The Green[e]house Effect: a Weblog

Greener by Design

The Los Angeles Times has a rundown of a new complex in Santa Monica that sounds like it's got environmentalism written right into its DNA:

[Colorado Court] so successfully fused design and green features — energy efficiency and use of recycled and natural resources — that it was voted one of the Top 10 Green Projects of 2003 by the American Institute of Architects.

Spalding rarely hears her neighbors next door, seldom needs a heater and doesn't have air conditioning. Because of the way the structures are situated on the lot, prevailing breezes flow through the 44 studio apartments, creating natural ventilation. The indoor air quality is better than in other buildings because the materials and paint have fewer toxins than those used in conventional construction, according to the corporation. "I breathe easier here," Spalding said. "I feel healthier here."

The Santa Monica project is on the cusp of a trend to design green homes for low- or moderate-income residents to help lower monthly utility bills, which are the second-highest housing expense after rent or mortgage payments. The electricity savings alone at Colorado Court, where rent includes utilities, is estimated at $10,000 a year.

[ ... ] Colorado Court is at Colorado Avenue and 5th Street, a few blocks from the ocean and just north of the Santa Monica Freeway. Its three towers glisten with facades composed of deep-blue photovoltaic panels that look more ornamental than functional.

"A lot of people don't know they're solar panels," said project architect Angela Brooks of Pugh Scarpa Kodama in Santa Monica. The electricity generated by the panels provides power to the apartments. The community corporation earns energy credits for any excess electricity that is sent to the city's electric grid. During peak-use times — morning and evenings — a gas-powered turbine on the roof generates more electricity.

What kills me is that this is for affordable housing — when the article says that this is a project, it means it. Yet the people who put this together found savings — solar panels that turn a profit?! — that ordinary commercial builders have yet to take advantage of.

What does that tell you about our fixation on nuclear plants and coal as the crux of our energy policy? Nothing that I really need to spell out.

Posted by Greg Greene at August 3, 2003 1:38 PM