- By Marcia E. Lynch
- Around Town
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Full build-out for both communities is expected to be completed by September 2013. These two residential developments are designed to achieve Tompkins County’s 2050 goal of an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions today—using existing and emerging technologies and practices. The homes in the TREE and APN neighborhoods are designed to be 80 percent more efficient than current residential buildings in the U.S.
Tompkins County, in partnership with EcoVillage, was awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to show how innovative, on-the-ground approaches can be used to create neighborhoods that enhance residents’ quality of life while using fewer resources. The EPA grant focuses on documenting EcoVillage’s innovative, successful methods of green building, mixed land-use planning, and community development, and applying those methods to more mainstream developments in a variety of settings.
“The EPA Climate Showcase Communities project grew out of an unexpected collaboration between folks in the community who were already doing this work,” said County Commissioner of Planning and Community Sustainability Ed Marx. “This federal grant provides us with the opportunity to elevate this work and communicate it to a broader audience. Our project is the only one focused on new residential development among the 50 EPA climate showcase communities nationwide,” Marx explained.
A recent analysis showed that the ecological footprint of residents in the two existing neighborhoods at EcoVillage at Ithaca is 70% less than the U.S. average. The TREE neighborhood aims to decrease this footprint even more, while still preserving a high quality of life for residents. TREE will employ state-of-the-art “Passivhaus” design, which originated in Germany and is considered the greenest building standard in the world. There are about 25,000 Passivhaus certified homes in Europe, but only 13 homes in the U.S. have achieved Passivhaus certification. The TREE community will triple the U.S. figure by constructing 25 new homes which qualify for Passivhaus certification. Estimated home prices range from $85,000 for studio apartments to $250,000 for a four-bedroom home.
“During the past two decades, the residents of EcoVillage at Ithaca have discovered that it’s possible to maintain a wonderfully high quality of life while using a fraction of the resources most American households require,” said Liz Walker, the Executive Director of the non-profit EcoVillage Center for Sustainability Education and one of the founders of the village. “The investment per home to achieve these energy efficiencies is not that great, perhaps $7500 per house, so the cost is well worth the benefits.”
“We’re actively looking for new members to join the TREE neighborhood,” said Walker. “We have 30 out of 40 households filled. We welcome people of all ages and diverse backgrounds,” she said.
The Aurora Pocket Neighborhood is a project of New Earth Living LLC, and a collaboration between builder Sue Cosentini and designer Rob Morache. The mission of New Earth Living is to create a new model for living that fosters social connections, affordability, and a minimal ecological footprint. The APN site is at the corner of North Aurora and Marshall Streets in Ithaca, in an existing neighborhood. Homes will be arranged around a common courtyard with many raised vegetable beds and fruit and nut trees. This central courtyard will serve as a gathering place for residents and provide opportunities for social connection and home gardening.
“Co-housing is an absolutely brilliant model for living,” said Sue Cosentini. “I am committed to creating urban dwellings that support and foster connections with each other and the Earth,” Cosentini said. “There has never been a time that we needed to have connections of care, respect, and trust more than we do now.”
In their planning for the Aurora Pocket Neighborhood, Cosentini and Morache evaluated a number of space and domestic hot water heating systems. “We looked at it all: photovoltaic (PV) powered air source heat pumps, solar thermal, resistance electric, masonry heaters, geothermal, and lots of combinations thereof,” said Cosentini. “Where we landed is individual PV arrays for each house that will power the basic electrical needs and a district (shared by all the houses) bio-mass boiler,” she said. The hybrid system will consist of a series of accumulator tanks in each house that serve both the space heating and hot water heating needs. The tanks will be super-insulated so that the boiler fires as little as possible in both winter and summer. “This hybrid system is emblematic of our climate conditions and our existing incentive structure,” Cosentini explained.
“We’re using Passivhaus methodologies as our guiding principles,” said Cosentini. “We’ve been trying to incorporate elements of the Passivhaus design in an economical way, including the thermal break and triple pane window components.”
The third project in the EPA Climate Showcase Communities program is a proposed new neighborhood located near Cayuga Medical Center in the Town of Ithaca. Tompkins County owns roughly 25 acres of land near the hospital and will soon be seeking developers to purchase or lease this land and develop a mixed-use residential community there. Several features will assure that the development is environmentally and socially responsible—including highly energy-efficient buildings; a pedestrian-focused environment including connections within the neighborhood and to public transit and, potentially, the Black Diamond Trail; on-site community gardens; and permanent protection of approximately two-thirds of the site as open space.
Potential developers will be evaluated based on rating parameters outlined in the draft Request for Proposals (RFP). Information on the proposed project is available on the Tompkins County Planning Department website at www.tompkins-co.org/planning under the Planning Department News tab labeled “Seeking Comment on Draft RFP.” The Planning Department will release a revised RFP early this summer.
Next week the Tompkins County Planning Department will host public meetings to present the County’s Development Focus Area Strategy and Conservation Strategy. The goal of these strategies is to encourage development of livable communities in existing population centers, while supporting protection of valuable farmland and important natural resources. Commissioner Marx will discuss the County RFP and how this third Climate Showcase Community exemplifies the County’s long-term sustainability and development goals. Public meetings will occur on the following dates:
Monday, June 18, at 6:30 pm at the Varna Community Center, 943 Dryden Road/Route 366 Tuesday, June 19 at 6:30 pm at the Museum of the Earth, 1259 Trumansburg Road/Route 96 Wednesday, June 20 at 6:30 pm at the Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street
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