Affordable green housing easily achievable

The Borealis Apartments in Seattle are certified by Built Green.

In Seattle this summer, Vulcan Real Estate proved that dense urban living can be both sustainable and affordable. The Borealis Apartments project, developed by the company in the city's South Lake Union neighborhood, was recognized with an award for Outstanding Affordable Housing Project from the Gold Nugget Awards, hosted by the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.

The three-star Built Green building originally opened in May 2008 and offers apartments priced to be affordable for individuals and families earning less than 80 percent of the median household income for King County. The 33,000-square-foot, six-story building includes 53 apartments and nearly 3,600 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.

Vulcan declined to say how much the building cost, though Lori Mason Curran, market research manager at Vulcan, says the sustainable features did not make it more expensive that a conventional building. Vulcan did work with Seattle City Light's Built Smart program which provides incentives for energy-efficient components, but she says they were not a major reason to construct a green building.

Choosing to obtain Built Green certification as opposed to U.S. Green Building Council certification is just one way the developer kept costs down, says Mason Curran. Other low-cost, high-return measures at the Borealis include an east-west orientation to maximize solar exposure, on-site bike storage, locating near mass transit options, as well as the standard low-flow fixtures, Energy Star appliances and low-VOC finishes.

Mason Curran says components like these are, "the things that dont add much to the cost of the building, but help people live in the building have less of a carbon footprint." They are the kind of building methods that will help make green building the standard for affordable homes.

"Things like that that are very simple as we move toward the future and look at the simple solutions," she says. "It will become easier and more affordable to build because there will be systems in place."