Cohousing-L Mailing List: Renewable Energy in Cohousing

[Danny Milman (danny]

Hello.

At The CoHousing Company, we strive to incorporate green building features
into all of our projects.  The following is a list of features that are
included regularly in our designs:

DESIGN

? attached units - mix of flats & townhouses
? front porches/patios
? range of unit sizes (2-4 bedroom)
? minimize paving
? infill sites with transit access

MATERIALS/METHODS

? advanced wood framing including 2x6 24" on center exterior walls and 2x4
24"oc interior
? engineered trusses
? engineered lumber
? 2x6 exterior walls for better insulation ratings
? 5/8" (thicker than usual) gypboard for better insulation ratings
? wet blown cellulose insulation
? 15% fly ash content in concrete
? recycled plastic lumber for decking
? water conserving fixtures
? compact fluorescent fixtures
? photoelectric smoke detectors
? hydronic heating
? high efficiency boilers  - one boiler for the entire building's heating
and hot water needs
? low VOC paint & finishes
? linoleum
? recycled content carpet
? passive solar features
? limited particleboard/MDF
? high acoustic separation

You can see some combination of these features incorporated into our
completed communities including Berkeley Cohousing, Bellingham Cohousing,
Temescal Cohousing, and Pleasant Hill Cohousing to name a few.

Temescal Cohousing is a small urban community in North Oakland that also
incorporated photovoltaics clipped into a metal roofing system that supplies
an impressive amount of power.

Cotati Cohousing is currently under construction and also incorporates
extensive on site water retention and a mixed use commercial/residential
building with shared parking.

Pleasant Hill Cohousing's environmental features were written up in the
Nov/Dec 2001 issue of Home Energy - The Magazine of Home Performance (Volume
18.6 - www.homenergy.com)

Please feel free to contact me for more information.  Good luck on your talk
this weekend & wave to Enchanted Rock for me.

Danny
MILMAN
The CoHousing Company
resident of Berkeley Cohousing

510/549-9980
510/549-2140 fax
danny [at] cohousingco.com
www.cohousingco.com

1250 Addison Street #113
Berkeley CA  94702



Original message:

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 22:09:34 -0500
From: "C.C. Barron" <ccbarron [at] io.com>
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: [C-L]_Renewable Energy in Cohousing
Reply-To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org

Hi cohousers,

I'm giving a talk on cohousing at the Renewable Energy Roundup and
Sustainable Living Fair in Fredericksburg Texas this coming weekend.  I
would like to include in my talk a couple of examples of cohousing
communities that have employed renewable energy (and other sustainable)
technologies.  Specifically photovoltaics, wind, solar hot water,
rainwater collection, green building, etc.  I would appreciate any tips
-- which communities have gone the furthest in the renewable energy and
green building direction?

Thanks!

Cat Barron
Oak Village Commons
Oak Hill (Austin), TX

P.S.  I'm interested in this topic beyond just the talk I'm giving --
Oak Village Commons is going as green as possible for our project
(www.oakhillcohousing.org).


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