Shinsei Gardens Alameda, CA
Project Description
Shinsei Gardens Apartments was a new construction, residential development that serves low-income families in a beautifully designed development in the City of Alameda. Resources for Community Development (the developer) sought more rigorous national residential green building ratings and with solar they were able to achieve LEED for Homes (LEED-H) certification.
Shinsei Gardens consists of 39 new apartments in three separate, two story, buildings organized around a large central courtyard with passive green space and an active children’s play area.
“We’re all getting more sophisticated about green building. We’re understanding it better and a the whole industry is more integrated so it’s getting easier to be green.”
Carolyn Bookhart
Senior Project Manager, RCD
Borrego Solar installed this 64.5kW array using a Unirac solar mount system on a composite (built up) roof. Resources for Community Development built this affordable housing complex from the ground up and our installation team worked closely to accommodate specific requests from their general contractors on site. Taking loads into consideration, it was determined we would install support blocks for the solar mounts between the trusses of the roof structure (instead of directly into the truss) prior to the roof completion. Once the roof decking was laid down, our team was able to install the solar mounts so the roofers could install the built up (final layer) for a clean and seamless finish.
Monthly Production: 8,062
Annual Production: 96,750
30 Year Production: 2,699,325
Resources for Community Development was able to finance Shinsei Gardens by combining generous California state incentive administered through Alameda Telecom and Power and federal tax credit incentives. In California, a solar power installation is a no brainer when it comes to affordable housing new construction projects, because a combination of the Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs), the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), and cash rebates from the state can cover all or most of the system costs.
Carbon Dioxide Offset (annually): 132,548
Carbon Dioxide Offset (30 years): 3,698,075
Equivalent to the effect of
removing 15 passenger vehicles from the road
Equivalent to the effect of planting 33 acres of trees
Nitrogen Oxide Emissions Offset
(30 years): 3,563
Sulfur Oxide Emissions Offset
(30 years): 7,720
