We are extremely excited to announce that construction on the Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) at Hano Homes is complete!
Hano Homes is a ten-duplex townhome-style building, providing 20 units of affordable housing to nearly 50 residents. This 11-month construction project was at the cutting-edge of multifamily decarbonization, and one of the project goals was to serve as a model for industry partners to learn best practices for pursuing DERs at affordable housing properties. This is also part of ABCDC’s larger effort to decarbonize our entire affordable housing portfolio by 2040.
The DER at Hano Homes included 1) creating a super-insulated air-sealing envelope by installing triple-pane windows in all units, adding exterior insulation via ZIP sheathing and carbon-storing wood fiber insulation, and replacing doors with high performance products; 2) fully electrifying the property, by replacing gas boilers and hot water heaters with energy-efficient electric heat pump systems, establishing new electric service in each building apartment, and preparing for PV rooftop solar installation; and 3) limited interior upgrades, including installation of low-flow plumbing fixtures and energy-efficient lighting upgrades, installing Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) systems for fresh air ventilation, and heating/cooling mini-split systems.
“Residents will immediately feel the impacts of these upgrades in their apartments,” said ABCDC’s Executive Director, John Woods. “The goal of this project was to provide residents with air-conditioning, improved quality of indoor living, and climate readiness while reducing day-to-day disruptions. From a major reduction in noise pollution from the Mass Pike to increased thermal comfort, residents will be comfortable in their apartments regardless of the season.”
This DER exceeded its anticipated energy savings, reaching a reduction of 80.3% in property-wide energy usage. Additionally, the project is on track to reach 95.5% carbon neutrality once the rooftop solar is installed in the Fall.
“Through this DER, we wanted to act as a model to show how medium-sized affordable housing projects can achieve significant energy and emissions reductions,” said ABCDC’s Director of Real Estate, Caitlin Robillard. “The area around Hano Homes represents an island of deep affordability in a quickly gentrifying area. By moving this project forward, our team has not only worked to preserve this affordability, but also shown that other housing developers can, and should, pursue DERs for the health of their residents, and the planet.”
This project was made possible by a number of funding sources including Eastern Bank, Eastern Bank Foundation, Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), MassSave, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN), Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH), MassHousing, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Massachusetts, and Liberty Mutual Foundation.
We would also like to thank our project partners from Haycon Building LLC, Onion Flats Architecture, Sustainable Comfort, Resonant Energy, Tierney Development Services, Maloney Properties, Judy Cohn Housing and Relocation Consultants, and RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute) for all their hard work, knowledge, and dedication to this project!
