In March 2006, Resources for Community Development (RCD) completed construction on a 62-unit community of affordable-rate homes on Alameda Island. Because of the scale of the neighboring single-family homes, the city of Alameda limited the height of the multifamily project to two stories.

This project’s green building features needed to “fit in,” meaning they had to complement rather than stand out from the neighboring homes. Today, the only green elements that might be noticeable to passers-by are the rainwater-catching bioswales and drought-tolerant landscaping. In the Bay Area, these types of low-water landscaping techniques are common even among high-end homes, so this feature was acceptable to the community. The project’s other key green attributes include energy efficiency measures such as hydronic heating, 2x6 stud walls insulated to R-19, low-e windows in some units, and fluorescent lighting in most rooms.