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Low-Income Housing Project Promotes Low Impact Development

The studios and one- and two-bedroom units ranging in size from 500 to 800 square feet will provide affordable housing for low-income families and are scheduled for completion by the beginning of 2005.

Using various technological, land planning and design practices, low impact development (LID) conserves and protects natural resources and reduces infrastructure costs.

Released in July by PATH and HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research, “The Practice of Low Impact Development,” says that LID is best suited for new, suburban development and provides developers with a way of responding to increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

Key recommendations for LID contained in the report include:

• Project Planning and Design. A key to success is investing additional time and money in the initial planning stages of development. While this increases up-front costs, “these expenditures are often recouped in the form of rapid home sales, enhanced community marketability and higher lot yields,” the report says.
• Storm Water Management. Low impact development storm water management systems can reduce development costs by reducing or eliminating conventional storm water conveyance and collection systems. LID systems, the report says, can reduce the need for paving, curb and gutter, piping, inlet structures and storm water ponds by treating water at its source, rather than at the end of the pipe. This also reduces municipal maintenance costs.
• Wastewater Management. Using the LID approach, developers can choose from a variety of on-site wastewater treatment system options, either as alternatives or enhancements to conventional septic systems. Some of these alternatives — such as recirculating sand filters and evapotranspiration systems — are “add-ons” to a traditional septic tank system. The additional treatment unit is connected in-line with the septic tank, and provides an extra level of treatment.
• Circulation and Design. New designs for streets, sidewalks and driveways help reduce expanses of impervious surfaces that can alter local hydrology and degrade water quality, the report says. In turn, new street designs can influence the layout of lots, and help increase the volume of open space in new residential developments.

The San Francisco project will include a number of innovations from the PATH Technology Inventory: high efficiency HVAC systems, universal design kitchens and bathrooms, deconstruction, construction waste management, CFLs, structured wiring systems, insulated headers, fly ash concrete, linoleum, recycled content carpet, low- or no-VOC paints, low-flow plumbing fixtures, drainwater heat recovery, latex foam sealant and no-formaldehyde fiberglass insulation.

Citizen Housing Corporation’s development portfolio currently includes more than 2,000 units throughout California. Over 90% of that housing is affordable to low-income seniors and families earning $12,000-$30,000.

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