Case Study: Old East Haven High School Becomes Senior Housing

This project turned an abandoned historic high school in East Haven, Connecticut, into mixed-income housing for seniors, bringing together three goals: historic rehabilitation, sustainability and affordable housing.

Reusing and adapting the building created an affordable community of 70 individual apartments — one- and two-bedroom units offered at both market and low-income rates — with shared spaces:

• a fitness centre;
• a craft room;
• an outdoor courtyard;
• an on-site management office;
• a lounge.

The developer, WinnDevelopment, has described the result as delivering much-needed senior housing, restoring a historic landmark, setting a high standard for energy efficiency, and putting a long-vacant property back on the tax rolls. Some residents now walk the same halls they walked as high-school students.

Built to a Passive House standard

Sustainability was central. The rehabilitation was designed and built to the Passive House Institute's strict EnerPHit standard. Passive House is an industry standard, for new buildings and for retrofits of existing ones, that uses very little energy for heating and cooling — usually 90% less than other buildings.

The team carried out a thorough thermal analysis of the building, designing a system that balanced energy performance with occupants' comfort and the durability of the building envelope, while keeping its historic character and meeting the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. The finished envelope includes:

• an R-21 air-tight façade, insulated from the inside;
• thermally broken, double-pane aluminium windows that match the look of the historic steel windows;
• highly insulated roofs and floors.

The work also replaced the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment with high-efficiency heat pumps, and added solar photovoltaic panels, LED lighting and Energy Star appliances.

Recognition

The project received the Connecticut Preservation Award of Merit from Preservation Connecticut and the Connecticut Green Building Council's Award of Excellence.

Sources

• National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services, "Case Study: Old East Haven High School, East Haven, Connecticut." https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/case-study-old-east-haven-high-school.htm
• The exterior photograph (by a private photographer) and the collage of interior photographs are not reproduced.
• Words on this page from people and organisations outside the federal government are paraphrased; rewritten in hubnx's own words.