People's Self-Help Housing Earns LEED Silver

Congratulations to People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH), which just announced that its new San Luis Obispo office was awarded LEED Silver certification. For those unfamiliar with PSHH, it is a non-profit housing organization on the Central Coast with the mission of building housing for low-income and special-needs households. It employs around 200 employees for managing applications, coordinating housing, and working with contractors to construct their housing projects.

Here at In Balance Green Consulting, we’re proud to have provided LEED certification administration, energy optimization, and commissioning services for the project. Under LEED NC v4, the office obtained LEED Silver with exemplary performance in Energy Performance and Renewable Energy generation. The project team included Murray Duncan Architects, BMA, Thomas Electric, Ashley & Vance, North Coast Engineering, and Robert Fowler LA. Planning was provided by Oasis, and the builder was People’s Self-Help Housing themselves.

“Early in design, the team at PSHH established that the building would be all-electric, with a substantial installation of renewable energy,” noted Jennifer Rennick, AIA, CEA of In Balance Green Consulting. “That approach, combined with quality daylight, efficient lighting and heat pump mechanical equipment, creates a great local example of reducing our carbon footprint.”

To help the project be all-electric, appliances such as split-system heat-pumps and a heat pump water heater (HPWH) played a key role. The HPWH used is a hybrid system, where water is heated using an integrated heat pump but can be supplemented when needed with traditional electric heating elements. This, alongside the ample daylight brought in through considerate window placement and design, helped the building save 54% more energy than a typical building of its kind. The building also received credit for exemplary energy performance. With a 115 kW PV system that covers most of the project roof, it meets 80% of its energy demand through renewable solar power.

Use of native and adapted plants and high-efficiency irrigation contribute to reducing outdoor water use by more than 70% compared to a standard landscape design. Other LEED strategies improve indoor air quality, increase occupant comfort, and support bike commutes.

PSHH, managing over 2,000 rental units across the Central Coast, aims to consistently incorporate healthy, energy-efficient strategies into their residential properties. Taking the extra steps to incorporate the LEED framework and its strategies into their San Luis Obispo office further affirms their commitment to creating sustainable buildings for the Central Coast.

Considering LEED or other certifications for your next project? Reach out!

In Balance Green Consulting Celebrates 15 years!

Andy and Jennifer in 2010 – 2 years in business, realizing they needed a website with photos!

Last month marked 15 years since Andy Pease and Jennifer Rennick established In Balance Green Consulting in San Luis Obispo. In recognition of the milestone, we took a few minutes to ask for their reflections on the origins of the firm and what brought them here.

How did you two first start working together?

Back in 2005, we were both out on our own, Jennifer doing residential architecture and energy modeling, and Andy doing commercial architecture and green building consulting. We found that our clients were interested in having a full scope of energy performance and green building, so we started collaborating on projects. We worked well together and formalized a partnership in 2008.

Where did the name come from?

We spent time brainstorming and the word “Balance” kept coming up – the balance of ecology, the work-life balance with our young families, and the balance of competing needs for a project to become reality, including budget, schedule, design and environmental goals. Our connection to “balance” was also visceral, Jennifer from rock climbing and Andy from gymnastics; balance is both meditative and empowering.

How did you grow from there?

There was a learning curve on running a business, for sure. We made classic rookie mistakes, like we would get busy and forget to keep up with marketing, then would have to ramp up again. But we had some great projects and slowly grew. We were both working in our living rooms then, but as we added staff, that gets awkward, so a few years later, we moved into office space. Like any business, we adjust our services to the changing market, most recently taking on more education and training roles, but we still have our core services for energy performance modeling, LEED and other certifications, commissioning and overall green building.

Any final reflections?

Andy and Jennifer, 2023, with Tatiana, Michelle, Soham and Grant.

We love our work and both feel so lucky to work with each other and our great team!

Zero Net Carbon Design monthly webinar series starts May 23

For more information and to register, visit 3C-REN’s website.

• Session 1 (May 23): Targeting Zero Net Carbon Design

• Session 2 (June 20): Energy Performance for Zero Net Carbon Operations

• Session 3 (July 18): Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus

• Session 4 (August 31): Reducing Embodied Carbon

• Session 5 (September 19): Regenerative Design in Practice

Saving Water as an Effective Way to Save Energy

With historic rainfall — over 200% of average in both SLO and Santa Barbara Counties — and more than full local reservoirs, water is feeling relatively free and easy. But getting clean water to your tap is anything but free. At a variety of scales, energy is used to pump, clean, distribute, and heat our water. And it’s more energy than you might think!

Most of California’s energy consumption associated with water use comes from heating water for industrial processes (35%) and residential uses (42%), but about 12% is associated just with water operations — conveyance, groundwater pumping, treatment and distribution.

Conveyance is the process of channeling water from its source, which mostly relies on gravity. However, places like Southern California where water is delivered from the north or from the Colorado river have considerable pump energy embedded in conveyance when water needs to traverse mountain passes.

When surface water isn’t available (e.g. drought years) our state relies much more on groundwater pumping. That pumping accounts for up to 46% of the statewide water supply during dry years. In addition to being energy intensive, it can also have additional unwanted effects, such as subsidence, or the gradual sinking of land. And while groundwater is renewable, that process is lengthy, requiring sufficient rain and time to percolate down through soil to underwater “basins”. This year’s rain may be next year’s groundwater, but depending on the depth of the basin it can take years or decades to recharge.

Capturing stormwater and recycled water are popular alternatives to avoid groundwater pumping and allow the groundwater more time to recharge. They both need energy-intensive treatment to get rid of pollutants before becoming usable in landscape settings. For a less energy-intensive option, rainwater capture and reuse or laundry-landscape reuse of water for irrigation are ways that individuals can reduce their draw on state- and city-wide water – and energy! – resources.

As the climate continues to change, periods of drought and periods of rain are anticipated to become more extreme, and we’ll need additional energy for pumping in drier conditions and treatment of stormwater when there are larger storms. So, conserving water isn’t just about shortages during droughts but also about reducing overall energy consumption.

We’ve got more to come on this topic:  Check the 3C-REN website soon for our upcoming online Zero Net Carbon Design Series, which will focus on the Energy-Water Nexus as one of five main topics.