IRVINE, CA – Two of Jamboree Housing Corporation’s newest affordable, multifamily developments have received Platinum and Gold LEED certifications, underscoring the company’s commitment to build sustainable housing at every opportunity.
Courier Place Apartment Homes, a multigenerational, transit-oriented development in Claremont, CA, has been certified LEED for Homes Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council, and Bonterra Apartment Homes, a development with spectacular views in a new planned community in Brea, CA, has been certified LEED for Homes Gold. Platinum is the highest LEED rating and Gold is second highest.
Established by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
“For Jamboree, being truly green with projects such as Courier Place and Bonterra is the underpinning of our asset portfolio and an important benefit for our residents’ health and wellbeing,” says Laura Archuleta, Jamboree President. “We are proud of our LEED achievements as incorporated into these two exceptional developments and we firmly believe that sustainability in all of its forms and measurements is here to stay in the affordable housing industry.”
Courier Place Apartment Homes
Featuring 74 apartment homes, Courier Place offers an exceptionally high level of energy efficiency and a healthy living environment as a result of its advanced green design. The property’s low energy usage exceeds California’s Title 24 energy efficiency standards by more than 35%, and most of the power for the common areas is provided by photovoltaic (solar) panels. Other sustainable features include enhanced water efficiency for residents, increased wall insulation, highly efficient windows and glass slider doors, energy efficient lighting, and ENERGY STAR appliances in each apartment, all helping to reduce energy usage and resident utility bills.
Courier Place’s green rating also includes an irrigation system that utilizes a highly efficient drip system resulting in exceptionally low water consumption. The site uses less than half the water of traditional landscape due to the fact that 66% of plants are drought tolerant. Additionally, Courier Place is served by a large underground, onsite storm water retention/percolation system that significantly reduces urban water runoff.
As a transit-oriented development adjacent to the Claremont Transportation Center, Courier Place also responds to California’s SB-375 greenhouse gas law that requires new residential development to be located near public transportation to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and carbon emissions, a primary ingredient in global warming. More than 350 bus or Metro commuter train rides are available daily within ½ mile of the Courier Place site.
Courier Place is Jamboree’s first multigenerational apartment development designed for working families and seniors who earn between 30% and 50% of Area Median Income (AMI). The seniors building features 38 one-bedroom apartments, an elevator, a third-floor deck patio and a two-story recreation space. The family apartments, encompassed within two buildings, consist of 36 two- and three-bedroom apartments, each with two bathrooms. Amenities for all residents include a community center with a full kitchen and computer lab, as well as a swimming pool, patio dining area with barbecues, and tot lot.
Bonterra Family ApartmentsLocated in the new Blackstone planned community, Bonterra’s sustainable components include low-VOC interior paint; CRI Green Label low-VOC carpeting, underlayment and low-VOC adhesives; ENERGY STAR refrigerators, dishwashers and microwaves in each home; flow reducers in kitchen and bathroom faucets; ultra-low-flow toilets; tankless water heaters, and energy-efficient light fixtures.
Other sustainable features include a highly efficient landscape irrigation system and drought-tolerant plants, as well as the development’s higher density that allowed for creation of an adjacent preservation habitat for California’s endangered Gnatcatcher birds.
Bonterra consists of 94 garden-style apartments that provide workforce housing for families who earn between 30% and 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Bonterra’s site encompasses seven three-story buildings featuring Spanish-inspired architecture that are arranged around central courtyards and linked by tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly landscaped walks. Amenities include a swimming pool with patio area, a tot lot, barbecue/picnic areas, a central laundry facility, and a private garage for each apartment.
Michael Massie, Jamboree’s Housing Development Director, points out that sustainability is an increasingly important factor that affordable housing developers must fully embrace to ensure that their new ventures are approved, built, and competitive. “For developers of affordable housing who take sustainability seriously, it can be the difference between approval and denial, success and failure,” he says. “Our green motto is to do what we can whenever we can, raising the bar as we go, and Courier Place and Bonterra are major steps forward in raising the bar.”
Massie notes that both of Jamboree’s new affordable housing developments now under construction – Park Landing Apartment Homes in Buena Park, CA, and Birch Hills Apartment Homes in Brea, CA – are being designed to achieve LEED certified.
About Jamboree: Founded in 1990, Irvine, CA-headquartered Jamboree Housing Corporation is an award-winning, broad-based nonprofit housing development company that develops, acquires, renovates and manages permanently affordable rental and ownership housing throughout California for working families, seniors and people with special needs. HOMES, Inc. and Housing with HEART are 501(c)(3) organizations and comprise Jamboree’s Resident Services Group. A leading nonprofit developer, Jamboree is committed to sustaining excellence with high quality affordable housing that is good for the environment, the economy and local communities. It currently has about $155 million in affordable housing projects in its development pipeline and a $1 billion asset portfolio that includes the development of and/or ownership interest in more than 6,700 homes in more than 67 California communities. Housing with HEART programs and services that foster learning, health and community building are offered at 39 Jamboree communities with designated staff at each location. For more information, go to www.jamboreehousing.com.