Session RecordingsThe Next Best Thing to Being There

Playback Now offers a complete library of recordings from ULI programs. These CDs include ULI Spring and Fall Meetings and are available in multiple media formats. To order, call (800) 241-7785 or visit www.iPlaybackULI.com.

Multifamily Trends - July/August 2006 - Point of View

Multifamily development needs to lead the way in the movement for sustainable buildings.

Sorry Kermit, It’s Easy Being Green

by John McIlwain

Multifamily is the best form of green housing today—more gentle to the environment than the most environmentally sound single-family home. Because of this, opportunities for multifamily developers and the industry grow each year as Americans become more environmentally aware. In fact, the industry should be at the forefront of the U.S. environmental movement and a vocal advocate for sustainable development.

This is beginning to happen. The National Multi Housing Council is partnering with the Sierra Club and the Urban Land Institute in advocating the benefits of denser development. Yet there is far more the industry can do to create examples of environmental best practices and promote environmentally sensitive development.

Compare any 200-unit single-family development with a plain-vanilla multifamily building, also with 200 units. Single-family developments today typically are built at a density of about five units to the acre—the median lot size for U.S. single-family developments in 2004 was just under 9,000 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau—meaning they require more than 40 acres for 200 homes, plus additional land for roads, sidewalks, and other infrastructure. This requires thousands of square feet of paving for internal roads, drives, connector roads, and sidewalks; thousands of feet of water and sewer lines; and all the telephone and power lines required to support the modern American household.

On the other hand, typical multifamily housing today, whether rental or condominiums, is built at anywhere from ten units to the acre for suburban garden-style developments to 100 units or more to the acre for urban high-rise construction. The paving requirements are minimal compared with a single-family development, and all connections for sewer, water, power, and telephone lines are comparatively short and efficient.

The location advantages for multifamily housing also give it an environmental edge. Multifamily housing is often closer to services, transit, and jobs than typical single-family developments, and sometimes are even part of a walkable downtown or town center. The result is fewer miles driven per resident for the same lifestyle—and greatly reduced transportation costs for the residents.

The point is a simple one: multifamily development is an environmental home run, even before consideration of the type or quality of construction or whether either meets special green standards. Even environmentally sound single-family development has a far greater environmental impact than the average apartment or condominium building.

“For almost every new 2,300-square-foot house [the median size of today’s new single-family homes], we have clear-cut an acre of forest somewhere,” said Dan Chiras, an Evergreen, Colorado, environmentalist, teacher, and homebuilder. He was quoted in an interview for Katherine Salant’s “Housewatch” column, printed under the headline “Today’s Housing Model Is Unsustainable for the Long Haul” in the May 20 Washington Post. “To produce all the metals and minerals used in construction, we have dug a hole in the ground somewhere that is equal to the entire volume of the house,” he said.

Added Salant, “There is an even more critical reason to rethink the suburban lifestyle: the energy it consumes. More than 40 percent of the planet-warming greenhouse gases that we collectively produce every day are directly or indirectly tied to our buildings. Half these buildings are houses.”

In the new era of expensive energy, global warming, and a need for environmental responsibility, the American dream of endless suburban expansion, lived out over the past six decades, is shifting to a new, more balanced lifestyle in which multifamily housing plays an ever-increasing role. There will be suburbs and suburban single-family developments for years—maybe decades—to come, but over time, more new housing will be located closer to an urban core, on smaller lots, with smaller home sizes, and much will be built as apartments or condominiums.

Meeting the New LEED Standards

This is not to deny the importance of using the very best green materials and techniques available for multifamily housing. The leading standards for green building are set out in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The problem until recently has been that the cost of these new materials and techniques could not be passed along to tenants or homebuyers in any but the most limited circumstances because it would make the home price uncompetitive in the market. However, participants in ULI’s second annual conference on sustainable development, “Developing Green: Sustainability Entering the Mainstream,” held this April in Seattle, said this is changing. Developers and contractors all reported that building to LEED standards and achieving certification for both commercial and residential buildings added either no cost or at most 1 to 2 percent when done properly. This is a far cry from a few years ago, when achieving LEED standards could add 5 to 10 percent or more to the cost of a building.

The USGBC is a membership organization that, among other matters, promulgates voluntary codes under the LEED name. Some codes are still in development; others are now in their second iteration as techniques and materials evolve through research and plain old trial and error. Currently, the following codes have been promulgated or are in development:

LEED-NC: new commercial construction and major renovation projects.
LEED-EB: existing building operations.
LEED-CI: commercial interiors projects.
LEED-CS: core and shell projects.
LEED-H: homes.
LEED-ND: neighborhood development.
LEED application guides: retail buildings (currently in pilot), multiple buildings/campuses, schools, health care facilities, laboratories, and lodging.

LEED-NC, the code that has been used by those developing multifamily housing, can be found on the USGBC Web site, www.usgbc.org. Developments can achieve different levels of LEED certification by meeting a wide range of requirements that cover where a building is located, how it is positioned on the property, and how it is constructed, as well as the materials and equipment used in building it. Though LEED certification is not a simple process, all the participants at ULI’s “Developing Green” conference complimented the USGBC for making it easier than it was in the past.

A number of suggestions were made at the ULI conference on how best to work with the LEED standards and develop buildings that can be certified under the program. Among the suggestions for developers were the following:

Choose a team experienced in green building. The number of professionals and contractors with experience is growing fast, so it should not be hard to pull together a strong team.
At the beginning of the development process, convene an “eco-charrette” with the team and other appropriate stakeholders. This will allow reasonable goals to be set from the start and ensure that everyone understands the goals and their role in achieving them. The goals do not necessarily have to rise to LEED standards, but it is important that the benefits and paybacks of meeting each goal be understood. The eco-charrette also will make it possible for each team member to coordinate with the other disciplines and feel responsible for the project outcome.
Begin value analysis—formerly called value engineering—at the start; do not wait until the building is designed and a price determined. For instance, materials are available today that are more energy efficient, stronger, and less expensive than those normally specified.
Carefully study the local market, local contractors and their practices, and local rules and regulations.
Develop a proactive construction strategy; actively manage site logistics, as well as waste management and recycling. Train all the subcontractors regarding the goals and the role they need to play to help meet them.
Once the building is finished, commission it, just as if it were a ship. Do a facility shakedown and tune all the equipment to make sure it is working up to specifications; make sure the building management is trained and following the right procedures, and educate the incoming tenants as well.

The multifamily industry has a wonderful opportunity to promote itself to the public and to local governments as the leading environmentally sound form of residential development, especially if it continues to reach out and partner with environmental advocacy organizations.

As always, good examples are the best form of advocacy. The more multifamily buildings that are built to green standards, the more the industry can showcase itself and enhance its image. This can only make new developments more acceptable to local communities and their governments. The best news of all is that the cost of building green is now comparable to that of traditional building methods. That makes green building an example of doing well while doing good.

John McIlwain is a ULI senior resident fellow and holds the ULI/J. Ronald Terwilliger Chair for Housing.