Home  Sustainable Land Development Today April 2007
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Developer Meets Water Challenges with Sustainable Design |
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Written by Christine Rombouts
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Thursday, 04 January 2007 |
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To achieve optimum efficiency of water use, new Alamo Creek community pushes landscape architecture envelope.
To meet stringent regulations on water usage by future residents, the developer of the new Alamo Creek community in Danville (CA), was faced with the extreme challenge of how to build and market a new community while significantly reducing the use of water that would normally be required for lush lawns, parks, and green belts.
The solution, according to Leslee A.Temple, FASLA, Vice President of NUVIS, the landscape architecture and planning firm retained by Alamo Creek developer, Shapell Homes, was to literally go where no landscape architectural firm had ever gone before – at least in California.
Alamo Creek, which opened for home sale in October 2006, encompasses 923 residences with a unique land plan that features an innovative water conservation pact with The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) in Contra Costa County. To gain entitlement for the 600-acre community, Shapell was required by EBMUD to substantially reduce water usage from levels that would normally be required by a community of Alamo Creek’s size and density.
Alamo Creek is in unincorporated Contra Costa County about a mile east of Blackhawk’s core shopping area on Camino Tassajara Road at Lusitano Street. The community is adjacent to the East Gate of Blackhawk.
To get the water district to provide water, Shapell had to agree to the tougher guidelines or get its water someplace else. “Alamo Creek is outside the district’s service boundaries and so we didn’t have a dedicated water provider,” says Jim Gold, Shapell Vice President. “To get water for our new community, we had to promise to meet these guidelines. There are a lot of water districts that require water-efficiency, but not to this degree. If you’re going to get water from that district, you’re going to have to adhere to their guidelines.”
Gold says he expects other water districts in California to start requiring these types of tougher mandates in the future as well. “It’s coming and we want to be ahead of the game,” he states. “East Bay Mud District is on the cutting edge.” East Bay Municipal Utility District is currently re-writing its ordinances to require the higher levels of sustainability for customers within its service area.
EBMUD presented Shapell with a huge challenge, but Temple also believes that Alamo Creek is pointing the way for future generations of community development throughout California as the state and many local governments tackle dwindling water supplies and an increasing commitment to sustainability.
“Our company has never been asked to address the issue of water efficiency at the level required by the Municipal Utility District for Alamo Creek,” Temple says. “But it was a great experience for both Shapell and for our firm because this puts us ahead of the curve. As an industry, we’ll have to be more and more water efficient and we are going to have to abide by increasingly restrictive guidelines on water usage.”
Temple adds that the homebuilding industry, as well as other industries such as ornamental horticulture, needs to catch-up with some of these new water conservation standards.
NUVIS’ approach was to think outside the proverbial water box by identifying places where water was not really necessary, even though it might go against standard operating procedure for residential communities. The starting point was the front yard of each of the community’s 13 model homes by doing away with water hungry natural turf in favor of more draught and animal resistant plant materials.
“The planting of each model home was differentiated through a systemic programming of plant varieties in strategically assorted layers to achieve necessary tolerance and desired esthetics,” explains Temple. “The result was one of the most extensive lists of plant materials we have ever used in any community, but we achieved the goal.” (See graphic for a listing of plant materials utilized.)
Temple points out that many people have the mistaken impression that water-efficient landscaping must be drab and gray, “but we show at Alamo Creek that it can be very attractive, while at the same time being easy on water. Each home looks different and has great curb appeal.” She notes that artificial turf is also used on all the athletic fields within the community.
Other water conversation measures that are part of Alamo Creek demonstrate how new residential communities can have a zero-water footprint. This state-of-the-art water conservation community specifies indoor/outdoor water conservation measures beyond normal requirements, recycled water for landscape irrigation, water-control devices on irrigation systems, drought and deer resistant landscaping, and water-efficient appliances inside each home.
“This is probably the most ambitious water conservation program in the nation,” Temple said. “We really pushed the envelope in plant design.”
Another goal, Temple adds, was to create landscape architecture designs that would allow residents to understand and appreciate the water efficient materials being used. “The model homes even contain educational materials that help residents understand the nature of this somewhat progressive landscape architecture program,” she explains. “Educating residents about the importance of these rules and how to abide by them, is critical to the success of the program.”
Also, she says the maintenance is very different since the water requirements are so different. For example, extra drainage is required at certain times of year and minimal overhead sprays are used when irrigating. More subsurface or drip techniques are needed when irrigating. Subsurface drip line and drip irrigation eliminate any overspray, thus saving water. These irrigation methods also work well in windy areas providing uniform irrigation. “With proper operation, subsurface and drip irrigation use about half of the water of an overhead system,” Temple concludes. “Water is applied directly to the root zone and seasonal plant growth interference is eliminated.”
“This is like nothing we’ve ever done before, especially the no grass part,” says Gold. “We modeled the whole project with no turf in the front yards and the result is much better than we ever could have imagined.”
Educating Alamo Creek’s project staff, residents and others about the landscape architecture program required special care, says Nancy Rice, Vice President of Marketing. The model homes incorporate sustainable products and practices that highlight major areas of the water conservation program. “We spent a great deal of time and energy figuring out how to educate people about this since it’s so innovative,” Rice notes.
The education process included training, signs, displays, brochures and one of the model homes had a variety of demonstrations, displays and other devices to “help people understand what the program is all about in a real and environmentally conscious framework,” she says. For instance, every home has a water budget that residents must honor—they can’t exceed the budget by more than 20 percent or the HOA is assessed a penalty. To assist with monitoring usage, Shapell also installed state-of-the-art irrigation control systems that regulate water usage.
Toro Intelli-sense “Smart” controller gathers weather data from a nearby weather station. This weather information is used to automatically adjust run times according to the site and plants’ actual requirements resulting in more efficient water management. With the ET-Everywhere subscription weather, data is gathered from NOAA Weather Satellites and are accurate down to one square killimeter, providing the accuracy of an on-site weather station without the cost and maintenance. Temple says the Intelli-sense is the ideal water conservation tool for residential applications.
Alamo Creek consists of approximately 300 acres of land, while another 275 acres was set aside as permanent open space and about 25 acres were devoted to parks and recreational facilities.. There will be 676 single-family residences, 127 below-market rate town homes and 120 affordable senior apartments. A fire station and elementary school will be built as part of the new community, and it will also include a competitive-level aquatic center, a community center for social, recreational and cultural activities, parks and a 10-acre soccer complex.
Environmental mitigation features include wetland habitat, enhancement of creek corridors and creation of a fully-funded open space management plan for the endangered red-legged frog, kit fox and tiger salamander. The open space is slated for preservation and management in perpetuity.
Alamo Creek was designed by noted Architect Robert Hidey of Newport Beach (CA). and the Dahlin Group, based in San Ramon. Saluting its progressive conservation program, Alamo Creek was a finalist for an American Society of Landscape Architects’ award for the community master plan. LDT |
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