The Springs

By Audrey, November 13, 2015

The Springs is an affordable, residential-housing project located in McCall, Idaho that has achieved a lofty platinum certification. The lot is located near wetlands and used to be an empty gravel pit and snow mobile race track. Now, the site is a well-designed, desirable sustainable living complex that preserves the natural feature The complex is made up of three residential units containing a total of 36 living units, a community building, and an outdoor common space.

To combat the fierce weather conditions of the Idahoan winters, durability of the residential units and community center were high priority. Structural Insulated Panels are used for the walls and roofs of the buildings to both hold up the building and to insulate the structures. The panels are extremely air tight which keeps the amount of energy used for heating and cooling to a minimum. To reduce the amount of waste generated in the future, the architects designed the exterior of the buildings to stand up to the harsh weather and to last for a very long time.The roof tiles were coated in a ice and water shield and 40 year asphalt shingles. Durable fiber cement siding was used to wrap around the homes and secure their building envelope.

My favorite part of the development is the community center and outdoor common space. The community center houses lounge area that opens to the patio, kitchen, office, laundry and workout facility. The kitchen and lounge can be rented out for birthday parties, graduation celebrations, etc. The surrounding outdoor common space contains a playground and picnic tables. These shared common spaces are beneficial to the environment because it reduces the amount of resources consumed by a community. If all 36 housing units are provided with exercise equipment and a playhouse, none of the residents will feel the need to buy those things for themselves. Sharing is one of the easiest and best things that can be done for our Earth.

Next time you need to purchase something like a leaf blower, a lawn mower, a power cleaner, will you think about asking your neighbor if they have one you can share? Perhaps offer to loan a piece of equipment you have that they need?

5 Responses to “The Springs”

1. tad5426 November 30, 2015

   This looks like a nice place to live. I love when neighborhoods have community centers where kids can come and play.

2. dcp5199 November 30, 2015

   This development has an interesting, unique design. A platinum certifications is extremely impressive. Making projects like these affordable is very difficult.

3. cmm6693 November 27, 2015

   This is a wonderful place to live. I live on a small street with only 4 houses on it and I always wished I grew up in a bigger neighborhood. The Springs really seems like it will bring a lot of people together and I think that is amazing.

4. rsp5212 November 21, 2015

   I always enjoy when I see community centers now days! They provide us with something that is becoming increasingly scarce in our society today: day to day, face to face, human interaction. In my hometown especially (Potomac, MD), the suburban streets which at once upon a time used to be filled with neighborhood children are now deserted as the growing generation takes shelter from active communication in an era of rapidly proliferating technology. Really happy to see that some towns still prioritize preserving the “community- like” feel.

5. Paulina November 17, 2015

   This living complex reminds me a lot of one near my house (I’m from Princeton, NJ) with the community center than can be rented out. I’ve been to a few birthday parties in the community center and I loved how homey it felt. The structure of the buildings seem super complicated and expensive but I’m glad they were able to make them affordable!