Growing Good Homes
1.5 AIA LU/HSW; 1.5 IDCEC CEU/HSW; 0.15 ICC CEU; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 AIBD P-CE; AAA 1 Structured Learning Hour; This course can be self-reported to the AANB, as per their CE Guidelines; AAPEI 1 Structured Learning Hour; This course can be self-reported to the AIBC, as per their CE Guidelines.; MAA 1 Structured Learning Hour; This course can be self-reported to the NLAA.; This course can be self-reported to the NSAA; NWTAA 1 Structured Learning Hour; OAA 1 Learning Hour; SAA 1 Hour of Core Learning
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how light-frame and mass timber construction can help meet health and safety goals in affordable housing.
- List some ways wood’s design elements can support occupant well-being in transitional housing.
- Discuss mass timber benefits for multifamily housing and single-family housing.
- List the ways in which wood’s carbon benefits help architects reach sustainability goals, while also serving the greater well-being of building occupants.
This course is part of the Mass Timber Academy
Case Study: Freedom House
Photo courtesy of © Tricia Shay; Berners Schober
Freedom House in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The transitional housing facility offers emergency shelter, meals, hygiene products, and case management support to help families struggling with homelessness.46
Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin
Construction: Light-Frame Wood
Freedom House Ministries is a non-profit organization providing transitional housing in Wisconsin. Its facility on the east side of Green Bay, called Freedom House, is the only one in the area that exclusively offers emergency shelter, meals, hygiene products, and case management support to help families struggling with houselessness. An unexpected medical bill or car repair are the two most common reasons that families seek housing at the facility, and a typical stay can last 8–12 weeks. However, despite all the support the facility was aiming to provide families, the decaying structure of the house itself was no longer offering a comfortable and inviting environment as it once did.
In 2019, Freedom House Ministries met with local architecture firm Berners Schober to discuss a potential remodel of the supportive facility. The team ultimately decided on an entirely new construction with a new design to replace the decaying structure. When approaching the design, one thing the firm recognized was that aesthetics are often sacrificed in transitional housing. Despite a limited budget and timeline, the team saw an opportunity to differentiate this project with an understated but distinctive design.
“When people consider short-term housing, they think it shouldn’t be visually engaging,” said Ian Griffiths, President of Berners Schober. “It was important for us to illustrate that these buildings can be designed well.”34
Challenge: The architects and designers knew they needed to create a space that was functional and encompassed economic versatility. It needed to be a place where families could be comfortable and de-stress while transitioning to the next step. The firm wanted it to be simple and authentic and feel like home. They also needed to work within a limited budget, along a short timeline.
Solution: Availability of materials and versatility were key factors in determining the construction type and understood as instrumental in completing the project on time and within budget. After considering other building materials, the team chose a light-frame wood structure for the walls, roof, and floors. The choice of wood ticked boxes in terms of versatility and availability of materials, but wood also lent itself to biophilic design. The familiar, warm, and welcoming aesthetic of the light-frame wood was seen by the architects as part of a larger goal to design a building that matched the type of warm, welcoming mental, physical, and emotional services Freedom House Ministries aimed to provide its clients. If houselessness can sometimes compound mental health issues, including anxiety, sleeplessness, and depression (and vice versa), a space designed with biophilic elements could be one of many approaches to a more healthful environment. Ongoing research has shown that there is a biophilic response to wood in which the brain is able to subconsciously link wood to trees and trees to life and nature, triggering a comforting reaction that promotes the well-being of building occupants.35
“There is a truthfulness to the material,” said Griffiths. “It’s not trying to be something it’s not. That message transcends into the people and the programs available at Freedom House.”36
Result: Completed in 2020, the new Freedom House facility consists of 7,000 square feet of residential space and 9,000 square feet of administrative space. The residential structure includes five gabled roof forms and provides private rooms that can house up to 16 families, each with dedicated bathrooms. The complementary administrative wing is built into the adjacent hillside. A large retaining wall was needed to address the steeply sloped site, while a hidden, flat roof provided space for the mechanicals.
One of the property’s most distinctive and welcoming features is its prominent western red cedar facade. The use of natural cedar cladding unifies the two buildings and speaks to the goal of providing simple, sustainable living with a familiar and welcoming aesthetic. The warm, bright grain of the material spans the two buildings from top to bottom with entire sections of uninterrupted surfaces, complemented by sections featuring long vertical glass panel windows. The natural smell and look of wood, combined with long windows that allow light to pass through the buildings, emulates elements of a forest and illustrates biophilic design.
Building with wood also amplified the morale of the construction team, providing an opportunity to demonstrate traditional construction techniques.
“Our entire staff was able to relate to this project. The pride that our workers have in this project is tremendous,” said Paul Martzke, president of Immel Construction and director of pre-construction for Freedom House. “Walking on the job site and smelling the newly cut cedar; you could see smiles on the carpenters’ faces. It’s a rare project where they had a chance to really showcase their skills.”37
Light framing was used for all structural elements, including walls, roof, and floors. Wood’s ready availability fit the tight construction timeline, allowing the shelter to open before winter arrived.
“At its core, wood frame construction is still one of the simplest methods of fabricating,” Martzke said. “Wood is a strong, versatile, and readily available material. As we are looking to keep costs down on housing stock, wood is going to be a big player in those continued discussions.”38
The interior design and furnishing in Freedom House were left intentionally sparse, creating a space that is comforting yet transitional—well-suited to turnover and requiring low maintenance. Living units include a private bath and bunk beds that can accommodate a family of up to six. Amenities for the administrative wing include a training room, a free store (that offers interview clothing, undergarments, shoes, and items for children at no cost), and a large cafeteria that can seat up to half of all residents at a time.
During their time at Freedom House, families continue to work to reduce their debt and rehabilitate their credit. They also are offered an aftercare program for general support and access to donated personal items and household supplies. This takes some stress off occupants’ monthly budget and helps prevent a second shelter stay. Each family leaves with an individualized budget and new skills and knowledge for surviving on their own.
Since opening last year, Freedom House has served hundreds of families. The project received numerous design awards, including the AIA Wisconsin Merit Design Award, the City of Green Bay Mayor’s Beautification Award, the Daily Report Top Project 2020, and Jury’s Choice for the 2021 WoodWorks U.S. Wood Design Awards.
For the designers, the Freedom House project is meant to defy the idea that home is just shelter and that those who struggle in society deserve a less-than-beautiful space. The design is understated but distinct—meant to convey authenticity and reinforce the intent of the Freedom House as a nurturing space for people. In this instance, the biophilic response to wood connects the integrity and warmth of the material to a warm idea of home—something the occupants need to feel.
“Quality buildings and quality design are the difference between building something functional and building something uplifting,” Griffiths said. “When you combine beautiful architecture with a meaningful mission, it’s a feel-good project all the way around.”39
CARBON REDUCTION
The built environment is growing at a record pace: An estimated 3.5 million new housing units are needed to make up for the nation’s housing shortage. Buildings and their construction account for 39% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Twenty-eight percent of global emissions are from buildings in the form of operational carbon—the energy used to power, heat, and cool a structure—which can be reduced through energy efficiency measures. Policymakers, architects, developers, and engineers have made significant advances in this arena. The remaining 11% of global carbon emissions attributed to building construction are generated from building materials and construction. This “embodied carbon” can account for half of the total carbon footprint over the lifetime of the building. 40
To reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with construction, specifiers and stakeholders need to act now to create embodied carbon strategies that reduce environmental impacts from buildings we’ll use well into the future.
The threats of climate change—which are already being felt across the globe—carry a greater weight for low- and moderate-income groups and communities of color. The solution for affordable housing, therefore, carries with it the environmental weight of constructing more housing. This section looks at how wood’s ability to store carbon makes it an ideal product for buildings when it comes to meeting sustainability goals while supporting the health, safety, and well-being of those who require affordable housing.
In the face of climate change and the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, architects are seeking to decarbonize the built environment.
By now we know that climate change is one of the biggest threats to the planet. In the first installment of the 2022 IPCC report, the working group of scientists stated that climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying. Some of the changes are irreversible. However, strong sustained reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other GHGs can limit climate change. Building construction is a prime place to start.
One key area for change is the specification of building products with low GHG emissions, including the replacement of concrete and steel with wood. The IPCC confirms that expanding the use of wood in multistory buildings could help mitigate climate change because wood-based systems represent 10%–20% less embodied energy41 than traditional concrete systems.
Wood products are approximately 50% carbon by dry weight.42 The use of wood products in buildings provides an additional environmental benefit by storing carbon removed from the atmosphere. This ability to store carbon makes wood an ideal material for buildings, which are designed for long service lives. This storage of carbon is a unique environmental attribute that does not exist with other structural products.
Embodied carbon is determined by conducting a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a product, assembly, or building throughout declared life cycle stages. Embodied carbon is measured for each stage of the product’s life cycle, allowing comparisons across any combination of stages. As buildings become more energy efficient, the upfront embodied carbon from materials begins to account for a higher proportion of a building’s carbon footprint.
Wood has other sustainable advantages beyond storing carbon: Unlike other building materials, wood is a renewable resource that can be harvested responsibly without diminishing its source. Data shows that global regions with the highest levels of industrial timber harvest and forest product output are also regions with the lowest rates of deforestation.43 Demand for forest products can actually increase the size of forests rather than decrease them. The annual rate of trees harvested for timber in the U.S. is less than 2% of the total available volume. Just a 1% increase in annual demand for industrial wood products could drive 77,000 square miles of new sustainably managed working forests.44
Forest management in the United States and Canada operates under federal, state, provincial, and local regulations to protect water quality, wildlife habitat, soil, and other natural resources. Training, continuing education, and certification for loggers and foresters support continuous improvement and the use of best management practices. Regeneration practices ensure forests have enough natural seeds, seedlings, and tree sprouts to grow for the future. Active forest management, or forest thinning, mitigates wildfires and cuts carbon emissions. It replenishes area waterways, expands wildlife habitat, and creates jobs in rural areas. And, finally, harvesting and replanting increases carbon sink abilities as younger trees sequester more carbon.
For young people moving into multifamily residences, the appeal of wood is a product of a concern for the environment but also a matter of quality of life and personal identity. In the face of climate crisis, younger generations want to occupy buildings that are sustainable in order to act as part of the solution to mitigate climate change. But they also want to inhabit a space that aligns with their philosophy at an aesthetic level, signaling sustainability through exposed beams or other wood interior elements—a design that’s in alignment with their values and where they can enjoy feeling at home.
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