Cambridge Neighborhood Apartment and Housing Services (CNAHS) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has made a commitment to green building practices, and it’s paying off for the organization, the residents, and the community. Energy and maintenance savings increase the net operating income and reduce the debt-to-value ratio. Operational savings turn into cash for the owner to make additional improvements.
 
“More important, the energy measures reduce the rent burden on our residents,” said Len Tatem, CNAHS’s asset management consultant. One resident, convinced her electric bill was too low, even asked if it was for the right apartment.

Incorporated in 1983 as an apartment improvement program, Cambridge Neighborhood Apartment and Housing Services (CNAHS) initially served to maintain the quality of rent-controlled units in Cambridge’s predominantly rental-unit market (65 percent of Cambridge’s 50,000 units were for rent, according to the 1990 U.S. Census). Since the demise of rent control, CNAHS has served property owners by offering deferred interest financing, and rehabbed rental units. In return, owners maintain affordability in a market notorious for its expensive rental prices. CNAHS has also aggressively pursued development opportunities as an owner/operator of rental housing and currently owns more than 872 units in more than 50 buildings in Cambridge.
 
CNAH staff and its volunteer board became concerned with the tremendous amounts of energy consumed by American households and the amount of trash and pollutants produced, and decided to do something about it. They are starting to adopt a sustainable, interdisciplinary approach to the design, construction, and operation of their rental properties.
 
“The construction industry is five years behind, so we had to educate the residents, the contractors, and ourselves,” explained Jane Jones, CNAHS senior project manager. CNAHS adopted the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, and has worked hard at involving its architects, contractors, residents, and property managers in the process.
 
“We demonstrate that there’s a financial incentive to a sustainable design approach,” Jones said. “It’s not just for nature lovers. There are significant savings in environmentally sound practices. So we emphasize the business opportunity.” In high-cost Cambridge, with market rents for a two-bedroom apartment exceeding $1,900 a month, every nickel counts.

Demolition, Construction.  At CNAHS’s Columbia CAST project, a 42-unit moderate rehab, green practices during construction cut construction and demolition waste in half. Thirty tons were recycled during construction alone. “We got the contractor to source-separate the construction debris,” said Jones. “Recycling really reduced his cost. For example, there’s a huge amount of cardboard and packing material just for the appliances and kitchen cabinetry. We recycled everything we could. The toilets were taken by a vendor that refurbishes them, and we installed low-flow units. The contractor was skeptical, but in the end he broke even. And now that he’s got the experience, he’s sure he’ll make money by recycling on his next job.”

Energy Conservation in Design.  With technical support from the New Ecology and the Tellus Institute, CNAHS is trying to incorporate green design strategies into all its projects. When it developed the 60-unit Auburn Park project, for instance, it defrayed the costs with a $150,000 grant toward energy improvements, which include energy-efficient light fixtures and mechanical equipment, additional wall and foundation insulation, and air infiltration protection. Low-flow showerheads reduce water usage, and a heat exchanger recaptures wasted energy from the common areas. All of CNAHS’ new units are Energy-Star rated.
 
“By starting with an integrated approach during the design phase, we make everybody’s job easier,” said Jones. A building’s shape, solar orientation, interior layout, and size, all affect its energy consumption. “For example,” Jones said, “instead of designing a building where all the windows are on the north, we all sit down together with the goal in mind of minimizing our energy consumption.” Building orientation combined with the use high-efficiency windows can help reduce heating cost. Appropriate window placement in combination with installing low solar gain roofing materials reduces cooling loads.
 
In addition to reducing utility costs, CNAHS also has reaped the reward of an improved reputation with its funders. “The operating savings play well with investors,” said Tatem. “They like innovation, and they like being associated with a project that’s socially responsible.”

Reducing Ongoing Costs.  Jane Jones is a true believer, and her enthusiasm is infectious. “To start,” she said, “we tried to buy materials locally to reduce pollution and transit costs. Materials can affect a building’s energy and environmental performance. The city of Cambridge has strict storm water requirements . To reduce storm water runoff, we removed the courtyard’s asphalt and replaced it with porous concrete pavers, which allows water to percolate slowly . In addition, removing asphalt reduces the ‘heat island’ effect. We selected drought-tolerant native plants, since they require less water and use natural fertilizers. We installed a product called ‘Field Turf’ at the playground, which looks like real grass but is made of recycled sneakers. It provides a durable surface, and we don’t have to burn gasoline mowing or maintaining the lawn.”
 
Residents are a big part of the process. “We conducted meetings and workshops, with the assistance of the city of Cambridge Recycling Program. The recycling coordinator brought in products made out of recycled materials,” said Jones. “It really made an impact.” The Columbia CAST residents are on pace to recycle three tons of trash annually. With the high tipping fees charged by Massachusetts waste disposal companies, this represents a significant saving for the owners, as well as a much-needed respite for overburdened landfills.
 
Key to green building is life-cycle cost analysis. For example, an inexpensive refrigerator may only cost $400 initially, but will consume up to 40 percent more energy a year than a more-efficient model. It will have to be replaced sooner than a better-built unit, and hauled away and disposed of. An integrated, “whole-systems” building approach uses life-cycle analysis as a tool that can be applied to most common building products and systems. It enables developers and landlords to make better long-term, asset-management decisions and can be used to develop a cost-effective, 20-year capital-needs replacement schedule.

Interior Environment.  “A key element of greening a project is improving the indoor air quality,” said Jones. “We specify low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, adhesives and sealants. Instead of sheet vinyl, which is less durable and more toxic than other flooring options, we specify rubber treads or a natural linoleum. Although a bit more expensive, it is very durable and made of natural materials, reducing future waste products. Another key advantage of linoleum is that it can be cleaned by damp-mopping only. This dramatically reduced our cleaning costs. They don’t have to clean, buff, mop, and wax it like vinyl. We also use ammonia-free cleaning products. If vinyl is our only option, we select VCT tiles that contain fewer VOCs than sheet vinyl.
 
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landlord must often renovate an apartment if a resident has made a reasonable accommodation request for asthma or other respiratory problems. “We’ve reduced our liability by pro-actively addressing indoor air quality,” said Tatem. “The air-quality issues have definitely improved.” The proof – no complaints.

Settling on the “shade of green” in a development determines the up-front investment, as compared to more-conventional construction methods. Typically, there is a short payback time on most strategies. Once that payback period has passed, all savings can go toward furthering CNAHS’s mission. It can either provide more services for residents or use the savings to develop more units. Tatem is in the process of completing refinancing on appropriate properties in the CNAHS portfolio, and stresses the operational savings in his pitch to investors. “It makes a difference,” he said. “They’re very receptive, especially when we show them the bottom line.”
 
The environmental results at-large are difficult to gauge, but clearly something has to be done. The average American household produces 3,500 pounds of garbage, 450,000 gallons of wastewater, and 25,000 pounds of CO2 a year, more than twice the output of any other country and quadruple the worldwide pace.

“You definitely need to start early in the schematic design phase,” said Jones. “The work comes in the beginning and the rewards are at the end. We were already pouring concrete for the foundations on the Auburn Court project when we found out about the Energy Star Program and the benefits of energy-conservation design.”
 
“Most of our residents didn’t know the first thing about recycling,” Jones said, “but once they learned, they were very receptive. And the contractors and management companies are getting on board as well.” Tatem says the next step is to focus funders on the benefits of sustainable design and construction. “The idea that cheaper is better simply has to change,” he said. “Green building isn’t on a lot of funders’ radar screens. It’s our job to fix that problem.” Tatem just completed a course at Harvard on sustainability in the building industry, and Jones says she’s constantly learning new approaches and techniques while at the same time applying practical energy-conservation measures throughout the process.
 
Agency interview with: Jane Jones