PHILIPSBURG – Windy Hill Village, a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) for people 55 and over, will add a 48-unit senior rental apartment building to the campus.
Westminster Place at Windy Hill will be a Passive House building. It will be one of less than 50 in the country, and will incorporate sustainable construction and green features. Total cost of the expansion will be $10 million and construction is expected to begin early 2017.
The Passive House design will be highly insulated, energy efficient and require 50 percent less energy than other types of heating and cooling systems. The efficiencies incorporated throughout the building will require 86 percent less heat and 46 percent less cooling. Utilities per unit are estimated to be $50 a month – approximately half of a conventional system.
“Presbyterian Senior Living strives to be a leader in energy efficient designs and systems, which insures excellent resident comfort and long-term sustainability with low operating costs for our current and future residents,” said Jeff Davis, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Presbyterian Senior Living.
“Passive House is a big step towards our future in which we plan to do even more in this area.”
Key features of Westminster Place at Windy Hill design and construction include:
- Continuous insulation through the building without thermal bridging
- High-performance, triple-paned windows and doors
- Air-tight construction to keep in purified air and prevent loss of conditioned air
- Best practices for storm water management
- Stewardship of resources through moderate density housing
- Energy Star rated equipment throughout
- Engineered wood products to reduce environment impact
- Low and no-VOC products to increase air quality
- Low flow fixtures for water conservation
- Efficient LED lighting systems throughout including motion detection lighting in hallways
The community plans to seek certification through the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS+) certification program, the leading passive building certification in North America. To earn the certification, Westminster Place will comply with a strict quality assurance and control program performed by specialized PHIUS+ raters.
The four-story building will include 37 one-bedroom and 11 two-bedroom units. Of the 48 total units, eight will be market rate (anticipated rent ranging $811-$1,086), and the remainder will be tax credit rentals with income limits applied to those applications. The income ranges for the rental apartments will be announced as they are available from Pennsylvania Housing and Finance Administration (PHFA).
Rent will include electric, individually controlled heat and air conditioning, kitchen appliances, water, sewer, trash, and ample free parking.
The project was awarded $7.7 million in tax credits by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to serve area seniors. Dan Rothschild served as the project architect.
Currently Windy Hill Villages serves 179 older adults in residential living, personal care, memory support, skilled nursing and rehabilitation and affordable housing options.
The CCRC is owned and operated by Presbyterian Senior Living, a not-for-profit provider of high-quality retirement choices, healthcare services and affordable residential living options for people 55 and older. For more information, please visit www.presbyterianseniorliving.org.