Sustainable Salinas talks green building

From the Californian: The green building features of a planned Salinas apartment complex and of the new municipal pool were showcased to the public Wednesday at the first community event for Sustainable Salinas held at the Sherwood Community Center. 

Starting Jan. 28, the nonprofit group will begin meeting on environmental topics on the fourth Wednesday of each month, said Denyse Frischmuth, a board member at Citizens for a Sustainable Monterey County.

The formats will vary and include panel discussions and speakers; workshops on such topics as organic gardening; and films.

Jeff Oberdorfer, executive director of First Community Housing, outlined the "living roof" and other features proposed for the Salinas Gateway Apartments at West Market Street and Lincoln Avenue.

The 52-unit, $13.5 million affordable housing project is set to begin construction in April after being delayed for a year by the state's budget struggles, said Oberdorfer, whose nonprofit has developed low-income green housing projects in San Jose, Redwood City and elsewhere.

"Some of the myths about affordable housing and what it looks like can be broken down with some good architecture," Oberdorfer said as he showed slides of his projects.

Some had roofs covered in vegetation. "In Salinas, we're recycling all the water from our green roof into three large cisterns in the parking garage and then pumping it back up to the roof for landscaping," he said.

The mixed-use project will also feature 2,700 square feet of retail on the first floor.

The green features of the development were made possible by $12.2 million in California Housing Finance Authority financing. The Salinas Redevelopment Agency provided FCH a $910,000 loan to purchase the 0.6-acre lot.

Many residents of FCH projects earn just 30 to 50 percent of the local median income, Oberdorfer said. One project built between two San Jose shopping centers was envisioned as housing for retail employees. They ended up just 10 percent of the mix. "Most of the tenants wanted to hang out at the shopping centers rather than work there," he said.

On a tour of the new pool Carl Niizawa, the city's deputy chief engineer, explained how the ventilation system minimized the need for and the effects of chlorine. He had the retractable roof opened to show off some night sky.

Joe Piedimonte, a green building consultant for Ausonio, described the process of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for buildings. The pool, he said, has enough credits for LEED gold certification.

About 30 people attended the event.

Information: http://sustainablemontereycounty.org

By MIKE HORNICK • mhornick@thecalifornian.com • October 29, 2009