As part of the Better Climate Challenge, Foundation Communities committed to a 50% reduction in GHG emissions and a 20% reduction in energy use intensity of its multifamily communities.
In 2016, FC completed the construction of its second all-electric property, Homestead Oaks. This property piloted two key technologies, resulting in energy savings of approximately 40% to standard building code– a centralized heat pump for hot water and individually metered solar arrays so residents can realize the benefits of lower utility bills. These projects have posed challenges for FC, prompting the organization to apply lessons learned to subsequent all-electric property designs that include heat pump solutions and resident-benefitting solar.
Tenant Solar:
At Homestead Oaks, FC strived to ensure that residents could realize the benefits of utility bill savings from onsite solar generation. At the time of construction, this required installing individual solar meters for each unit. FC utilized its relationship with its utility, Austin Energy, which provided an upfront rebate to pilot this design at Homestead Oaks. This resulted in a total of 160 Solar PV meters on-site, each requiring a complex and costly installation process. Austin Energy and FC agreed that the technology was time- and cost-intensive and not a financially sustainable solution.
Prompted by the partnership with FC, Austin Energy later began a pilot project to test out virtual solar metering to enable multifamily tenants to receive the value of solar credits on their bill while reducing installation costs for multifamily solar projects. FC applied to be a part of the pilot and was chosen to work with the utility to develop and test a new technology, Shared Solar, that allows multifamily property owners to connect solar systems to one physical meter at the property and use a virtual meter to distribute the credits to the tenants.
Shared Solar was later tested and implemented at FC’s Cardinal Point property and is now used to help other multifamily property owners within Austin Energy territory. The investment from Austin Energy helps ensure equitable access to solar for FC’s residents in the future. FC will look to use this technology for future solar projects when the conditions allow. In many jurisdictions around the country, this virtual technology is still not in place, limiting the ability of multifamily property owners to ensure onsite solar benefits residents directly. This technology works effectively but requires collaboration between customers and electric utilities.
Heat Pump Implementation:
When designing Homestead Oaks, FC decided to make the property all electric with a centralized hot water heat pump system located within a large exterior closet in the breezeway of the building. FC also incorporated an electric resistance backup hot water heating system to account for potential malfunction of the heat pump.
This was FC’s first heat pump hot water installation, and the organization was confident that this design would work well. However, there were some issues that began to occur right away. During the winter months, the closet that held the heat pump would occasionally dip below 45 degrees, causing the system to shut down and forcing the backup system to activate. While Austin winters are generally warmer than much of the country, the city does experience cold snaps and temperatures that fall below freezing, oftentimes in the middle of the night. Another issue was that when the heat pump was out of commission and in need of repair, FC found it difficult to locate local maintenance personnel who were trained in the technology, resulting in heat pump shutdowns lasting days at a time. This put enormous pressure on the backup hot water system that wasn’t intended to handle such an increased load, leading the backup system to occasionally falter due to the increased stress.
While FC continues to use this heat pump at this property, it has changed its approach for properties constructed after this point. FC has now adopted a new design goal to place individual hybrid hot water heat pumps within each unit, which local maintenance personnel are now much more familiar with. These in-unit heat pumps are located in exterior closets which are accessible directly outside of the unit. This ensures that maintenance staff can do regular preventive maintenance without disturbing residents. FC staff and residents are happier with this new design for hot water heat pumps because they provide reliable temperature control, are easily maintained, and support energy use and cost savings.
The valuable lessons from Homestead Oaks gave FC insight into how to improve their equitable solar strategy and their approach to heat pump deployment. With most of its properties located in Austin, FC understood that it could likely replicate and scale these solutions successfully across its portfolio. After experiencing initial challenges with their all-electric design approach, FC took lessons learned and leveraged its strong relationships with community stakeholders to find new solutions that more effectively advance their decarbonization goals and bring benefits to their residents.
FC completed both the individual-metering solar project at Homestead Oaks and the virtual-metering solar project at Cardinal Point prior to resident move-in. Residents at Homestead Oaks and Cardinal Point were engaged about the on-site solar and its benefits upon signing their lease. FC gathers heat pump functionality feedback from onsite maintenance and property staff at both Homestead Oaks and other properties utilizing in-unit heat pumps. FC also analyzes work orders to determine the number and nature of the maintenance issues.
At all of FC’s properties, residents are offered green living classes on a regular basis and new residents receive a green welcome home basket that includes a recycling bin, green cleaning kit, and information on energy-saving tips.
For projects implemented at Foundation Communities, success is measured by the following:
- Degree to which resident needs are supported (e.g., thermal comfort/indoor air quality)
- Costs saved (e.g., solar credits for residents, reduced operating/maintenance costs)
- Reduction of tonnes CO₂e or reduction of property EUI
As a result of FC’s efforts to improve the design of their new construction all-electric communities, the utility (Austin Energy) has developed the capability to process tenant solar usage and bills virtually for FC and other multifamily utility customers with tenant-paid bills. This reduces the time spent on a manual process, enables residents to save money on their utility bills, and saves FC money in its construction budget for solar. FC also found that central heat pumps proved less reliable in their circumstance than other configurations and now install individual heat pumps in an exterior closet outside of each unit. This enhances resident comfort, supports decarbonization efforts, and reduces maintenance staff time and associated costs
Acting on the lessons learned from Homestead Oaks through the implementation of virtual metering for tenant solar and the switch to in-unit hot water heat pumps has been very successful for FC. These deliver on the three areas of success: they have led to increased resident well-being and financial resilience, saved significant costs for FC, and supported their emissions and energy use reduction goals. For example, the combination of tenant-benefitting solar and high green building standards at Homestead Oaks and Cardinal Point saves residents $20-$70 a month on their electricity bill. These savings allow families to spend a few more on essentials.
While FC sees successes in their newer properties that incorporate lessons learned from Homestead Oaks, this 2016 property still boasts impressive savings. The piloted projects, along with green building design, resulted in energy and water savings of approximately 40% over/above standard building code. These savings equate to over $500,000 in cost savings since the property opened in 2016. At Homestead Oaks, FC pays for the water and hot water bill, resulting in roughly $60,000 a year saved for the organization. FC invests those savings into critical services, Including the learning center where there is free onsite afterschool and summer care for the children that live there.
