you need ventilation,” Apigian says. “Historically, ventilation occurs naturally through leaky buildings. There’s a certain amount you need in order to be healthy. We’re using an energy recovery ventilator that lets all supply air and exhaust air run through this ventilator. In our case, each unit has its own small one.” Each unit also has triple-glazed windows, EnergyStar appliances, LED lighting and a shade system that will allow tenants to keep the sunshine from overheating their new homes.
With ICON planning two other multifamily passive houses elsewhere in the state, the team is looking forward to having the Distillery project serve as a showpiece of sorts. “We’d like to celebrate it, get a lot of data on it and how it’s running and operating, and let people understand the cost and savings associated with it,” says Apigian, who hopes to see many more multifamily passive houses built in the coming years. “Cambridge is considering them. Cornell is building the first high-rise dorm to passive-house standards. I think we’re on the precipice of a big shift, and more housing authorities are awarding more permits because they understand as a longer-term owner, there’s going to be massive savings over the life of a home. Not just a lower carbon footprint for our planet.”
Imagine That
By Improper Staff | Photo Credit: Michelle Apigian: de Manio Photography | April 22, 2016
A Greener Blueprint
By: Matt Martinelli
New apartment developments seem to be breaking ground all over town, but the 65-unit complex coming to The Distillery in South Boston will be different. When the first 28 artist-occupied apartments open along East First Street this summer, it’ll be New England’s first multifamily passive house—an ultra-energy-efficient building designed to have comfy interior temps year-round with little or no heating or cooling required.
“What you want to have for a passive house building of any type is a continuous airtight barrier between inside and outside,” says Michelle Apigian, project manager at ICON Architecture, the Boston firm behind the project. That’s no easy feat. When ICON got its first estimate in 2010, the pricing for its plan was prohibitively high, and the project was at a crossroads until the property owner met a passive-house consultant at a conference. “He looked at the drawing and said, ‘You guys are following traditional German practices…. I can show you a different way,’ ’’ Apigian says. “We kind of reinvented it. The design basically stayed the same, but the way it was built changed dramatically.”
The team moved the airtight layer from the interior of the building to the exterior, simplifying the structure and reducing the installation expense. But the design doesn’t end with the airtight barrier. “The main thing you’re thinking about for mechanical systems is not heating or cooling, because there’s very minimal need for either one. The primary thing is you need ventilation,” Apigian says. “Historically, ventilation occurs naturally through leaky buildings. There’s a certain amount you need in order to be healthy. We’re using an energy recovery ventilator that lets all supply air and exhaust air run through this ventilator. In our case, each unit has its own small one.” Each unit also has triple-glazed windows, EnergyStar appliances, LED lighting and a shade system that will allow tenants to keep the sunshine from overheating their new homes.
With ICON planning two other multifamily passive houses elsewhere in the state, the team is looking forward to having the Distillery project serve as a showpiece of sorts. “We’d like to celebrate it, get a lot of data on it and how it’s running and operating, and let people understand the cost and savings associated with it,” says Apigian, who hopes to see many more multifamily passive houses built in the coming years. “Cambridge is considering them. Cornell is building the first high-rise dorm to passive-house standards. I think we’re on the precipice of a big shift, and more housing authorities are awarding more permits because they understand as a longer-term owner, there’s going to be massive savings over the life of a home. Not just a lower carbon footprint for our planet.”
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