For Aeon, a Twin Cities nonprofit that manages thousands of income-restricted rentals, affordability has always been among the highest priorities. About 15 years ago Aeon recognized that it might save $20 million to $30 million or more over the next two decades if it could improve the efficiency of its buildings. So Aeon developed the first income-restricted apartment building in the Midwest to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum standards, and then converted a historic building into apartments that met LEED Gold standards. Aeon CEO Alan Arthur talks about its latest challenge: the Rose, 90 apartments with architects MSR Design and developed in partnership with Hope Community and US Bancorp.
Q: The Rose was built to Living Building Challenge standards, which are far more stringent than even the LEED guidelines. In 2017 you launched a study to determine the effect of those LBC standards at the Rose; did you consider that building an experiment?
A: At Aeon we consider ourselves to be a 100-year owner. We saw the Rose as the next step in Aeon's exploration of how to build a more efficient, healthier place for our residents. At that point we were already 10 years into this exploration.
Q: At the outset, did you expect to meet all of your goals/imperatives?
A: Although we tried to pick products, systems and designs we thought would have a positive impact, there are always unintended results. For example, a product that might be a very low-VOC, healthier product might not hold up under regular use in a multifamily rental property.
Q: The LBC sets extremely high standards, requiring projects to be net-zero energy and net-zero water, and to meet strict materials requirements. And you set an additional goal of being able replicate those solutions for $140 per square foot. Did the building fail to meet more imperatives than you expected?
A: We knew from the beginning that the Living Building Challenge was going to be tough, and that we were unlikely to meet all of the imperatives.
Q: Which of the elements that didn't meet expectations was most surprising?