Until recently, an affordable apartment building in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood looked like any of the other 1990s-era developments that pepper the area. But over a few months in 2022, it was transformed. A sculptural white facade, made of eight-inch-thick insulation, now covers the exterior, with a new heating and cooling system incorporated onto the walls. The building now meets Passive House standards and is expected to cut energy bills by 80%.
The building, part of a series of retrofits by the nonprofit owner RiseBoro Community Partnership and architect Chris Benedict, is one example of the type of work that will have to happen at a massive scale to meet climate goals. Buildings are responsible for 27% of global emissions during operation; more than 70% of the current housing stock in the U.S. will likely still exist in the middle of the century, when the world aims to hit net-zero emissions.
At the same time, as housing demand continues to grow, renovating existing buildings—and adapting offices and other commercial space into apartments— can help avoid some new construction and the additional “embodied” carbon in new materials. And as American housing stock ages, repairs are also needed for livability. RiseBoro’s work, like the eight other projects profiled in this essay, illustrates how this type of design continues to evolve.
Benedict’s angular, raised facades draw attention to the insulation, something that she says is often overlooked, compared with “green” features (like solar panels or green roofs) that have less benefit. “Part of my work is to create an iconic look for buildings that have gone through this type of transformation,” she says.
RiseBoro has now completed similar retrofits on eight other buildings, including five that were a century old and used inefficient oil-fired steam heat. “Energy drove our decision-making process,” says Ryan Cassidy, the nonprofit’s director of sustainability and construction. As heating and cooling bills shrink, the tighter walls also reduce mold and pests and improve air quality. A state program, RetrofitNY, helped fund the work as a pilot project. Cassidy, who wants to replicate the process at other properties, says that one challenge now is to convince future lenders that the work makes financial sense, despite a higher upfront cost. But as long-term owners and managers, the company sees the work as essential both for its mission of keeping housing affordable and meeting climate goals.
Baychester Houses—The Bronx, NY
Although renovation and adaptive reuse are common in market-rate housing, other affordable housing owners are also finding ways to finance the work. Nearby, in the Bronx, a public housing project built in the 1960s called Baychester Houses used funding unlocked by the federal government’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program for an extensive renovation in partnership with private developers. Having never been properly waterproofed, the group of 11 buildings was deteriorating and infested with mold; the grounds were unsafe and filled with garbage. Developers spent two years reworking the property to save energy and improve living conditions, with new cladding, repairs to roofs and HVAC systems, new lobbies and other common spaces, security cameras, and apartment renovations that were carefully managed so that tenants didn’t have to move out as the work happened.
The residents, accustomed to broken promises, were skeptical about the process. The team prioritized work inside apartments so that residents could see changes happen quickly. They also met with tenants to understand their biggest concerns, including security. “They listened to us,” says Sandra Gross, resident association president at Baychester Houses, who has lived in the complex for 28 years. Tenants also questioned whether they’d be evicted so that rents could be raised after the repairs, but that hasn’t happened; the units have a requirement to remain affordable, with residents paying no more than 30% of their income. L+M Development Partners, one of the firms that led the project and manages the property, now brings residents from other public housing developments for tours to make the case for similar conversions.
Home Forward—Portland, Oregon
In Portland, Oregon, the city’s housing authority, Home Forward, also worked with the federal RAD program to renovate several properties to improve energy efficiency, quality of life, and operational costs. Most of the buildings, built between the mid-1960s and early 1980s, had deteriorating exteriors and issues with mold. Five have now been transformed by the architecture firm Holst. One of the buildings, for example, now has a new building envelope and an HVAC system, insulation, heat recovery ventilation, LED lights, a solar hot water system, and a green roof and bioswales to manage stormwater. It’s expected to last another 50 years. Another building has multiple new terraces and a revamped community space.
Like the RiseBoro buildings and Baychester Houses, the Home Forward retrofits also include new cladding to make the buildings airtight and improve energy performance. In each case, the changes seem like an unambiguous improvement; the original architect for one of the complexes, Gallagher Plaza, called the Holst team to thank it for completing work that the initial team couldn’t afford. But as retrofits of older buildings become more common, they also raise questions about aesthetics. When does it make sense to cover a historic brick facade, for example, and how much should new designs reference the original building? Other approaches may emerge. In France, the architects Lacaton & Vassal retrofitted social housing with enclosed balconies that give tenants new outdoor space and more light, while also adding insulation without new cladding.
Eastmoor Estates—Moorhead, Mississippi
Some other renovations are tackling groups of single-family homes. In Mississippi, a development of dozens of affordable homes called Eastmoor Estates was built in 1969 outside the town of Moorhead—a location chosen because it meant that Black residents would not be able to vote in town elections—and it quickly deteriorated. The county and city shared responsibility for infrastructure, but both neglected the area, as did the developer who rented out the homes. The street frequently flooded, and when it rained, raw sewage seeped into some yards and bathtubs. After a few decades, foundations were failing and roofs rotting. Electrical issues caused fires. A congressman eventually intervened, and the owner lost tax credits and Section 8 subsidies. The residents, all people of color, also later sued and forced the local government to repair the road and sewer system. In certain cases, because some tenants had entered into unfair lease-purchase agreements with the developer, the developer was forced to deed over the homes to those residents.
Delta Design Build Workshop, a local social impact firm, partnered with Hope Credit Union, a local bank that secured a grant from Goldman Sachs to rehabilitate 44 homes for owner-occupants. Delta did major repairs where needed and fully replaced 14 of the homes. For others, the team painted and made smaller upgrades, such as adding new cabinets. It also audited the homes’ energy use and closed air gaps and added insulation, helping households save an average of $170 a month on energy bills. The changes have also impacted the health of residents, including a young baby who had been repeatedly hospitalized because of mold in one of the homes. “The baby didn’t have lung issues or chronic asthma—it was fully an environment issue,” says architect Emily Roush-Elliott. “I think architects, as a profession, identify with aesthetics, but we actually have so much power to impact people through the environments we’re creating.”
Santa Ana Arts Collective—Santa Ana, California
As the housing shortage continues, and renovation alone can’t meet demand, a rising number of nonresidential buildings are being repurposed as housing. Although the trend has accelerated since the pandemic emptied out offices, it was already growing. In Santa Ana, California, an underused five-story office building built in the 1960s was recently converted into affordable live-work lofts for artists, who began moving into the space in 2020. The project, called the Santa Ana Arts Collective, made seismic improvements and added new insulation, cladding, and glazing as offices were converted into townhouses of various sizes, with gallery space and a shared makerspace on the ground floor.
The architects calculated that reusing the building avoided more than 2,000 tons of CO2 emissions and diverted 25 million pounds of waste from landfill. Because the apartments require fewer parking spaces than offices, the developers were also able to use part of the surface parking lot to build additional townhouses. The location is within walking distance of a museum and other cultural spaces in the city’s downtown; part of the funding came from a state climate program in support of affordable housing that makes it possible for residents to drive less.
The project was the first built under an adaptive reuse ordinance that the city passed in 2014, modeled on a similar ordinance that Los Angeles used to repurpose old buildings. Other conversions are underway, and more are likely to follow as remote work continues and more companies choose not to re-sign commercial leases. Nationally, the number of office-to-housing conversions jumped 43% between 2018–2019 and 2020–2021. In California, the state government recently set aside $400 million in grants for office conversions.
The projects are typically faster than building from scratch and can be less expensive. They also tend to face less comunity opposition, says Michael Bohn, senior principal for Studio One Eleven, which designed the new space. Although neighbors might fight a new five- or six-story apartment building, adapting a building that’s already standing faces much less risk of the “not in my backyard” objections that have helped slow the growth of new housing in the state.
La Placita Cinco—Santa Ana, California
In some cases, developers leave some retail stores in place while adding housing. In another part of Santa Ana, an aging strip mall built in the 1970s—with a laundromat, grocery, locksmith, and other small businesses, along with a sprawling parking lot and a former gas station on the corner—was slated for demolition. A developer planned to tear down the stores and rebuild. But when a tenant with a long-term lease resisted, the plans changed, and the nonprofit Community Development Partners bought the developer’s share to build affordable housing for artists instead.
The new design, called La Placita Cinco, added new facades, signage, and larger overhangs to the stores; it also upgraded the mechanical systems and added cool roofs to the buildings. A new mixed-use building with 50 affordable apartments and community space on the ground level replaced the gas station. Murals painted by local artists help point to the history of the community. After a negotiation with the city to reduce parking requirements, a small park was added between the buildings, along with wide sidewalks and space for a farmers’ market. The mid-century layout, designed for driving, was rethought for a time when more people want to be able to walk or ride the nearby light rail. “We basically took that auto-centric circulation that was once required for the car and gave it back to the pedestrian,” says Tim Mustard of TCA Architects, which worked on the space with design studio City Fabrick.
West Pullman Elementary School—Chicago, Illinois
Other renovations creatively reuse historic buildings. In Chicago, the West Pullman Elementary School closed in 2013 as the number of students in the area fell. Built in three phases, between 1894 and 1923, the school was designated as a historic landmark and couldn’t be demolished. Scott Henry, a local developer whose mother and grandmother had attended the school, decided to convert the space to senior housing after the firm’s market analysis revealed a need for affordable housing for older residents, particularly veterans. UrbanWorks converted former classrooms into spacious apartments with chalkboards and coat hooks intact, along with student cubbies repurposed as personal storage.
The school’s original large windows fill the rooms with light, although as in other adaptive reuse projects, the architects had to find ways to work with spaces that couldn’t easily be translated to housing. A former school restroom that the architects converted into a community space, for example, had high windows with no view outside. But the window placement “brings daylight deep into the space, creating an intimate place for neighbors to connect with one another,” says architect Maria Pellot.
Former textile and yarn mill—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In Philadelphia, a former textile and yarn mill that spans two buildings was recently adapted by Interface Studio Architects into offices, a daycare, and loft-like affordable apartments that offer discounts for healthcare workers and make use of the original structure’s high ceilings and large windows. A new addition links the two buildings with a staircase, an elevator, and three additional units and creates a third wall for an inner courtyard. The city originally developed with factory buildings interspersed with housing; as factories later closed and sat vacant, neighborhoods declined. Repurposing the buildings as housing can help strengthen the community while also giving new residents access to walkable neighborhoods near transit.
CALA—Somerville, Massachusetts
In Somerville, Massachusetts, another former elementary school, built in the 1960s with a bunker-like concrete design, was closed in 2004 because it was underused and expensive to maintain. When the city called for proposals to redevelop it in 2015, most plans suggested tearing it down. The winning architects, from Sebastian Mariscal Studio, met with community members who wanted to preserve the collective memory of the school while adding green space to the neighborhood.
The final mixed-use project, called CALA (Community-Architecture-Landscape-Art), opened in 2020. It reuses most of the building’s original structure, exposing concrete beams, while peeling away outer walls to let light into apartments and offices. Murals fill some of the original buildings’ windowless walls. The former paved playground is now a public park that leads into a courtyard and roof garden. “The idea really was to try to break that boundary between private and public,” says studio head Nina Gonzalez.
The majority of architecture firm billings now come from renovation rather than new construction, according to an AIA survey in 2022. Still, fewer than 4% focus on improving energy performance. Policy changes can help begin to shift that. In New York City, for example, most large buildings will have to meet new energy efficiency standards by 2024, with a goal to cut emissions from those buildings by 40% by the end of the decade. (Buildings covered by the law will need to file certified reports about performance.) Boston and Washington, DC, have similar building performance standards. That’s forcing improvements and pushing contractors to quickly learn new skills. New York City also recently formed an adaptive reuse task force to explore the potential for housing in old office buildings.
The developers and architects who are doing this work want to do more and say that more funding is necessary. The new Inflation Reduction Act can help, with up to $8,000 per unit available in energy retrofit rebates for multifamily building owners and additional funding available for affordable apartment buildings. The infrastructure law passed in 2021 has also expanded funding for weatherization. “As an owner and manager, we’re in these communities helping them thrive for the long term,” says RiseBoro’s Cassidy. “And so we see these types of renovations as critical to that mission. It’s critical to making affordable housing stay affordable—and also for climate goals.”
Excerpted from The State of Housing Design 2023, edited by The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Reprinted with permission from Harvard University Press.