June 4 Integrative SITES Workshop

Altair EcoVillage, Kimberton, PA

Interest and attendance were high at our June 4 Integrative SITES Workshop. About twenty joined us in-person at the Centennial Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kimberton, PA (including some neighbors from properties adjoining our parcel of land) and another twenty participated via Zoom.

Project Manager Joel Bartlett conveyed that the purpose of the event was to outline how Altair is planning to achieve its goal of meriting a Silver Rating according to the criteria of the US Green Building Council (USGBC)’s Sustainable SITES Initiative. Also, the East Pikeland Township’s KLID (Kimberton Low-Impact Development) ordinance requires a proposed development to host a public meeting.

Landscape Architect Adam Supplee facilitated the event. In his introduction he mentioned that our project will model environmental best practices and likely put Kimberton and East Pikeland Township on the map as leaders in promoting low impact development. And it will be a priority for Altair to be fully integrated into the walkable village of Kimberton.

Obtaining a USGBC Silver Rating involves gaining credits according to sustainability objectives specified by the SITES rating system. The fact that the township’s KLID ordinance has considerable overlap with the SITES criteria is an indication of the exemplary features of the ordinance. Altair is proud of its role in helping to formulate the ordinance; it will be beneficial for the whole township and, if emulated as expected, will be beneficial for the county, state, and beyond.

As the gathering viewed slides of the dimensions and contours of the property, Adam stressed that good design requires a thorough understanding of the site. In fact, comprehensive up-front analysis is a key part of the SITES methodology. Toward that end it will be Altair’s intention to have all the professionals and stakeholders collaborate from the earliest stages of the project. Such an “integrative design process” is a SITES prerequisite.

With that in mind, after giving a brief history of the project, Joel proceeded to introduce a number of the professionals who will be collaborating during design and implementation:

* Architects Tom Carnevale and Lauren Eustis (both LEED Accredited Professionals) emphasized how they strive to include green building practices in all of their projects. Their prior work has included several buildings in the Camphill Villages in Kimberton and Glenmoore. They will be leading our Common House Design workshop in July.

* Jon Jensen, Sustainability Director at MaGrann Associates, described how his firm will be handling the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design. He said a priority will be to make sure the homes are compliant with PHIUS (Passive House Institute, US) standards.

Click to see Stephanie’s Video presentation

* Land Planner Stephanie Wnuk of RENEW Design addressed the gathering via video. She will be coordinating aspects of landscape design, traffic impact, fiscal impact, and surveying. One of her projects will be to map the existing natural aspects of the land re: delineation of wetlands, identification of plant communities and soils, etc. in order to facilitate usage of native plants, deployment of trees, stormwater management, and minimization of erosion. Stephanie will be leading our Site Design Workshop on June 25.

* Tom Halliwell (PE, LEED-AP), a principal at Grist, will be focusing on stormwater issues. Grist specializes in sustainable stormwater management and green infrastructure design.

* Mark Gallagher, a restoration ecologist and vice president of Princeton Hydro, will be providing Altair with bird and wildlife expertise.

* Permaculturist Sara Wuerstle brings to our project a highly integrated understanding of regenerative land development. She has extensive experience with the SITES initiative and has lived in a number of intentional communities. She said, “I am most inspired when people savor the nutritious, delicious, and beautiful food that comes from a healthy ecosystem.”

* Bill Grothmann gave an overview of why Blueprint Robotics (B.R., located in Baltimore) is a leader in the new industry of offsite building systems manufacture. Their state-of-the-art technology enables a production process that conforms to passive-house standards at the highest level. The expectation is that during 2023 Blueprint Robotics will be a sub-contractor of our general contractor, but they are already helping with pre-construction planning. Of interest is that Blueprint will also be producing the units for the Rachel Carson EcoVillage project. The latter, in western PA, is several months ahead of us in regard to the development process, which means that B.R. will be able to bring additional value to Altair based on lessons learned from the Rachel Carson project.

* Dan Donatelli, President and Chief Operating Officer at C. Raymond Davis & Sons, will serve as our construction manager. It will be beneficial to Altair that most of their staff are LEED AP’s and the firm is located in Kimberton, a stone’s throw from our site. Dan said he will be focusing on keeping costs down and on minimizing pollution during the construction process.

To be continued in Part II…