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Cotati Cohousing Wins EnergyValue Housing Award at 2006 National Home Builders Conference
McCamant & Durrett Architects of Nevada City, CA Receive Recognition for Energy-Efficient Design

COTATI, Calif. – February 14, 2006; A cohousing neighborhood about 50 miles north of San Francisco has received its fourth design award. Cotati Cohousing won an EnergyValue Housing Award in the multi-family category for a hot climate by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) National Conference in Orlando, FL on January 11, 2006. McCamant & Durrett Architects, with offices in Nevada City and Berkeley, CA, provided full architectural and project management services.

Cotati Cohousing, also called Frog Song for the exuberant frogs in the preserved wetlands on the property, is a 30-household cohousing neighborhood on a 2.3-acre site in downtown Cotati. The town has a population of 6,700 and is located in Sonoma County. The project, completed in 2003, consists of 30 affordable highly energy-efficient town homes and a 7,500 square foot commercial building with seven commercial spaces. The mixed-use aspect of the neighborhood is a noteworthy feature with a café below residences and an office space shared by several residents. In addition, the community has a dramatic “common house” designed by McCamant & Durrett Architects for group meals, social events, house concerts and business meetings and a colorful tower, which serves as a landmark for downtown Cotati.  

The energy efficiency design award recognizes the neighborhood’s green features such as passive solar heating with 90% recycled cellulose insulation; passive cooling measures such as no air conditioners and whole house fans; active solar heating with water for domestic hot water preheated by solar panels; reduced asphalt by about one-third; and responsible forestry where the homes used up to 40% less wood than in a typical home. In addition, homeowners at Cotati have significantly reduced electricity bills from a typical $150/month in the winter to $25/month, and neighborhood water consumption is - about 50% less than the City average.

In addition to the 2006 NAHB award, Cotati was honored by a “Best in American Living Award” for The Best Smart Growth Community Design in the U.S. for a community under 150 units by the NAHB in 2005, and has won awards from The American Institute of Architects and The California Coalition of Transportation and Land Use. Cotati is an urban infill project featuring smaller clustered town homes which provide an easy integration within the surrounding downtown neighborhood

Cohousing neighborhoods balance privately-owned homes with extensive shared common facilities. Residents work together to plan their neighborhood and then manage it after they move in. For more about cohousing please visit the website of the Cohousing Association of the U.S.

McCamant and Durrett Architects are well known for introducing the cohousing concept to the United States with their book Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves (Ten Speed Press, 1988, 1994). Since 1987, the firm has designed and consulted on dozens of cohousing communities nationwide, in Canada and New Zealand. The two architects, who are also a married couple, will be moving into Nevada City Cohousing in Nevada City, CA in Spring 2006. Their latest project includes a 34 unit community just completing construction in Nevada City and a 28-unit community in Fresno CA slated to start construction later this year.