At the start of this New Year, we are extremely grateful for the fabulous network of clients, architects, trade contractors, and suppliers who make our work possible. Without their creativity, talent, and support, we would not enjoy our work nearly as much as we do. We look forward to the opportunities we see on the horizon in 2011.
Below, please read more about our new office on Milpas Street; our company’s first Employee of the Year; two new associates in the Allen Associates’ family; state, local and our company’s on-going efforts to improve the energy efficiency of buildings; and, our newly energized building performance division.
In this issue:
Allen Associates’ New Office Building
Our First Employee of the Year
Mark Hutter & Zack Shore, Newest Associates
Net-Zero Homes – The Wave of the Future
SB Building Community and CEC Join Forces
Building Performance Services – BPS
Allen Associates in the News
Allen Associates’ New Office Building
We Own The Greenest Building on Milpas Street!
We moved into our new office building at 201 N. Milpas Street at the end of October. This new building provides us with more space, our own parking lot, and the opportunity to remodel and add many more green features than were here originally. This is the first time in Allen Associates’ 27 year history that we have owned a building. It is a wonderful asset for all the employee-owners of the company. Please stop in for a visit when you have a chance!
The green features in our new office include:
1) Energy Efficiency:
- Icynene insulation was used in the roof rafters and fiberglass Insulation was added to the existing exterior walls where previously there was none.
- Ten new sola tubes (Velux “Sun Tunnel”) provide natural light throughout the office reducing the need for supplemental electric lighting.
- New high efficiency LED Lights were installed including 18 recessed cans and 11 wall splash lights.
- Fluorescent under-cabinet lighting was installed with individual controls at each work station. These lights are also on a timer in case lights are left on inadvertently.
- Eight energy efficient fluorescent panel lights with light diffusers were reused from our old office.
- The 5 kW solar photovoltaic system was moved from our old office and installed on our new building’s roof after a new Title 24 reflective roof was installed.
- A new Energy Star refrigerator (Kitchen Aid) is in the kitchen
2) Water Saving Features:
- “Caroma Sydney Smart” water saving dual flush toilets are used in both the men’s and women’s bathrooms. In addition, the men’s bathroom features a Sloan water-free urinal.
- A water and energy efficient AQUEL Matisse, 10‐Stage designer water system provides drinking water in the kitchen. This unit uses two filtration technologies – reverse osmosis and a carbon filter.
- We have installed a drought tolerant landscape in the parking lot.
3) Sustainable Materials:
- The floors throughout the entry, conference room and plan room are made of reclaimed oak fencing from Kentucky (Manufacturer: Trestlewood; Supplier: Dalgene’s). These oak floors were finished with Rubio Monocoat, a no- VOC hard wax.
- The floor underlayment is a Sika AcouBond -System – a proprietary specially slotted foam mat and SikaBond®-T53, a permanently elastic, sound dampening adhesive.
- An epoxy grout was used on the interior tile floors in the kitchen, rear hallway and bathrooms that requires minimal maintenance and no sealing. (Product: CEG Lite)
- The exterior tiles at the front and rear entry are composed of durable concrete with varying amounts of recycled content which qualifies them for LEED points. They were manufactured by Arto Brick in Gardena, CA with regionally sourced raw materials and are recyclable.
- Instead of paper towels, both restrooms have low energy, electric air hand dryers. This not only saves trees (an average of 24 trees are saved during the lifetime of one dryer), but it also reduces landfill waste.
- New cabinets in the plan check room, kitchen and bathroom were made with wood from sustainable-yield forests and low-VOC finishes (Canyon Creek)
- Rather than becoming firewood, a locally urban-salvaged black acacia tree was made into our conference room table
- Material reuse:
* The existing cedar entry door was re-used and re-finished
* Sustainably harvested bamboo cabinets, custom built for our previous office are being reused in the new office. In addition, we are reusing the Lyptus wood entry desk, Richlite plan table, Dakota Burl Sunflower board, and laminate desktops from the old office.
Allen Associates’ First Employee of the Year
Teofilo Espinoza
Teofilo Espinoza has worked for Allen Associates for 21 years. During that time, he has become the company’s master of concrete work, waterproofing, French drain systems, and masonry. Teofilo is always taking on new responsibilities to not only grow in his job but to help the company prosper. With a can-do attitude and always sporting a smile on his face, Teofilo treats his clients and fellow employees with respect. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico and raised in Jalisco, Teofilo studied agronomy.
After graduation, he worked for the Department of Agriculture in Mexico, educating farm workers in crop science. Married with four daughters, Teofilo moved to the United States in 1988 and, in 1989, started working for Allen Associates. In recognition of all that Teofilo has done for our company, the employees-owners of Allen Associates selected him as the company’s first Employee of the Year.
Mark Hutter & Zac Shore – Our Company’s Newest Associates
Two of our project managers, Mark Hutter and Zack Shore, have recently earned the highest honor at Allen Associates: promotion to the Associate level. Joining the Associate ranks means that Mark and Zac excel in their knowledge of construction and their ability to manage large, complex construction projects. Both Mark and Zac started with Allen Associates in 2007. If you have had the good fortune of working with Mark or Zac, you know their talent and charm. Congratulations to both Mark and Zac for this well deserved promotion.
Zac, who is passionate about green building, came to California from the East Coast (via Massachusetts and North Carolina) to attend West Coast Green, the largest green building conference on the West Coast. It was there that he heard that Allen Associates was one of the leading green builders in California. The day after the conference was over Zac drove to Santa Barbara from San Francisco, walked into our office and asked for a job. He started with our Built-to-Ship division and soon thereafter, due to his high level building skills, moved to our Custom Building division. Zac is currently managing one of our company’s greenest and most complicated projects – the Victoria Garden Mews.
Mark Hutter hails from Davis, Calif., where he learned the carpentry trade from his father who owned a cabinet shop. Mark attended UC Santa Barbara and graduated with a degree in Art History in the “Architecture and Environment” program. In this major, Mark was able to study green building, sustainable planning, and environmental studies. Mark joined Allen Associates in 2007. His most monumental project to date as far as its complexity in logistics and detail has been the installation of a grand 2,100 sq. ft. outdoor space on the Riviera, complete with BBQ, fountain, and spa areas. Most recently, Mark has handled rebuilding homes for a few of our clients living in the Jesusita Fire area. He has had to juggle a number of projects at one time and always does it with grace and calm. Mark says the thing he likes most about building is the physical creation process. “In construction, you start with nothing and finish with something very tangible. The joy is seeing the final product turn out just as you envisioned it would.”
Net-Zero Homes – The Wave of the Future
One Local Project Leads the Way
Some of you may know that now former Governor Schwarzenegger set a mandate that by 2020 all new homes built in California must be “net-zero” – that they produce as much energy as they consume. There are most likely many more of you who aren’t aware of this statewide challenge. With only 10 years left until the deadline, there are many questions being asked about how this requirement will be met. What does it really take to build a home that is net-zero? Are the technologies available to do it? And how much does it cost? Allen Associates, working together with Thompson Naylor Architects, is about to complete a local project that gets VERY close to reaching this net-zero goal. When finished, the Victoria Garden Mews project, a new three unit condominium project at 320 E. Victoria, will be 90% more energy efficient than current state energy requirements. In addition, 10 kW of photovoltaic panels will produce 90% (or more) of all the energy needs of its residents.
The features that make Victoria Garden Mews so energy efficient include:
1. Passive Solar Design – Top two floors have a passive solar strategy, using direct gain solar heating through south-facing windows and window shading to prevent overheating in the warmer seasons. The ground floor is not passive solar because is it shaded by the neighboring building. Thermal mass is provided by using a double layer of 5/8 drywall and floor tile set in a mortar bed.
2. Icynene insulation in walls and floors
3. ¾” rigid foam over sheathing to add R-value and reduce thermal bridging
4. SIPS roof (R-28)
5. Energy efficient windows with an insulation value of R-7.14 (U=.14)
6. Space Heating: Hydronic heating – fan coils & radiators with tankless condensing water heaters (96.5% efficient) for backup heating
7. Solar Hot Water heating with a 96.5% efficient condensing on-demand unit as backup
8. Energy Recovery Ventilators (no AC)
9. LED lighting – both interior and exterior lights
10. Energy Star fans
11. Electric, Energy Star appliances including magnetic induction cookers.
Additional green features in the project include;
1. FSC framing lumber and sheathing
2. Reclaimed oak beams and flooring
3. Natural clay wall finishes
4. Sustainably constructed cabinetry (FSC lumber and non-toxic finishes)
5. Hydraulic garage lift system for parking – to minimize hardscape
6. Design elements that will allow the residents to “age in place”, including an elevator, wider doorways wider to allow for wheelchair access if needed, levers installed instead of standard doorknobs, and a handicap accessible shower at third floor
7. Ultra low-flow plumbing fixtures
8. Drought tolerant landscaping
This project will be certified through the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes program. At this time, it looks like it will achieve a Platinum rating with the highest number of points of any LEED for Homes project certified to date. At a cost of $425 per sq. ft., Victoria Garden Mews will be the greenest residential project in the country and well within the average price range of building in Santa Barbara.
For more information about this project visit www.victoriagardenmews.com
SB Building Community and CEC Join Forces
An Effort to Make All Buildings in Santa Barbara County More Energy Efficient
Santa Barbara, as a community, is trying to do its part to meet former Governor Schwarzenegger’s 2020 “net-zero” mandate. One of the biggest challenges to meeting this mandate is that the requirements in the current State energy code – Title 24 – are well behind what is needed to move the building community to construct net zero buildings by 2020. To address this, the local building community, under the leadership of the Community Environmental Council, is asking the County of Santa Barbara and the cities of Carpinteria, Goleta, and Santa Barbara to adopt ordinances that will increase our local energy efficiency requirements 15% beyond State code. Known as a “Reach Code,” because it reaches more stringent requirements, is supported by many members of the local building and environmental communities. Allen Associates has been participating in this effort – educating public officials and attending public hearings to speak in support of the Reach Code effort. We have also supplied information on local, recently constructed, case study projects, recently built by Allen Associates, that exceed current Title 24 standards by as much as 29% and adding only as much as $1.20 per square foot to the cost of construction. The added cost is only pennies for a life time of comfort, lower utility bills, and peace of mind for the owner – knowing that their home has significantly reduced its contribution to climate change.
Please contact your local City Councilmember and County Supervisor to encourage their adoption of local Reach Codes. For more information about the Reach Code effort, visit the Community Environmental Council’s website.
Building Performance Services – BPS
Allen Associates Ramps Up Its New Building Performance Division
Allen Associates has been leading the way in Santa Barbara County in the rapidly growing field of Building Performance – a program that uses building science tools and techniques to evaluate a building and all of its related systems and determine ways to improve its health, comfort and energy efficiency. Over the last two years, we have honed our technical skills and obtained certifications from the most demanding building performance training programs in the country. We have also purchased the latest testing equipment – infrared cameras, blower door units and duct blasters – and strengthened our expertise in home performance auditing. One of our major efforts during 2010 has been to test the performance of all the projects we build – both new homes and remodels – to ensure that we are building them healthy, tight and energy efficient. In October, we made a very strategic move and hired Lucas Johnson to lead our new Building Performance Systems (BPS) division. A recent graduate of UC Santa Barbara’s prestigious Bren School Master’s Program, Lucas will be responsible for promoting our building performance services to the public – the last, but very essential, piece to making BPS a success.
Lucas has hit the ground running in his new roll as coordinator of BPS. He has spent considerable time in the field with our certified Building Performance Technicians, Brent Safranski and Jon Heffner, sitting in on performance audits for Allen Associates’ clients as well as conducting tests on all of Allen Associates’ current building projects. Says Lucas, “I am driven by the desire to reduce the environmental impact of our lifestyle while providing an opportunity for everyone to live better.”
Lucas is proposing some exciting ways to promote the benefits of improved building performance to the Santa Barbara community including contests for employees of local environmentally-minded companies where the winner will get a free audit and a discount on the home improvement projects identified in the audit. He also plans to conduct audits for some of Santa Barbara’s high profile community leaders – helping them lead by example to make their homes more comfortable, safer and energy efficient. Stay tuned!
Allen Associates in the News
Allen Associates was featured in recent articles appearing in local publications:
- The Winter 2010 of Food & Home Magazine featured “Cooling the Costs of Hot Water,” an article on the most environmentally friendly and cost effective methods to heat water. Bryan Henson, our General Manager, was the technical expert for the article.
- On January 3, 2011, Noozhawk, a local news website, ran a profile on Karen Feeney our Marketing and Green Resources Manager. To read the entire article, click here.