For the past 20 years Walker Wells, VP of Programs & Director of Green Urbanism Programs, has spearheaded Global Green’s groundbreaking work to demonstrate that it is possible to bring high quality green design strategies to affordable housing development. We have helped affordable housing developers and their design teams earn LEED certification for over 3,000 units of low-income housing, most of which achieved the Platinum level. By providing housing that is energy and water efficient, healthy, and that promotes economic stability, each green affordable housing development serves as microcosm of urban sustainability.
ANCHOR PLACE
Anchor Place is the newest development on the Century Villages at Cabrillo campus in Long Beach, California. CVC provides services for veterans and other people in the community to help them transition into a mor e stable way of living. Anchor provides 120 permanent affordable housing units, including 75 units specifically for veterans, as part of the Village’s effort to expand the diversity of the housing options provided. Global Green worked with the Anchor Place design team to identify green design strategies that lower utility bills and improve residents’ health, manage stormwater, use water efficiently, improve durability, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project received LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council. Residents of Anchor Place will also benefit from several recent improvements to the overall CVC campus as part of a master plan that Global Green is assisting in achieving LEED for Neighborhood Development certification, including a new transit center.
PARADISE CREEK
Paradise Creek, located in National City, is a 201-unit affordable housing development that is revitalizing a former industrial part of the city, including ecological restoration of the creek it was named after. The project provides much needed affordable housing for individuals and families in this San Diego-adjacent community. The sustainability features are being provided in response to both state tax credit criteria and requests from the community that the development address long-environmental justice concerns. The sustainability features include cleaning and remediation of the former city storage yard, restoration of Paradise Creek, and construction of a new park adjacent to the development. Global Green worked with the developers and design team to identify cost -effective green building strategies to increase energy and water efficiency, improve ventilation and air quality, select healthy materials, and identify ways that the multi-building project can best connect to the surrounding neighborhood and connect to the nearby San Diego Trolley. Global Green’s role as green rater assisted the project in earning LEED Gold certification.
