Affordable and Green Housing on Nantucket Island An Interactive Qualifying Project for the Nantucket Project Center submitted to the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science By Haley Connelley ____________________ Matthew Henry ____________________ Kristen Hughes ____________________ In Cooperation With Aaron Marcavitch, Executive Director Housing Nantucket December 17, 2008 Prof. Michael Elmes, Advisor Abstract The shortage of affordable housing has been a major problem in Nantucket, MA, and continues to be so today. The goal of this project was to help Housing Nantucket evaluate strategies and options for expanding the availability of affordable housing on Nantucket. Through case studies, interviews, literature reviews, and observations, we identified suitable parcels of land for affordable housing developments and examined innovative land use and green building methods for these parcels. i Authorship Page Haley Connelley, Matthew Henry, and Kristen Hughes all contributed equally to the research, writing, and editing that went into this project. ii Acknowledgements Our project could not have been completed without the help of many individuals, both on and off Nantucket. We would like to thank Housing Nantucket for their sponsorship, and Aaron Marcavitch, our liaison, for his help and support during the course of our project. We would like to thank Nathan Porter for providing us with crucial GIS data and for his technical support regarding the GIS software. For the water availability information regarding the recommended land parcels, we would like to thank Robert Gardner, from the Wannacomet Water Company. We would also like to thank all of our interviewees, for their cooperation and the information they provided us with (listed in chronological order of interview date): Penny Dey, Real Estate Broker, Atlantic East Real Estate Deborah Dilworth, Assessor, Town of Nantucket Steven Blashfield, Architect, Chip Webster and Associates Andrew Vorce, AICP, Planning Director, Nantucket Planning Office Susan Witte, Housing Planner, Nantucket Planning Office John Brescher, ZBA Administrator, Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals Mark Voigt, HDC Administrator, Nantucket Historic District Commission Anne Perkins, Director of Ownership Programs, Rural Development Incorporated Wendy Forbes, Home Ownership Programs Assistant, Rural Development Incorporated Mary Anne Worth, Coordinator, Nantucket Council for Human Services Richard Ray, Health Director, Nantucket Health Department Mark London, Executive Director, Martha‟s Vineyard Commission Christine Flynn, Economic Development & Affordable Housing Planner, Martha‟s Vineyard Commission David Vigneault, Executive Director, Dukes County Regional Housing Authority To our fellow Nantucket IQP groups, thanks you for all of your support and feedback. Finally, we would like to thank Professor Golding for his feedback on our proposal and Professor Elmes for his advice and support throughout the course of our project. iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i Authorship Page .............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii List of Tables and Figures............................................................................................................. vii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................................... viii List of Definitions .......................................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ x 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 2 Background ................................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 The Affordable Housing Problem ....................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 Overview of Land on Nantucket ................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Legislation, Policies, and Programs .................................................................................... 8 2.2.1 State Legislation and Policies .................................................................................................... 8 2.2.1.1 Development Opposition ...................................................................................... 9 2.2.1.2 Housing Support ................................................................................................. 11 2.2.2 State Programs ............................................................................................................................. 12 2.2.3 Nantucket Legislation and Policies ....................................................................................... 12 2.2.4 Nantucket Programs................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Planning and Developing Affordable Housing ................................................................. 15 2.3.1 Making Housing More Affordable ......................................................................................... 16 2.3.2 Affordable Green Buildings ..................................................................................................... 16 2.3.3 Sun Exposure ................................................................................................................................... 17 2.3.4 Landscaping ..................................................................................................................................... 17 2.3.4.1 Energy Savings ..................................................................................................... 17 2.3.4.2 Other Benefits ....................................................................................................... 18 2.3.5 Innovative Septic / Composting Toilets ................................................................................ 18 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 19 3.1 Identifying Suitable Parcels of Land................................................................................. 20 3.1.1 Interviews....................................................................................................................................... 20 3.1.2 GIS Mapping ................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1.3 Surveying the Land ..................................................................................................................... 22 3.2 Identifying Green Building Techniques ............................................................................ 23 iv 3.2.1 Current Land Use and Building Techniques ..................................................................... 23 3.2.3 Identifying Best Green and Land Use Practices ............................................................... 25 3.3 Organizing Data ................................................................................................................ 27 3.4 Presenting Results ............................................................................................................. 27 4 Results and Analysis ................................................................................................................ 29 4.1 Land Parcels ........................................................................................................................ 29 4.1.1 Criteria ............................................................................................................................................... 29 4.1.2 Analysis of GIS Maps ..................................................................................................................... 31 4.1.3 Appropriate Land Parcels for Affordable Housing Developments ............................. 33 4.2 Green Technology ............................................................................................................... 33 4.2.1 Windows ........................................................................................................................................... 34 4.2.2 Passive Solar .................................................................................................................................... 35 4.2.3 Solar Panels ...................................................................................................................................... 36 4.2.4 Sustainable Materials ................................................................................................................... 39 4.3 Analysis of Interviews ...................................................................................................... 40 4.3.1