Doria II by Jamboree Housing Corporation wins award for most sustainable home.
In its annual Eco Award ceremony, the US Green Building Council – Orange County Chapter awarded Jamboree Housing’s project, Doria II Apartments, the 2014 Eco Award for Most Sustainable Home.
VCA Green was responsible for providing the LEED® Homes Rating, CALGreen compliance, energy performance review, and HERS verification.
Project Name: Doria II
Certification Level: LEED Homes Gold
City: Irvine
Owner: Jamboree Housing Corporation
Type: Affordable, Multi-family
Number of Buildings: 5
Number of Units: 74
Doria II is a three story multi-family affordable housing project located in Irvine, CA. With stylized architecture that matches surrounding buildings, the project demonstrates that affordable housing does not have to compromise style for affordability. Comfort and quality of construction exceeds conventionally built buildings within the same class. This results in a quality product people can feel proud to call home.
Location Related Credits
Occupants are able to walk less than a quarter mile, across the street to Woodbury Town Center, which contains dozens of shops and services. There is a pedestrian path leading from the apartments directly to Irvine Blvd, which makes accessing the shopping center easier. Multiple parks and an elementary school are also located within walking distance.
Large homes or larger apartment units take up more land and consume more resources during construction and while operating. LEED® Homes offers a density bonus for building efficiently sized units. The project maximized its density bonus points for having properly sized apartment units and Doria II received a bonus point for building to 35.7 units per acre – rated as very high density
Landscape
Plants on site are drought tolerant and they are fed by an efficient drip and bubbler system utilizing recycled municipal grey water. The irrigation also incorporated a smart weather based controller to provide watering only during dry times, thus eliminating the chance of over watering. The system is sub-metered, which helps ownership detect unseen leaks if there are unusual spikes in consumption.
Indoor Water Use
Fixtures meet CALGreen requirements except shower heads that exceed CALGreen efficiency by approximately 15%.
Energy
The project exceeded California Energy Code, Title-24 by 17.5%. This was achieved by utilizing high efficacy lighting fixtures throughout the project and by engaging in quality insulation installation resulting in better insulated units, which reduce heating and cooling equipment run times. As a result of better insulation, residents are expected to save approximately 30% on their heating/cooling bills which translates to about $400 to $600 a year in savings. This is a significant savings for low or fixed income households.
Dishwashers and Refrigerators are Energy Star Rated saving approximately $60 a year compared to standard models.
A great commitment to the environment and saving energy is shown by a solar voltaic system installed over car ports contributing approximately 3% of energy to the site’s common areas.
Air-conditioning ducts are well sealed and have less than a 6% leakage rate based on HERS certified testing. This means that a majority of air that enters the space is not lost into the soffit or attic areas. This helps reduce long term wear and tear on equipment and helps reduce tenant operating costs.
Materials
Hard flooring is utilized in living, room, dining room and kitchen areas. Flooring is comprised of approximately 20% recycled content and traps less dirt and dust compared to carpeting, which helps improve indoor air quality.
Paints, sealants and caulks contain low amounts or volatile organic compounds (VOC) which reduce the amount of harmful off gassing. Insulation is rated by GreenGuard thus containing no or very low amounts of VOC off gassing.
Roofs, floors and walls use composite OSB wood material comprised of reused wood chips and are bound together for sheer strength.
80% of building waste was recycled or diverted from landfills.
Indoor Air Quality
Enhanced ventilation practices are implemented as bathroom fans continuously remove stale interior air, replacing it with fresh air from the exterior. Bath fans are Energy Star rated.
Exterior walls were well sealed with low VOC caulk and well insulated per HERS Quality Insulation Installation (QII) requirements. This means apartment units at Doria II are built to reduce unwanted air infiltration and have superior insulation, which improves comfort.
High quality MERV 8 filters are installed to remove particulates from interior air. In combination with the continuously operating bath fan, the indoor air quality is of better quality, which may help reduce sick building syndrome, mitigate asthma and help people feel better.
Tenants received a DVD and literature advising how to reduce operating costs and how to be more ecofriendly. Operations and sales staff were trained on the green building features so they may better communicate such features to current and prospective tenants.
Design Team
Architect – KTGY
Mechanical Engineer – TAD Engineering
Electrical Engineer – LDB, Inc.
Civil Engineer – Fuscoe Engineering
Landscape Architect – MJS Design Group
General Contractor – Wermer’s Multifamily
LEED – VCA Green
For more information or to discuss your LEED®, CALGreen compliance, energy performance review, and/or HERS verification project, contact:
Moe Fakih
Director of Sustainability
MFakih@vca-green.com
(714) 363-4700