According to the Carbon Leadership Forum’s Carbon Avoided Retrofit Estimator’s (CARE) website, “Renovating an existing structure typically has a much lower carbon footprint than building a new one because it reuses most of the carbon intensive parts of the building—the foundation, structure and building envelope.” Sylvan Court, which was originally constructed in 1964, recently underwent a renovation to upgrade the existing building instead of tearing it down; and also constructed a new building on the property’s former parking lot, doubling the amount of rentable housing units. While the original building doesn’t earn points on the new building’s checklist, their strategy was a great approach to minimizing their carbon impact, reduce waste, while still promoting urban density by constructing more units on the same lot.

The new building, a 20-unit apartment building, obtained a Built Green 4-Star certification on the 2017 multifamily checklist. The building was able to do so by claiming a variety of points throughout the checklist. Some of the highlight features utilized in the Built Green checklist to get the points were using drought-tolerant and native vegetation and low-flow plumbing fixtures to minimize the amount of water used on the property; BIBS insulation and a lower blower door score to keep energy costs down; low VOC paints, finishes, and interior products with indoor air-quality certifications to keeps tenants safe and healthy; and utilizing local and durable material to keep the building standing for a long time to come.

In addition to the variety of green features utilized by the construction team, the building offers bike storage with a repair station to incentivize tenants to ride their bikes or walk. The building is located within of the urban village zone and has a walkability score of 91. This in itself will help encourage more healthy living while reducing the need for a car.