Energy Use—Monitoring and Measurement :
Each one of the 44 units is individually monitored for energy use along with the energy produced by the large solar PV array.
Control Systems :
No smart systems are installed to provide automated control of various energy-using systems, but a home energy monitoring system is standard in every unit. This simple monitoring system provides an indication of a wall-mounted device of the total electricity use. The device provides a color graphic indicator of both the instantaneous use in watts and the cumulative use of energy in kWh over the course of the day. The tenants are therefore given real-time information about high levels of energy use and give them the opportunity to take corrective action.
There are four unit sizes in the project, specified by the number of bedrooms (1BR, 2BR, 3BR,
4BR). The eight one-bedroom units average 730 sq. ft. and the eighth largest, the four-bedroom units, average 1,445 sq. ft. There are sixteen two-bedroom units, the most popular size, averaging 919 sq. ft., and twelve three-bedroom units averaging 1,204 sq. ft. There is one bathroom in the one- and two-bedroom units, with two bathrooms in both the three- and four-bedroom units. These rental units are planned on two levels above one level of parking and commercial spaces that are located at the periphery of the site at the street frontage.
There are community laundry facilities, so no individual unit has a washer or dryer. (The accounting of energy use for the individual unit, therefore, does not include these usual “plug load” items.)
Each one-bedroom unit is allotted one parking space in the ground-level parking area below the housing podium. All other units receive two spaces each. The commercial spaces located at the ground level are managed separately from the housing units above and are not connected to the LEED or ZNE goals for the building. Their energy use, as well as electric loads associated with the parking, are not counted in the energy use total for the multi-family housing project.
The solar PV system on the roof is dedicated solely to the housing units and community spaces and their ZNE goal. This case study is therefore concerned with the second and third levels of this whole Colonial House project and is limited to the 44 units of affordable rental housing for farm workers and the associated community spaces.
OVER THE PAST YEARS THIS PROJECT HAS ACHIEVED MANY GOALS AND HAS COLLECTED MANY AWARDS FOR ITS DESIGN.
