By the end of August, we hope to complete one unit of Cottage Court fully! When complete, we would like to host an open house so that you can come check it out!

According to the EPA, the leading cause of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG’s for short) is transportation. It accounts for 29% of total global GHG emissions. These emissions are dangerous not only for the environment but also for us. GHG emissions can lead to adverse health effects from cancer-causing carcinogens and chemicals, many of which come from exhaust emissions. There are many ways to get around this world; some are healthy and fun. Hillside is working to combat GHG emissions by innovating transportation offering residents access to shared electric vehicles (or EVs) and alternative transportation methods. 

The way in which our crew is constructing whole wall panels inclusive to insulation and electrical components and then tilted up is a technique utterly unique to the Hillside Center for Sustainable Living; as far as we know, it is not being done anywhere else, which adds to the excitement when we make large strides towards completion like we have in the last couple of weeks!

The YWCA at Hillside is composed of 10 single-room units. Two units will be available to those interested earning less than 50% AMI (Area Median Income) and the rest for those earning less than 30% AMI. The coolest part about this component of the Hillside Community is that, along with being affordable, this housing will abide by the same sustainable, energy-efficient standards as the rest of our housing!

Hillside's community-supported agriculture (CSA) vision is for on-site food cultivation to be available to residents through a shared CSA model. 

We are designing every element of Hillside with permaculture principles in mind as a way to diversify crops, increase soil health, and have an edible landscape while reducing the amount of labor needed in the long term. 

Along with electric vehicles and water-saving toilets, a sound composting program has always been high on Hillside's site needs. Many things being implemented at Hillside are cutting-edge green technologies that often have to be justified in our accounting department. Composting is not one of them - it just makes sense. 

Hillside, we love our bikes too and want to design the site to accommodate the grab and go bike mentality. The tough thing is that bikes take up A LOT of space and are not the most nimble things to move around alone.

This North End Terrace portion of the site has one of the steepest grade changes and was challenging for us to conceptualize not being an eye-soar.

Mars? Close, this is Newbury Boston Blue Marline clay that is present throughout the Hillside site. Formed by the glaciers during the ice age this clay's color is quite spectacular and will be tested for its firing qualities by a local potter! 

We substituted shovels and ribbon cutting with garden trowels and local, organic tomato, kale, broccoli, and Swiss chard seedlings at the Hillside groundbreaking ceremony. We featured David Hall’s spoken words from the Hillside Center for Sustainable Living groundbreaking on May 18, 2018.

Have you heard of a SIP? As lovers of all things that are acronyms, SIPs joined our diction quite seamlessly. A SIP is a Structural Insulated Panel - quite similar to our Hillside wall system that encompasses all structural wall elements into one. We are excited to partner with MGO Systems based out of Canada to manufacture our Barn SIPs. 

Our first flip was a success! Starting with the EPS foam template, the exterior siding is applied, flipped, the structural wall is poured, and the interior wall is later finished with a pigmented plaster to create a 20in thick, R60 wall. The architects, engineers and the building department will review and inspect these mockups.

If you can believe it, foam has been one of the most focused on details in the Hillside design office. Being mostly air, foam is a superb insulator. Heating and cooling are responsible for roughly 44% of all home energy usage, so having the best possible insulation can make a huge difference in energy savings. Over the years of Hillside design work, the options of insulation materials moved from creative things like recycled blue jeans and sheep wool to EPS foam for one reason.

Cottage Court's first foundation pour! Look closely and you can see the "T" shape house! 

All Cottage Court sidewalks will meet ADA standards (less than 5% grade change).

Just like most things, the more challenging the problem, the more creative the solution. Well, this is certainly true for the Hillside Ave units. The big onsite challenge is grade change. Our solution, not only solved the problem but came with a whole range of benefits.