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Month: August 2022

Hotel Clovis Earns LEED for Homes Platinum Certification

Posted on by Green Insight

The city of Clovis, New Mexico sits just 9 miles west of the border of Texas and is called home to almost 40,000 people. A large agricultural community, Clovis is surrounded by large peanut and cotton farms as well as busy cattle ranches.

At the city’s heart sits the Art Deco gem, the Hotel Clovis. Built in 1931, this 10-story former hotel earned the distinction of being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.  Its hospitality days long over, Hotel Clovis is now used as both a residential and commercial piece of real estate.

Project Details

Hotel Clovis now boasts 31 rental lofts and 8,000 square feet of commercial space. Two new buildings have been added to its ranks to increase Hotel Clovis to half a city block while providing an additional 28 dwelling units.

During the renovation of this historic building, Green Insight was brought in to consult with developers and contractors to create a state-of-the-art environmentally responsible project while maintaining the building’s historic charm.

We worked with developer Tierra Realty Trust and contractor Century Communities II to help the team:

  • Earn LEED for Homes credit
  • Test during construction
  • Pass quality assurance review
  • Make energy-efficient recommendations
  • Make building material assessments
  • Review construction documents and specifics
  • Review all project submittals

Project Challenges

Before Tierra Realty Trust acquired development rights for the building, the city of Clovis had slated to demolish the historic building due to findings that rehabilitation of the building would be cost prohibitive to the city.

With its proven track record of successfully turning historic buildings into sustainable housing communities, Tierra Realty Trust acquired the rights after numerous other developers looked at rehabilitation over the course of many years, but it ultimately backed away from the challenges the building posed.

One of the biggest challenges the developer faced was air infiltration through the building’s envelope, which could not be modified in any way due to its historically registered status. An additional challenge was meeting the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standard 62.2 which governs indoor air quality, and ventilation specifically.

Project Solutions

To combat the building envelope issue, Green Insight recommended adding interior closed-cell insulation to the block and brick veneer exterior walls. Nano gel was added to the plaster on the first floor and the grand historic ballroom to increase the insulation level as high as possible while maintaining historic finishes. To meet ventilation standards, they added trickle vents cut into the window and the whole building’s ventilation system was plumbed to very high-efficiency variable speed exhaust fans which also maintained the historic exterior.

To ensure sustainability in the building, a 35kW photovoltaic system was installed on the roof of all of the newly constructed buildings to power the common spaces and new buildings at Hotel Clovis. In all, 80% of the units in these new buildings have a passive solar orientation.

Project Results

By collaborating with Green Insight, developers and contractors were able to meet and exceed their goals of sustainable energy while maintaining the building’s historical integrity. This collaboration resulted in:

  • LEED for Homes Platinum Certification
  • A New Mexico Sustainable Building Tax Credit of $525,825
  • A Historic Preservation Tax Credit of $118,248

Ultimately, the vision and work of all teams resulted in the successful adaptive reuse of a depression-era hotel that was slated to be demolished. It now stands as a model of sustainability with historic charm right in the heart of Clovis.

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El Camino Real Apartments Earns LEED for Homes Platinum Certification

Posted on by Craig McBreen

The small village of Hatch, New Mexico has just under 2,000 residents. But every year they watch their numbers swell to over 30,000 for one big reason: The Hatch Chile.

Also known as the New Mexico Chile, these chiles find the perfect altitude, climate, and soil to grow in the Hatch Valley, located in the fertile Rio Grande River Valley. Tourists flock to Hatch to enjoy the many ways you can experience the vegetable in the small town fondly known as The Chile Capital of the World.

Something else Hatch can now boast of is the El Camino Real Apartments which stand as a testament that affordable housing can also have a lower than average environmental impact.

Project Details

With 60 total units and a community building, El Camino Real is designed to assist the agricultural workers who keep the Hatch Chile industry alive by offering income-based rent that fluctuates between the busy growing season and the off-season.

Because of its role as a low-income housing complex, El Camino Real utilized federal low-income housing tax credits. Because of this, the complex had to be designed and constructed to not only be 30% more energy-efficient but also achieve certification through LEED for Homes.

Green Insight worked alongside developer Thomas Development and contractor Cress Builders to assist them in achieving their green building goals. To do so, Green Insight worked with them on:

  • Project green goal facilitation
  • Identifying cost-effective design solutions before construction
  • LEED for Homes credit verification
  • Testing during construction
  • Energy modeling
  • Building materials assessment
  • Review of specifications, construction documents, and project submissions

Project Challenges

One of the biggest challenges the team faced was the location of the complex. Hatch sits on a floodplain and has been known to be overwhelmed by stormwater. The worst flood was in 2006, but many flooding episodes have cost millions of dollars in damage. Therefore the team had to find a solution by designing a project that would not only be safe during a flooding event but would also improve the surrounding area in the process.

Additionally, developers wanted to create a complex that would qualify for both the federal 45L tax credit for energy efficiency as well as New Mexico’s Sustainable Building Tax Credit. This would require significant efforts to design and construct a project that was not only safe but energy efficient.

Solutions

To combat the challenge of stormwater damage, the design team found a way to minimize the damage that the project may receive in the event of flooding. They were able to do this while still maintaining enough space for the project in its entirety. The project also features a retention pond to catch water runoff from the hills above.

Green Insight worked with developers and builders in a variety of ways to make sure they met their energy efficiency goals for the project. Solutions included inspecting of wall, roof, and insulation systems to reduce the heating and cooling loads of each unit.

Fixtures in all units were also selected because of what they contributed to the energy efficiency of the unit. Additionally, solar photovoltaic panels were added to the project to use sun-generated energy to reduce the remaining energy usage of the complex.

Results

Through Green Insight’s collaboration with Thomas Development and Cress Builders, the El Camino Apartment complex not only met but exceeded its goals for sustainability. Altogether, the finished product earned:

  • LEED for Homes Platinum Certification
  • A $360,412 tax credit from New Mexico’s Sustainable Building Tax Credit
  • An $80,000 Federal 45L Tax Credit for energy efficiency

In all, El Camino Apartments was designed and constructed to be 70% more energy-efficient on average, an achievement that helped them earn the highest possible ratings in the LEED for Homes certification process.

Are you looking for a stress-free path to green building success? Our team will help you find the best solution for your green building project.

Get in touch with the Green Insight Team. We’ll get in touch to talk through your project and your goals.