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Success Stories

Cottonwood Place: Green Apartments and Gardens for Seniors

At Cottonwood Place in Fremont, nonprofit housing developer Eden Housing has created a beautiful, healthy community for low income seniors. This innovative development, which includes 98 private apartments, was constructed using green building and Bay-Friendly landscaping methods and incorporates a number of features to ensure its long-term energy efficiency and sustainability.
 
In addition to earning the Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape designation, Cottonwood Place achieved a high score from the GreenPoint Rated green building rating program. 
 
The City of Fremont Human Services Department provides on-site service coordination to connect Cottonwood Place residents with community-based services. Amenities in the residential development include a community room, computer lab and library, a landscaped central courtyard with community patios, seat walls and vine-covered arbors, and raised gardening beds where residents can grow vegetables and flowers. 

LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Recycled materials include pavers, site furnishings and mulch
  • State-of-the-art irrigation system incorporates moisture sensors, rain sensors, flow detection and smart controllers to ensure that plants are watered only when and where needed
  • Stormwater filtration and management measures were integrated into streetscape designs, courtyards and site landscapes to capture 100% of runoff 
  • Large native shrubs provide shelter and food for wildlife including pollinators and other beneficial insects
  • Sheet mulch was used for weed control
  • Renewable energy systems include solar hot water panels and a 100 kW photovoltaic system  
RESULTS
  • 300,000 gallons of irrigation water saved compared to a conventional landscape
  • 95% of landscape construction and demolition debris recycled
  • 50 tons of local, recycled compost used
  • 56 tons of local, recycled mulch used
  • 98% of new plants are low water species
  • Bay-Friendly landscaping practices reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 15 to 32 tons CO2E

PROJECT DETAILS

  • Project owner/developer: Eden Housing, Inc.
  • Landscape architect: Bruce Jett Associates
  • Location: 3701 Peralta Blvd., Fremont, CA
  • Project area: 2.4 acres
  • Landscape accessible to the public? Partial

Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape logo

Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape score: 98
Year rated: 2012
Bay-Friendly Rater: Cynthia Greenberg, Placeworks

 

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