Mass. Green Building of the Year Award: Homeowner's Rehab Inc.'s 95 - 97 Pine Street project achieves LEED for Homes Platinum

Homeowner's Rehab Inc. completed a deep energy retrofit to a 12 unit residential property in 2011 that was the first affordable housing rehab project in Massachusetts to achieve LEED for Homes Platinum certification. Once an aging, drafty building in need of renovation, 95-97 Pine St. now provides energy efficient apartments to 12 low income families. Before the deep energy retrofit, 95-97 Pine St. was using almost 1/3 more energy per s/f than the average multifamily building in Massachusetts according to WEGOwise tracking and benchmarking. Post retrofit, the building is a testament to how far a multi-family rehab project can go towards historic preservation and sustainability. The development has seen a 69% reduction in the amount of energy the building consumes and now uses 1/3 of the BTU per s/f of the average multifamily building in the WEGOwise system. The rehab incorporated a number of green features aimed at creating an energy efficient building envelope and mechanical systems. Green and efficient features include icynene insulation in walls and roof as well as 2" of rigid insulation on the exterior walls. Blower door testing and infrared testing helped to identify defects in the foam insulation which were corrected before the walls were closed off. Installation of new, high-efficiency condensing boilers has dramatically improved natural gas performance in the building. Delimiting thermostats limit how high tenants can turn up their heat. A 10 KW DC Solar Photovoltaic system and 8 panels for solar thermal collectors were installed on the roof. A number of efforts have been made to encourage residents to recycle and reduce their energy consumption including developing a Green Living Guide for the building, holding energy workshops, and grading the recycling performance and posting the grades in the entryway. In addition, we have implemented a Get Caught "Green" Handed program where we give residents a gift card if we can catch them recycling, take their photo, and use it the monthly newsletter to inspire others to recycle. Project team: Owner: Homeowner's Rehab Inc. Architect: The Narrow Gate Contractor: Crosswinds Enterprises LEED for Home Provider: Conservation Services Group