Mutual Housing at Fairview Terrace

Project Result

The Mutual Housing at Fairview Terrace affordable senior housing project kicked-off in August of 2022. Early on, the design team met with community members and local organizations to understand the options and approaches best suited for a project in this specific neighborhood of Stockton. The design team studied the history of the City of Stockton, the needs of the neighborhood and how to implement the robust energy and sustainability goals in order to wrap up schematic design at the end of 2022.

Since the project Design Development kick-off at the beginning of 2023, the design team made progress on space allocations for various support functions, architectural floor plans, elevations, MEP schematics and defined an overall strategy to meet the established target Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 24 kBtu/sf-yr along with on-site PV for net zero energy. To achieve high energy performance, the architectural team implemented external window shading appropriately designed to maintain visual comfort and reduce solar gains by up to 50% in cooling season, while preserving access to solar gains during winter for passive heating benefits. In addition to dwelling units, secure operable window provisions were also made for common areas including the community room, offices, breakroom and lobbies to utilize natural ventilation when weather and air quality permits. The design team researched and identified low-GWP HVAC equipment and a heat-pump water heater, an EV charging system that enables easy scaling-up for the future and dialed-in some details of how the innovative technologies like Hybrid Solar Plus Storage Cogeneration, HVAC optimization controls, plug load management controls would be implemented to achieve project and EPIC goals. With the help of the client, the team has also identified tier 1 and tier 2 critical loads.

The big challenges included integrating emerging technologies with conventional design and establishing overall clarity between design team members on their individual scope of work. An example of the challenges faced was the MEP team’s effort in understanding how the predictive-adaptive controls from the HVAC optimization technology interface with the conventional mechanical and electrical control system, and how the solar cogeneration system would be integrated with conventional plumbing design. A major goal for early 2023 is to evaluate battery sizes and develop microgrid design. Furthermore, the overarching goal early this year is to add details to the drawings and specifications regarding emerging technologies being implemented on the project.