Atlantic Gardens Apartments

Background

Atlantic Gardens, built in 1948, consists of 108 apartments occupied primarily by families and households making below 60 percent of the area median income. WinnCompanies acquired the property in 1982, implementing the site’s first major renovation since its original construction including many energy efficiency measures. After 30 years, the property required a comprehensive rehabilitation that included meeting new stringent energy and sustainability standards, which played an important role in defining the overall scope of work implemented at the site.

Residents at Atlantic Gardens paid for their own utility costs, which included electric heat and hot water. Utility costs often represent a disproportionately high expense for low- and moderate-income households. Before the rehab, Atlantic Gardens had inefficient systems that were driving these costs up for residents, including electric heat pumps and hot water heaters that were well beyond their expected useful life, outdated in-unit lighting and appliances, and drafty, thermally-insufficient windows.

Solutions

The project targeted Enterprise Green Communities certification, which helped inform the energy and water conservation measures for the project. To achieve the mandatory Home Energy Rating System (HERS) index required for certification, the project relied on energy modeling to determine the rehabilitation scope of work.

The scope included bringing natural gas from the street to each building and installing new high-efficiency ENERGY STAR®-labeled gas-fired split systems and direct vent hot water heaters within each apartment unit. Each apartment also received LED lighting fixtures, ENERGY STAR appliances, and new ENERGY STAR windows. In addition to energy savings measures, WaterSense-labeled toilets, showerheads, and low-flow aerators were installed throughout the property to reduce water consumption.

In total, along with the 28 percent of energy savings and 19 percent water savings, the property achieved an average HERS index of 85 along with an Enterprise Green Communities 2011 certification.

Other Benefits

Other non-energy related upgrades included a new community room, playground, BBQ area, stormwater retention features, landscaping, and complete interior unit renovations with new kitchens, bathrooms, and finishes throughout.

In addition, the property’s affordability restriction was set to expire in 2015. As part of the renovation effort WinnCompanies engaged the tenant task force along with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, and the D.C. Housing Finance Agency to extend the property’s affordability to 2055, preserving much-needed affordable, quality housing in the District.

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