Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) has developed its own strategy to protect its 120 properties from the negative impacts of severe weather events.
A new policy ensures that there is backup power for an “area of refuge” that is typically the community space and management offices on the first floor. These spaces allow residents to gather comfortably in an area with heating or cooling and ventilation, hot and cold water, power outlets, and refrigeration for medication.
POAH makes this allowance when replacing a generator on existing buildings and when it constructs new housing. Previously, when generators were installed, they were typically limited to supplying certain code-required items such as hallway lighting, life-safety systems, and elevators.
POAH has also been incorporating passive house design into new construction projects and is pursuing deep energy retrofits at most rehab projects. “Making the enclosure air-tight and adding continuous insulation can create a stable interior temperature, allowing residents to stay housed in power outages during winter and summer months for days at a time,” the organization says in a news release.
Related Stories
| Apr 10, 2014
Green Building Certification Institute partners with Well Building Institute on standard
The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which administers third-party certification for the LEED standard, and the Well Building Institute will collaborate to promote the WELL Building Standard.
| Apr 10, 2014
OSHA’s construction safety advisory committee invites input on construction regulations
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health May 7-8, 2014, in Washington, D.C.
| Apr 10, 2014
ASTM’s International Standards in Building Codes now available in DVD and online
The compilation ASTM Standards in Building Codes contains more than 1,300 ASTM construction specifications, practices and test methods, and is now available in DVD and online.
| Apr 10, 2014
New California energy code requires building systems to be ready for demand response energy management
Starting in June, California’s latest version of its Title 24 building code kicks in, requiring several systems come with demand response capability.
| Apr 4, 2014
Green Building Initiative moves to include locally sourced materials in Green Globes
The Green Building Initiative group based in Portland, Ore., met with the Department of Agriculture on a plan to include locally sourced materials in its green building standards.
| Apr 4, 2014
White roofs outperform green roofs in reducing heat-island effect, says Lawrence Berkeley Lab
A new report from LBNL says that white roofs are three times more effective than green roofs at “cooling the globe.”
| Apr 4, 2014
ASHRAE standard aims for consistency in measuring building energy use
The standard answers such questions as: Should the measurements of a building’s area used in the equation to derive energy use per square foot be taken from the exterior dimensions or to the centerline of the wall? And, should storage spaces be included even though they are unoccupied?
| Apr 4, 2014
Cleveland’s sewer authority to pay developers for green solutions to stormwater runoff
The district’s intent to use natural features to absorb stormwater reflects an urban trend that other cities including Philadelphia and Detroit have embraced.
| Mar 30, 2014
Solar panels on Big Ben intended to spur U.K.’s sustainability targets
Solar panels may soon be installed on the face of Big Ben in London as part of the U.K.'s initiatives to reach its greenhouse gas emissions objectives under the Climate Change Act of 2008.
| Mar 26, 2014
EPA clarifies Clean Water Act in revision that was opposed by developers
The Environmental Protection Agency recently unveiled a rule designed to define more clearly which waterways are covered by the Clean Water Act and therefore require U.S. permits for certain activities.