The eCasa housing project was designed to deliver a series of net-zero, affordable housing prototypes in Washington, D.C., for low-income families. Using Sefaira, nonprofit architecture firm Inscape Publico balanced building envelope performance and renewable energy generation in the late design stage to achieve net-zero.
Mi Casa Inc., a nonprofit organization, provides affordable housing opportunities to low and moderate-income families to sustain diverse and healthy communities in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore areas. To address the complex changes impacting neighborhoods in the greater D.C. area and ensure scalability, Mi Casa collaborated with the Department of Housing and Community Development.
Project type:
Affordable housing for low-income families
Location:
Washington D.C., USA
Building program:
Residential
Floor area/stories /occupancy:
2 x blocks of 6 housing units Performance goal: Net-zero energy
Navigating project limitations
Inscape Publico had designed and specified the building blocks but wanted to understand their performance and optimize the project where possible. The project needed to juggle a limited budget, a limited palette of building materials, and a tight project timeline. Using Sefaira analysis enabled the team to optimize the changeable factors within the project and demonstrate that the project was on track to achieve net-zero energy.
