Projects

Green Communities has partnered with BuildingGreen to highlight Green Communities projects through the High Performance Buildings Database, a research database sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The database provides case studies of projects ranging from homes and commercial interiors to large buildings and even whole campuses and neighborhoods. These may be certified green projects, or simply projects that have one or more notable environmental features. The information has been reviewed for consistency and presentation, but in most cases the details have not been independently verified.

The Green Communities projects featured in the High Performance Building  Database are: Spring Terrace, Denny Park, New Holland Apartments, Oleson Woods Apartments and Kingsbury Place. Please explore these projects below.

Alphabetical Listing

A | B | C | D | E-G | H-L | M-N | O-P | Q-R | S-T | U-Z

Prefer a listing by state?

275 10th Street

275 10th Street Supportive Housing
San Francisco, California

A project of Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco, 275 10th Street Supportive Housing features 134 single-room occupancy units for chronically homeless single adults in San Francisco. Download the profile (PDF, 477K).

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A

Arnett Watson

Arnett Watson Apartments
San Francisco, California

Arnett Watson Apartments features 83 units of supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals and families. Amenities include a laundry room, community meeting space with kitchen, outdoor courtyards, supportive services offices, on-site parking and retail space. Download the profile (PDF, 210K).

Azotea Senior Apartments

Azotea Senior Apartments
Alamogordo, New Mexico

Azotea Senior Apartments is the new construction of a 60-unit development in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The development features 14 one- and two- story buildings containing 24 one bedroom and 36 two-bedroom apartments. Download the profile (PDF, 539K).

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B

Broadway Crossing

Broadway Crossing
Seattle, Washington

Home to 44 affordable apartments in Seattle’s historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, Broadway Crossing was not part of the original plan for the corner of Broadway and East Pine Street. The initial proposal called for a single story drugstore, but area residents instead asked for a taller, denser project to provide housing for low-income residents. Download the profile. (PDF, 291K).

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C

carter woods

Carter Woods Phase II
Richmond, Virginia

Carter Woods is an affordable rental community in Eastern Henrico County just outside of Richmond. Constructed to EarthCraft Multi-Family Standards, it adds 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments for senior citizens to the 80 units completed in Phase I. Download the profile (PDF, 372K).

Clara Vista

Clara Vista
Portland, Oregon

Clara Vista Townhomes is the new construction of 44 units of family housing in Portland, Oregon. The townhomes will provide 34 three bedroom and 10 four bedroom units in seven two and three-story buildings located on two separate parcels. Download the profile (PDF, 568K).

Central Park at Stapleton

Central Park at Stapleton
Denver, Colorado

This new rental development in Denver is designed to provide affordable units for households making less than 50 percent of area median income, while also incorporating principles of sustainable design and green building standards. Download the profile (PDF, 642K).

The Sinclair

Clover Field Marketplace
Chaska, Minnesota

This development is a vital piece of Chaska’s goal to create an economically diverse neighborhood at Clover Ridge. Clover Field Marketplace creates a compact, mixed-used, pedestrian and transit-oriented residential neighborhood. Download the profile (PDF, 220K).

Colonia Amistad

Colonia Amistad
Independence, Oregon

Colonia Amistad is a 38-unit family apartment complex for very low-income farmworker families. The development includes 15 residential buildings and a community center. Open space is a key feature of the site, with many mature trees retained, including two groves of oak trees. Download the profile (PDF, 274K).

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D

Denny Park

Denny Park
Seattle, Washington

Denny Park Apartments is the new construction of 50 units of affordable housing serving families in the South Lake Union area of Seattle. Rental units will include studios and one, two, and three-bedroom apartments.
View the High Performance Buildings Database project details.
Download the profile
(PDF, 1MB).

Dinkins Gardens Facade

David & Joyce Dinkins Gardens
New York, New York

Includes homes for families earning less than 60 percent of the Area Median Income and youth aging out of foster care. It consists of 28 studio, 24 one-bedroom and 33 two-bedroom apartments. It also includes a 2,500-square-foot community facility to house Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement’s Construction Trades Academy, a program that provides local residents with skills in the construction trades and building maintenance industries. Download the profile (PDF, 725K)

Diversity Houses
New York, New York
Diversity Houses is aptly named to reflect the fabric of its community, a historic neighborhood on the lower east side of Manhattan, where immigrant families settled in the 19th and 20th centuries and where many European, Asian, Italian and Latin American New Yorkers can still trace their roots. Download the profile (PDF, 543K).

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E-G

Evergreen Park

Evergreen Park
Potsdam, New York

The Village of Potsdam Housing Authority's (PHA) 100-unit rehab will improve access for the disabled and improve energy efficiency. PHA will minimize disruption to current residents, enabling them to stay in their homes as long as possible, relocate to other homes in the project while their building was being worked on, and move back into the rehabbed home as soon as possible. Download the profile (PDF, 383K).

Galen Terrace

Galen Terrace
Washington, D.C.

Located in the heart of an historic district, Galen Terrace is a rehab of an existing Section 8 housing community. It is comprised of three three-story apartment buildings in the Anacostia neighborhood of South East Washington, DC. Download the profile (PDF, 407K).

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H-L

highline

Highline MHC Townhomes
Seattle, Washington

This project includes two 4,296 square-foot buildings, each containing three four-bedroom, two-bath units, as well as a 640 square-foot common area building. It was designed to provide comfortable townhouse-style homes for mentally-ill residents. A wide range of amenities, including 24-hour emergency health care, are provided. Download the profile (PDF, 360K).

Hotel Essex

Hotel Essex
San Francisco, California

Constructed originally in 1912, the seven-story Hotel Essex is being converted into 84 single-room-occupancy units for homeless individuals with disabilities. The building will also feature 3,000 square feet of street-level commercial space and 5,500 square feet of community facilities. Download the profile (PDF, 567K).

Kingsbury Place

Kingsbury Place
Walker, Michigan

Kingsbury Place consists of 44 units in ten buildings, providing homes for extremely low-income and chronically homeless individuals in the Kent County area. The developer plans to receive LEED certification for Kingsbury Place as a pilot project for the LEED-H certification process.
View the High Performance Buildings Database project details
. Download the profile (PDF, 267K).

laurel village

Laurel Village
Bellingham, Washington

This project involves the construction of 51 housing units on the site of an old railroad roundhouse and repair shop on a bluff overlooking Bellingham Bay. It will include 24 one-bedroom, 15 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom apartments in three buildings with underground parking. Download the profile (PDF, 4287K).

Living on Track

Living on Track
Medford, Oregon

Living on Track is a two-site development providing 63 units of supportive housing. The project provides 18 one-bedroom, 41 two-bedroom, and 4 three-bedroom units on two parcels of land. The project will address the needs of developmentally-disabled adults in recovery from drug and alcohol issues, chronically ill citizens, homeless individuals and victims of domestic violence. Download the profile (PDF, 682K).

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M-N

Near North 1

Near North 1
Chicago, Illinois
This project involves the new construction of 96 units of supportive housing designed for people with special needs. The most creative and dramatic of this project’s green elements can be found on the roof, which uses aeroturbines—a first in Chicago--and photovoltaic cells to reduce reliance on traditional energy sources and generate the savings needed to serve very low-income residents. Download the profile (PDF, 270K).

New Holland

New Holland Apartments
Danville, Illinois

The New Holland Apartments building offers 46 low-rent apartments, 12 of which are reserved for formerly homeless individuals with special needs. The new apartments are located in a renovated National Registered Historic Building, formerly turned into affordable housing units, that was abandoned and in disrepair.
View the High Performance Buildings Database project details.
Download the profile (PDF, 156K).

New San Marco

New San Marco
Duluth, Minnesota

The New San Marco Apartments is a new construction project with 70 units of affordable permanent housing serving the homeless in downtown Duluth. Download the profile (PDF, 216K).

New Shiloh

New Shiloh
Baltimore, Maryland

New Shiloh Village is the new construction of 80 units of quality affordable rental housing for very-low, low and moderate-income seniors. The location of the project, formerly a church parking lot, is in West Baltimore. Download the profile (PDF, 935K).

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O-P

Oleson Woods

Oleson Woods
Portland, Oregon

The Oleson Woods Apartments are 32 newly constructed one-, three-, and four-bedroom townhouse and flat style units housed in six residential buildings in the Metzger-Progress area, just north of Tigard, Ore. View the High Performance Buildings Database project details. Download the profile (PDF, 636K).

Orchard Gardens

Orchard Gardens
Missoula, Montana

Completed in December 2005, Orchard Gardens offers 35 units of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. This affordable housing development is located on the urban-rural fringe of Missoula, an area deeply rooted in the agricultural tradition. Download the profile (PDF, 333K).

Paint the Town

Paint the Town Rehab Week
Jacksonville, Florida
This event is an intensive home rehabilitation program, conducted by the Housing Partnership of Northeast Florida. Each year, the group works with neighborhood associations and community groups to perform essential home repairs on 40 owner-occupied units belonging to low-income families. D Download the profile (PDF, 280K).

Park Avenue Apartments

Park Avenue Apartments
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lutheran Social Services is developing a new campus that includes 14 long-term homeless apartments, 34 affordable apartments, office and service space. The project will capture rainwater that falls on the site, using it for irrigation, and has set high goals for energy efficiency. Download the Profile (PDF, 266K).

Parmenter Circle

Parmenter Circle
Middleton, Wisconsin

Parmenter Circle contributes to the revitalization effort underway in Middleton’s downtown area. Green Communities’ first development in Wisconsin, Parmenter Circle provides four efficiencies, three studio lofts, 16 one-bedroom, 23 two-bedroom and four three-bedroom apartments. Download the profile (PDF, 548K).

Plaza Apartments

Plaza Apartments
San Francisco, California

Plaza Apartments is the construction of 106 units of single room occupancy (SRO) housing in a nine-story building. The ground floor will contain retail. The remaining floors will house full studios including a full bath and kitchen. Download the profile (PDF, 731K).

Powelton Heights

Powelton Heights
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Powelton Heights involves the new construction of 48 one- bedroom units in one four-story building in the West Powelton Village neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Download the profile (PDF, 494K).

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Q-R

Randolph Place

Randolph Place
Richmond, Virginia

A moderate rehabilitation of an existing, occupied senior housing complex located in an historic school building in Richmond, Va. which is featured on the National Register of Historic Places. Download the profile (498K).

Renaissance Park

Renaissance at Rosemary Park
Bonita Springs, Florida

A robust transformation continues in the heart of urban Bonita Springs. An attractive new housing development promises to complement the emerging vibrancy in this Florida coastal community by providing affordable homes for purchase. Download the profile (PDF, 189K).

Ripley Gardens

Ripley Gardens
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ripley Gardens is the redevelopment of the former Ripley Maternity Hospital in the Harrison Neighborhood of Minneapolis. The development will include the restoration of three historic buildings and the addition of three new buildings to provide 52 rental and 8 homeownership units. Download the profile (PDF, 662K).

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Royal Building

Royal Building
Springfield, Oregon

A new, five-story, mixed-use building in Springfield, Ore., with 4,400 square feet of ground floor commercial space and 33 residential units on the remaining four floors. It is designed for low-income individuals, couples and small families. Download the profile (PDF, 302K).

 

S-T

330 PO LLC

SE 33rd and Powell Rowhouses
Portland, Oregon

This development is made up of six for-sale townhouses reserved for first time homebuyers below 80 percent AMI. The development has received certification from Green Communities, Earth Advantage and LEED-H pilot program. Download the profile (PDF, 247K).

Spring Terrace

Spring Terrace
Austin, Texas

Formerly an extended-stay hotel, Spring Terrace was renovated to provide 140 efficiency apartments, each with a private bath and kitchenette, as well as community areas and green spaces. Case managers help residents access public services such as employment services, health care, and counseling. View the High Performance Buildings Database project details.

Southern Lights

Southern Lights
Billings, Montana

These apartments are thoughtfully and purposefully designed for efficiency and accessibility and include a mix of one- to four-bedrooms. A variety of floor plans ranging from one-story flats to two-story townhomes are available. Download the profile (PDF, 424K).

Tremont Pointe

Tremont Pointe
Cleveland, Ohio

Tremont Pointe is a mixed-income green HOPE VI redevelopment project on the site of a former public housing complex. It features 190 units plus 3,000 square feet of community space. Download the profile (PDF, 400K).

Trenton Terrace Image

Trenton Terrace
Columbia, Oregon

The goal of the project was to create a socially and environmentally friendly community that promotes independent living for seniors as well as green living practices. Download the profile (PDF, 278K).

Trolley Square

Trolley Square
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Provides 40 green affordable homes in a mixed-use development on the site of the former trolley cars for Cambridge's early public transportation system. Take a virtual tour of Trolley Square, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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U-Z

University Estates

University Estates
Atlanta, Georgia
University Estates is a development in the Booker T. Washington neighborhood of Atlanta comprised of single family, detached homes—20 new and 15 rehabilitated—all ranging in size from 1,100 square feet to 1,600 square feet. Download the profile (PDF, 532K).

Viking Terrace

Viking Terrace
Worthington, Minnesota

The Viking Terrace Apartments is an existing, affordable 60 unit HUD Section 236 apartment building located in the rural community of Worthington. Constructed in 1978, the project involves the extensive redevelopment of three buildings of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments. Download the profile (PDF, 555K).

Villiage at the Headwaters

Village at the Headwaters
Portland, Oregon

Village at the Headwaters, a four-story building, consists of 35 one-bedroom apartments and 21 two-bedroom apartments. The buildings residents are seniors 55 and older, living alone or as a couple in Southwest Portland. Each apartment has a full kitchen and bathroom, deck, storage space, and front-loading washer and dryer. Download the profile (PDF, 443K).

Washington Park
Chicago, Illinois

This project involves the redevelopment of the Washington Park YMCA as a 63-unit, single room occupancy building with state-of-the-art green features. The redevelopment will provide a desperately needed housing resource, help preserve economic diversity and promote environmental consciousness in the Grand Boulevard community of Chicago. Download the profile (PDF, 272K).

watershed

The Watershed
Portland, Oregon

This project will create 51 units of affordable housing in Portland. The housing will be affordable to a range of seniors with incomes between 30 and 50 percent of area median. Two separate buildings connected by a sky bridge make up the project, along with underground parking. Download the profile (PDF, 510K).

The Wellstone

The Wellstone
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Wellstone is Phase III of the Franklin-Portland Gateway project and features 59 units of new mixed income housing (29 units affordable to families with incomes between 50% – 60% area median income) in Minneapolis. Download the profile (PDF, 176K).

wentworth commons

Wentworth Commons
Chicago, Illinois
This site will provide 51 affordable rental apartments for 27 families and 24 single adults. The project incorporates a number of sustainable components. In fact, this is the first supportive housing development in the Midwest to achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Download the profile (PDF, 754k).

James Woods

James Wood Apartments
Los Angeles, California

J W Apartments involves the new construction of two apartment buildings with a total of 61 units near downtown Los Angeles. The project is targeted towards low-income families and the property includes a daycare center for 24 children. Download the profile (PDF, 3.8MB).

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