Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013

BEST PRACTICES IN TRIBAL HOUSING:
CASE STUDIES 2013

A REPORT BY THE SUSTAINABLE NATIVE COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE,
AN INITIATIVE OF ENTERPRISE COMMUNITY PARTNERS
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research
Visit PD&R’s website
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accessing the information you need.
BEST PRACTICES IN TRIBAL HOUSING:
CASE STUDIES 2013
A REPORT BY THE SUSTAINABLE NATIVE COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE,
AN INITIATIVE OF ENTERPRISE COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R)
Prepared by:
Jamie Blosser, Atkin Olshin Schade Architects
Nathaniel Corum, Architecture for Humanity
Daniel Glenn, 7 Directions Architects/Planners
Joseph Kunkel, Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow
Ed Rosenthal, Enterprise Community Partners Rural and Native American Initiative (RNAI)
October 2014
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Enterprise Community Partners is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create
Su stai n a b l e N a ti ve Co m m u n i ti es Co l l ab o rative
decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For nearly 30 years, Enterprise has introduced neighborhood
solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and
others that share our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested $10.6 billion in equity, grants and loans to help build
or preserve more than 270,000 affordable rental and for-sale homes to create vital communities.
The Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative (SNCC), an Enterprise Community Partners initiative, is a group
of architects, community designers, development leaders, and sustainability advocates committed to affordable and
healthy housing in Native American communities. The SNCC grew from tribal housing experience and a collective
belief that each community must determine its own path toward sustainability. We listen to the vision and goals of
tribal leaders, planners, and housing providers to help understand the challenges and opportunities facing tribes in
providing environmentally responsible and culturally appropriate housing for their community members.
Case Studies 2013 is made possible by generous support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), support from Enterprise Community Partners, and
the generous donation of time from our Collaborative volunteers.
Thank you to all the case study teams participating in the CASE STUDIES 2013, and special thanks to:
Jamie Blosser, Founder, Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative (SNCC); Associate, Atkin Olshin Schade
Architects
Nathaniel Corum, SNCC; Architect, Head of Education Outreach, Architecture for Humanity
Raymond Demers, Enterprise Green Communities
Daniel Glenn, SNCC; Principal, 7 Directions Architects/Planners
Russell Kaney, Director of Programs, Rural and Native American Initiative, Enterprise Community Partners
Joseph Kunkel, SNCC; Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow, Santo Domingo Housing Authority
Ed Rosenthal, Vice President, Rural and Native American Initiative, Enterprise Community Partners
Katie Swenson, Vice President, Design Initiatives, Enterprise Community Partners
Atkin Olshin Schade Architects

Adventure Pictures
ANAGR.AM
The contents of this report are the views of the contractor and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or the U.S. government.
FOREWORD
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development presents this report on 17 projects that highlight a variety of unique
features of sustainable construction within Native American settings. When sustainable housing is implemented within Native
American communities, the result can be healthier, more energy-efficient, and climatically appropriate housing stock that often
incorporates strong cultural and historic tribal design elements.
The 17 projects featured in this effort from HUD’s Sustainable Construction in Indian Country initiative exemplify this emerging
transformation in tribal housing. They not only employ sustainable technologies and materials—low-flow plumbing fixtures, photo-
voltaic panels, structurally insulated panels, stormwater retention, and clustered housing plans—but also establish abiding connec-
tions to heritage, culture, and the natural world.
The best practices that emerge from these case studies point to innovative ways that tribal housing providers are using housing
improvement, including green housing, to overcome challenges related to funding, infrastructure capacity, loss of cultural traditions,
and economic development. Many project teams featured in the report approached housing development holistically—incorporating
meaningful community engagement during the design process, reaching out to establish partnerships and collaborations that later
proved critical to project success, and solving complex challenges ranging from site planning to financing and tribal employment.
There is a cautionary tale to be told as well. Early adopters of sustainable building practices or builders reintroducing much older
cultural approaches to home construction take on a certain level of risk that must be balanced with thorough pre-construction
planning, meticulous construction, and post-construction monitoring and maintenance.
It is our hope that, by disseminating these case studies, more tribal communities will be encouraged to create their own culturally
appropriate and environmentally responsible housing. These fine examples set by the tribes and their partners demonstrate what
is possible when cultural traditions are honored while being interwoven with modern, sustainable design and construction strate-
gies that look to the future.
Katherine O’Regan, Ph.D.

Assistant Secretary for
Policy Development and Research
iv Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS
vii Executive Summary
viii Case Study Locations | Map
1 Best Practices | Design
2 Devine Legacy | Native American Connections
6 Kumuhau Subdivision | Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
10 Passamaquoddy Tribe | Kikunol Housing
12 Coeur d’Alene Tribe | The Gathering Place
13 Best Practices | Site
14 Arizona State University Stardust Center | Nageezi House | Navajo
16 Port Gamble S’Klallam Nation | Teekalet Village
20 Pinoleville Pomo Nation | Pinoleville Pomo Nation Homes
22 Penobscot Indian Nation | Penobscot LEED Homes
26 Mescalero Apache Tribe | I-Sah’-Din’-Dii, Phase I
28 Northern Cheyenne Nation | Straw Bale Homes
30 Best Practices | Innovation
31 Best Practices | Culture
32 Navajo Nation | NHA Planning Manual
36 Pascua Yaqui Tribe | Guadalupe House
38 Apsáalooke (Crow) Tribe | Awe’-Itche Ashe, Good Earth Lodges
42 Puyallup Tribe | Place of Hidden Waters
46 Ysleta del Sur Pueblo | LIHTC Pueblo Homes
48 Ohkay Owingeh | Owe’neh Bupingeh Rehabilitation Project Indigenous Community
52 Enterprises | Elder Hooghan Homes Initiative | Navajo
54 Best Practices | Green
55 Best Practices | Impact
56 Research Team
Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 v

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
It is with great enthusiasm that we present the exemplary tribal housing documented here, as part of the Case
Studies 2013 project by the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative. These case studies are foundational
to our multiyear effort to research and share the exciting work that tribes are undertaking across the country.
The 17 projects featured are not intended to represent all of the green building occurring across Indian Country,
but rather to exemplify an emerging transformation in tribal housing. Once again, tribal housing projects are
increasingly connected to heritage, culture, and nature.
Many best practices are emerging from this research, helping to clarify the innovative ways that tribal housing
providers are overcoming challenges including funding, infrastructure capacity, loss of cultural traditions, and
economic development. In particular, many featured teams approached housing development in a holistic
manner—incorporating meaningful community engagement during the design process, reaching out to establish
partnerships and collaborations that later proved critical for success, and solving complex challenges, from site
planning to financing and tribal employment. Four of these projects were documented through video to better tell
their stories.
These 17 projects, selected from a group of diverse projects nationwide, are all recently built works with the
exception of one long-term sustainable housing plan. They were reviewed for their replicability and applicability
to other communities, and for their expression of green building features, community engagement processes,
design excellence, cultural sensitivity, and for addressing broader community needs, such as training and
employment. The projects were selected to show a range of project types, including rental and homeownership
projects; and multifamily, single-family, and prototype demonstration projects. Importantly, each project
was reviewed for its comprehensive approach and its potential to educate and inspire other communities. A
breakdown of the projects is shown below.
347 HOMES 38% MULTIFAMILY
56% HOMEOWNERSHIP 44% SINGLE FAMILY
44% RENTAL 18% DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
40% TRAINING IMPLEMENTED PROGRAMS 25% LIHTC PROJECT
38% TRAINING EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS $142 AVERAGE COST PER SF
The projects showcased here demonstrate that high-quality housing from within tribal communities can be
a catalytic force—providing hope and strength in sometimes desperate conditions. It is hoped that through
the dissemination of this case study research, technical assistance collaborations, and funding focused on
sustainable construction, more tribal communities will gain access to the means of creating their own culturally
appropriate and environmentally responsible housing. This Case Study 2013 research exists with the support of
the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Policy Development and Research Office (PD&R), through
the Sustainable Construction in Indian Country Small Grant Program.
Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 vii

SUSTAINABLE NATIVE COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE
Kingston, WA
Teekalet Village Bellingham, WA
Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe Lummi Community Homes
Port Angeles, WA Cowlitz, WA
Lower Elwha Klallam Inchelium Community Housing Lame Deer, MT
Energy Homes 25 Green Homes Project
Neah Bay, WA
Makah Supportive Homes
Tacoma, WA
Place of Hidden Waters
Puyallup Tribe of Indians
Coos Bay, OR Crow Agency, MT
Qaxas Heights Plummer, ID Good Earth Lodges Lame Deer, MT
The Gathering Place Apsáalooke (Crow) Tribe Northern Cheyenne
Coeur d'Alene Tribe LEED Homes
Northern Cheyenne Tribe
Klamath, CA
Yurok Senior Rosebud, SD
Housing Five Sustainable Sioux Houses
Pine Ridge, SD
Sustainable Planning
Ukiah, CA
Pinoleville Pomo
Nation Homes Hotevilla-Bacavi, AZ
Pinoleville Pomo Nation Hopi Nation Straw Bale Homes
Navajo Nation
Yerington, NV Elder Hooghan Homes
Paiute Senior Navajo Nation
Duplexes Nageezi, NM
Navajo Nation Nageezi House
NHA Panning Manual Navajo Nation
Navajo Nation
Ohkay Owingeh, NM
Camp Verde, AZ Owe’neh Bupingeh
Yavapai-Apache Homes Ohkay Owingeh
Valley Center, CA
San Pasqual
Cultural Residences Phoenix, AZ
Devine Legacy
Bishop, CA Isleta Pueblo, NM

Coyote Mountain Pueblo Homes
Apartments Guadalupe, AZ
Guadalupe House
Pascua Yaqui Tribe
Mescalero, NM
Alaska I-Sah’-Din’-Dii
Mescalero Apache Tribe
Not to scale
El Paso, TX
Ysleta del Sur LIHTC Homes
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo
Anaktuvuk, AK
Anaktuvuk Pass Zuni Pueblo, NM
Prototypes Clustered Homes
Whiteriver, AZ
New and Rehab Project
Quinhagak, AK Waimanalo, HI
Sustainable Haines, AK
Chilkoot Estates Kumuhau Subdivision
Northern Shelter Native Hawaiians
Quinhagak House Subdivision
Hawaii
Not to scale
viii Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013
CASE STUDY LOCATIONS
Lower Red Lake, MN

Red Lake Supportive Housing
Duluth, MN Pleasant Point, ME

Kikunol Housing
Fond du Lac Supportive Passamaquoddy Tribe
Housing
Petoskey, MI
Mtigwaakiis Indian Island, ME
Penobscot LEED Homes
Penobscot Indian Nation
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
Sault Ste.
Marie Housing Retrofit
Hogansburg, NY
White Earth, MN St. Regis Mohawk
Dream Catcher Housing
Homes Project
Fulton, MI
Mishkoswen Road
Crandon, WI Housing Development
Sokaogon Chippewa
Housing
Keshena, WI
Menominee Housing
Dowagiac, MI
Pokagonek Edawat
Choctaw, MS Pembroke, NC
Tiak Chitto Subdivision
Lumbee Home Designs
Tribal green projects

SNCC Case Study 2013 locations
Reservation boundaries
Marksville, LA
Tunica Biloxi Homes American Indian populations
Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 ix

BEST PRACTICES | DESIGN
How does the community help to guide

the design?
Solar
Envelope
Food
Cultural
Form
Good design is the cornerstone of the highlighted projects presented here. They bear witness to a transformation of tribal housing
DESIGN
around the country through community engagement, innovative thinking, thoughtful design, creative financing, partnership-build-
ing, and a connection to heritage, culture, and nature. Because many of them have incorporated various checklists, rating systems,
internal reviews, and building commissioning through the green building process, their design and construction have been tested
for appropriateness and durability. For instance, tight building envelopes, properly installed flashing so water sheds properly, ap-
propriate R-values based on the climate, and properly sized and installed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Many
of these projects incorporated a dialogue with the community to discuss specific family, cultural, and heritage needs that housing
can and should address. The most successful projects involved a high level of collaboration among many different partners, includ-
ing housing authorities, architects and engineers, community members, tribal leaders, funding agencies, and contractors. This type
of collaborative effort, known as “integrated design,” ensures that long-term goals and the project vision are established collec-
tively at the onset and can be tested through many lenses. This effort results in more thoughtfully designed and built projects,
which typically have fewer change orders during construction. Because of the integrated design approach, each project is uniquely
realized and built specifically for its community and place. For example, it is clear from the photographs that the Kumuhau Subdivi-
sion is in Hawaii, the Place of Hidden Waters is in the Northwest, the Guadalupe and Nageezi homes are located in the Southwest
desert, and the Ysleta del Sur and Owe’neh Bupingeh homes are in Pueblo communities. Many of these projects are also beautiful,
serving as beacons of community hope and pride.
1 Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013

Phoenix, AZ NATIVE AMERICAN CONNECTIONS | DEVINE LEGACY
Concept design/visioning
2007
Client/Developer: Native American Connections Syndicator: National Equity Fund
Architect: Perlman Architects of Arizona Financing Partners: City of Phoenix, Arizona Department of Housing,
Design Architect: Pyatok Architects Federal Home Loan Bank, U.S. Department of Housing
Contractor: Adolfson & Peterson Construction and Urban Development
Partners: Arizona State University Stardust Center, Daniel Glenn
Devine Legacy is a mixed-income, transit-oriented development along
COMMUNITY ACCESS
the north-south light-rail line of central Phoenix. Developed by Native
American Connections, a nonprofit corporation to serve the urban Indian
population of Phoenix, it contains seven different unit types, including
townhomes, lofts, and flats, with no differentiation between the 90 per-
Development plan approved

OCT 2008
cent affordable and 10 percent market-rate units. The site is strategically
located for residents to gain access to work and school, with a light-rail
station located one-half block away and downtown less than 3 miles to the
south.
Photo: Perlman Architects of Arizona
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: UNIT TYPE VARIETY

DESIGN
TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
SITE
Received LIHTC allocation

SEPT 2009
H2O MANAGEMENT
Ventilation Gathering Density Proximity INNOVATION
SOUTHWEST VERNACULAR
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED LEED PLATINUM
GREEN
• Transit-oriented, high-density design makes CREATING ACCESS
it easier to live affordably without having to IMPACT
own a car.
TOTAL PROJECT COST:
• Cultural elements were designed to be $13.7M
somewhat universal, because families from TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
Closed on financing
AUG 2010
many different traditions live here. $11.1M
PER SQ FOOT:
• Excellent outdoor common spaces are $145
important with high-density living.
COST PER UNIT:
VARIES: $160,000 AVG.
TOTAL UNITS:
BEST PRACTICES
65
• Transit-oriented development can be a focus
for the needs of urban Indians.
• Access to an outdoor community space
Construction complete
NOV 2011
formed a cohesive traditional atmosphere.
• LEED certification was a top priority.
• The project is directly adjacent to many
health and social services to meet the needs
of working families.
Converted permanent loan
JAN 2012
Multifamily
Southwest

Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 2
DEVINE LEGACY
This affordable housing community was the first to open along the Phoenix Metro light-rail line at the Campbell & Central Light
CONTEXT
Rail Station. Native American Connections developed the site selected for the project, which included a blighted building that had
been vacant since 2006 and posed a threat to the neighborhood for loitering, vandalism, and graffiti, and which caused concerns
of increased crime at other neighborhood properties. The redevelopment of the project site remedied all these issues. The project
contains a wide range of housing types, including townhomes, lofts, and flats, with 90 percent affordable and 10 percent market-
rate units. The site is strategically located for residents to gain access to work and school, with a light-rail station located one half
block away and downtown less than 3 miles to the south. The city’s main public high school is located directly across the street
from the development. The building just to the development’s south contains the offices of the developer and the many social
services, health, and cultural organizations that cater to the needs of Native Americans in Phoenix.
Photo: Perlman Architects of Arizona Photo: Perlman Architects of Arizona
The primary site feature is the courtyard on the second level

SITE
that is open to the sky. The courtyard provides a protected

common space for tenants and is a contextual element of
the Southwest vernacular. It has a playground for children
and sitting areas for adults. Common barbecue grills are
in the courtyard and at outdoor common areas on each
floor. Parking, which was reduced because of access to the
adjacent rail line, is provided in a parking garage at the
ground floor, along with bicycle racks. A new community
room on the property, which faces the street, is designed for
many purposes, including a meeting space for the residents’
association, tutoring, training classes, and family events.

DEVINE LEGACY
This mixed-income housing project was designed as The sustainable, affordable housing development is a
GREEN
DESIGN
a culturally appropriate urban Indian community. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for
project’s design excellence was a top priority of Native Homes Multifamily Platinum project, making it the most
American Connections. To effectively accomplish its sustainable housing community in Arizona. The project team’s
goals, the developer decided it was necessary to engage initial goal was to achieve LEED Silver certification. After
in the design process. Arizona State University Stardust completion of the energy modeling and consultation with
and Pyatok Associates worked with the project team at the LEED for Homes provider, the team decided to try for
the onset to provide design visioning and cultural insights. Gold certification. As the project progressed, even Platinum
The result is a contemporary southwestern vernacular certification became a possibility. The entire project team
building that embodies the project’s highest priorities, worked during the process to incorporate additional green
including a high-density, transit-oriented development measures.
program, comfortable outdoor communal space, high
green performance standards, and cultural design As a result, the project achieved 26 percent energy savings
elements. and diverted 58 percent of its construction waste from the
landfill. ENERGY STAR appliances were installed; all HVAC
Because one size does not fit all, the development has equipment is high efficiency, and no HCFC refrigerants were
a variety of unit types—seven total. To effectively blend used. Wall insulation is higher than required by code in the
market-rate units with affordable housing units, the Phoenix area, and windows have U-values of 0.42 and a solar
project team realized that some market-rate amenities heat gain coefficient of 0.32. All plumbing fixtures are low
must be made available to everyone, such as high ceilings flow. The project received exemplary LEED points because of
and an urban “loft” look for some of the units. The the close proximity to light-rail, which allows for 373 riders per
two-story apartments, with double-height living spaces, day. These design solutions allow for a significant reduction in
have vertical stack ventilation, reducing dependence the challenging southern Arizona climate.
on air conditioning during the transitional seasons. The
courtyard open to the east and west acts as a breezeway,
bringing air through the building mass.
Drawing courtesy of Pueblo Grande Museum Archeological Park Photo: Perlman Architects of Arizona
The project was oriented toward Native American working families in Phoenix, and the design is based on the culture of the ancient
CULTURE
Hohokam, who were one of the original people of the Phoenix Valley and lived in compact, pueblo-style, earthen, multistory
structures. There are numerous health and social services provided in the Native American Connections building just next door,
which is important to the families living here. The development team hosted focus groups through architectural programming
sessions on unit amenities, features, and design. Eco-traditional designs such as east-facing entrance, courtyard, and gathering
spaces for residents, perform to provide effective cross ventilation and bring in eastern light. Units were designed with open
kitchen and living environments for family gatherings. The project has become part of a larger Native American community center
for the surrounding urban area.

DEVINE LEGACY
Started as a vision five years ago, Devine Legacy, located

INNOVATION
on Central, is the first mixed-income transit-oriented

development (TOD) housing community to open along the
Phoenix Metro light-rail line.
Trying to secure funding for the project in late 2009 and

FINANCING
early 2010 was very challenging in the capital markets. A

great deal of patience and time was spent with each fund-
ing source to address any concerns regarding the finan-
cial viability of the project given the economic climate of
that time. After completion of the project, in 2011, Native
American Connections converted its permanent financing
in the fall of 2012.
Furnishings
1%
Acquisition
Reserves 7%
2%
A/E/survey
Loan costs
5%
2%
Attorney
fees
1%
Site
improvements
9%
Building
construction
73%
Project cost breakdown

The project takes advantage of the benefits of a very urban location to meet the transit and
LESSONS LEARNED/CONCLUSION
supportive services needs of urban Indians in Phoenix. The transit-oriented, high-density design
makes it easier for working families to live affordably without having to own a car—a significant
paradigm shift in a very car-oriented, western city. Through the design process and community
meetings, the project team realized that any cultural design elements incorporated into the
project would need to be somewhat universal, because families from many different traditions
would be living in the community here. In addition, it was determined that, because of the high
density of the project, excellent outdoor common space areas designed to be comfortable in
all seasons were critical. The development team’s green design objectives were clear from
the outset, but it was not originally anticipated that the project would obtain LEED Platinum
certification, which was met because of the comprehensive approach to all site and building
elements.

Waimanalo, HI DEPT. OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS | KUMUHAU SUBDIVISION
Sitework and design

OCT 2007
Client/Developer Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Sustainability Consultant: Green Sand, Inc.
Architect: Armstrong Design, LTD HERS Rater: Green Building, LLC
Contractor: Armstrong Builders, LLC Landscape Architect: PBR Hawaii
Engineers: BASE + Akinaka Associates Other Partners: HUD, USDA Rural Development, Veterans Affairs,
FHA, Home Street Bank, Office of Hawaiian Affairs
CLIMATE-RESPONSIVE
The Kumuhau Subdivision provided eco-friendly and climate-respon-
sive home ownership opportunities to 45 Native Hawaiian families in
Site construction starts

JUNE 2008
Waimanalo, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. After developing the site, the
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) competitively selected
Armstrong Development to design and build the project. The climate-
responsive and cost-effective designs include social elements, such
as carports that act as outdoor shaded rooms and considerations for
future expansion. The homes were so popular and demand so great
that all the homes were sold in one day.
Photo: David Franzen
Design and builder selected

OCT 2009
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES:
CLIMATE RESPONSIVE
“COUNTRY” DENSITY
SITE
EXPANDABLE
Solar Density Replicable Air Quality INNOVATION
OUTDOOR LIVING
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED LEED GOLD
• Site planning and home design may be more GREEN

MODEL HOMES
cost effective when integrated. IMPACT
Site construction complete

JUNE 2010
• Well-designed homes that also reduce TOTAL PROJECT COST:
energy costs to homeowners will be in high $19.9M*
demand, even during a recession. TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
$13.4M
• Proper ventilation, shading, and site
COST PER SQ FOOT:
orientation can mitigate the need for
$180
mechanical cooling in a tropical climate.
COST PER UNIT:
BEST PRACTICES $213,000 - $311,000
TOTAL UNITS:
• Outdoor living features provide a connection 45
to the outdoors and a sense of community.
• An innovative approach to high wind code

requirements reduced costs by providing
Start construction
JULY 2010
bracing for storm events.
• A comprehensive approach to design and

building provides multiple benefits: comfort,
flexibility, long-term durability, and reduction
in costs to the residents.
*Includes site construction costs
Closing on homes and move-in
JAN-JUNE 2011
Single Family
Pacific Islands

KUMUHAU SUBDIVISION
The project is located approximately 1 mile from the

CONTEXT
eastern, windward coast of Oahu and the Waimanalo Bay

State Recreation Area. Only 15 miles and a 30-minute
drive from Honolulu, Waimanalo has one of the highest
concentrations of Native Hawaiians on Oahu—almost
25 percent of the town is made up of Pacific Islanders.
Waimanalo means “potable water,” apparently named for
the many ponds in the area and its agricultural history.
Today, there is an interest to revitalize Waimanalo’s
agricultural traditions through projects such as the 21st
Century Ahupua’a.
Waimanalo Bay State Recreation Area
Photo: SNCC
—
Kanewai, or the “rule of the water,” helped to inform the
AHUPUA’A
development of the covenants, codes, and restrictions for

Kumuhau’s homeowner association. Kanewai is also the
basis of the ahupua’a, which is the traditional Hawaiian
land ownership and management system. The ahupua’a
extends from the mountaintop to the coral reefs in the
sea, with specific rights and responsibilities for everyone
helping to sustainably manage this very interrelated
ecosystem. The ahupua’a system in Hawaii was mostly
destroyed by modern development and economic sys-
tems. However, today there is an interest to reactivate the
concept as a local form of sustainability, and the town of
Waimanalo is on the forefront of this with the 21st Cen-
tury Ahupua’a, including the Living Laboratory and Sweet
Home Waimanalo Market Cafe. It is hoped that future
housing development in Waimanalo ties into the exciting
sustainability work and reinvigoration of agriculture by
local groups.
Ahupua’a
Painting by Marilyn Kahalewae
21st Century Ahupua’a, Waimanalo

Photo: SNCC
The homes were designed to evoke the colorful plantation

CULTURE
style homes of Hawaii, with both one- and two-story homes.

Careful attention was paid to a connection between the
indoor and outdoor and to taking advantage of the temperate
Hawaiian climate to allow for more outdoor living. Each home
has a “lanai,” or veranda, and the parking was designed so
that two cars can fit in the driveway, allowing the carport to
be used as an outdoor living room. Each carport has a screen,
providing extra privacy between neighbors.
The homes were also designed to be easily expandable, an

important consideration, given that many Native Hawaiian
families are large. Extra plumbing stub outs allow for eventual
build-out of an additional bathroom and bedroom.
Drawing: Armstrong Design, LTD
KUMUHAU SUBDIVISION
Electricity in Hawaii is extremely expensive, at more than
GREEN
25 cents per kilowatt hour. The many green features are
therefore specifically targeted to resident health and energy
efficiency. The homes have solar hot water, net-metered
2.5kW photovoltaic (PV) panels, low-emittance window
glazing, above-code wall insulation, compact fluorescent
lightbulbs, and “solar clothes dryers” (otherwise known as
outdoor clotheslines). The homeowners received both federal
and state tax credits totaling 65 percent of installed cost for
the PV and solar hot water systems, and many report they
now pay only the minimum $16.85 monthly electrical hookup
fees.
Photo: SNCC
2 Bedrooms | 1 Story | Axonometric Floor Plan

Drawing: Armstrong Design, LTD
Reflective metal roofing
reduces heat gain inside Centralized whole-house fans ensure
Overhead storage home. excellent ventilation and reduce the need
for plywood storm 48” overhang is for for air conditioning.
window panels. Low- and no-VOC
afternoon shade. Louvered paints, Green
windows aid air Label carpet,
circulation. and marmoleum
flooring improve
indoor air quality.
Drives are longer so

that carport can act
as outdoor living area.
Carport is screened
for additional privacy.
Photovoltaic and
solar hot water
Outdoor “lanai” and A plumbing “stub
panels are on the
space for shoes. out” and site design
carport roof. The
carport is pre- allows for a future
Each home has a clothesline, second bathroom
wired for electric
space for a garden, and a compost and additional
vehicles.
area. bedroom.
N
The homes were designed to be LEED Silver under the LEED

GREEN
for Homes rating system but have since achieved LEED

Gold certification. The homes were designed to be energy
efficient, with a tight building envelope, good air circulation,
and ventilation. The homes feature a whole-house Airscape
fan, which was customized to be much quieter by making
changes to the motor and location and is now called the
Kohila fan, which means “gentle breeze.” It is located centrally
in each home and sits on the roof. In addition to the home
having a whole-house fan, each bedroom and bathroom have
Whispergreen exhaust fans, which are very quiet.
Kohila fan closed Kohila fan open

KUMUHAU SUBDIVISION
Because this was a design/build process, the design was More than 55 percent of Native Hawaiians pay more than 30
INNOVATION
IMPACT
tested against costs at every step along the way. This percent of their income for housing, and only 57 percent own
allowed for innovative measures to be incorporated, such their homes. The cost of living in Hawaii is very expensive
as the solution to the high wind design load requirement and Native Hawaiians do not have the same access to tribal
per building code. Instead of stiffening the entire house trust land as many tribes on the mainland, requiring them to
frame at the exterior walls or installing expensive storm qualify for conventional mortgages or wait to be assigned a
windows, Armstrong designed custom, predrilled plywood home through the DHHL wait list. In order to qualify, families
panels that can be easily installed over the windows must have at least 50 percent blood quantum, must qualify
before a large storm event, when the high winds occur, for a mortgage, and then may eventually receive a home
that serve to stiffen the entire frame of each home. The based on a lottery system.
plywood panels are stored in custom-made racks located
overhead in each carport. DHHL recognizes the dire need for more high quality hous-
ing and is developing property throughout Hawaii. DHHL
I have seen the aloha from the many began developing the Waimanalo site before hiring Armstrong
people....I have met through this through a competitive bid process. Armstrong won the bid
in part because of their commitment to LEED certification.
process, how much care and pride they Armstrong acted as the designer and builder. Armstrong and
have in their work. That is important DHHL worked with Home Street Bank to help interested Na-
to me as a Hawaiian, because it has tive Hawaiian families qualify for home mortgages. Because of
the green design features, the hard work of families to qualify
always been about partnership and
for mortgages, and the need for housing, the homes all sold
those that come to provide helping within one day.
hands and their hands mana’o. So this
house represents me everything as a
Hawaiian, and it’s beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful. - Raenani, Laiopus homeowner
Photo: David Franzen
This process helped to demonstrate that affordable housing can be cost-effectively built to
LESSONS LEARNED
LEED standards and can have a high market demand even in a difficult economic recession. It
has also helped to modify DHHL’s development process, so that with new projects, site planning
occurs simultaneously with building design. This helps to avoid coordination pitfalls. There are
also exciting new partnerships to ensure that future projects are developed in an integrated
and sustainable manner and that they are climatically and culturally appropriate. Recently, the
Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which is focused on reducing the amount that Native Hawaiians pay
for housing and on increasing home ownership, partnered with DHHL to help pay for infra-
structure costs through paying the debt service on $90 million of DHHL bonds. These critical
partnerships, along with the success of the Kumuhau Subdivision, are leading to exciting new
projects including new homes in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii and on the island of Maui.
Photo: Yumeko Tochiko
Left-to-right: Kahu Kordell, Anita Seyer-Wong, and Daniel
9 Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 Sandomire
Pleasant Point, ME PASSAMAQUODDY | KIKUNOL HOUSING
Client: Pleasant Point Housing Authority Project Engineer: James W. Sewall Company
Developer: Passamaquoddy Tribal Government Project Engineer: Hedefine Engineering & Design
Architect: Design Group Collaborative Development Partner: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Contractor: Blaine Casey Contractor and Coastline Homes
LOCAL VERNACULAR
The Kikunol housing project is located in Pleasant Point at the north-
eastern tip of the United States. The Passamaquoddy people have
inhabited this historic area for thousands of years. In the form of a
semicircle, the site plan references traditional gathering protocols.
The 17 multifamily homes were designed to blend with a wooded
landscape and to honor symbols and shapes that are part of the Pas-
samaquoddy heritage.
Photo: Design Group Collaborative

CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: CLUSTERED
DESIGN
LOW IMPACT
SITE
EFFICIENT HEATING
Solar Proximity Renewable Engagement INNOVATION
LOCAL SYMBOLS
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED PASSIVE SOLAR
GREEN
• Site analysis early in the project leads to a COMMUNITY
better alignment with environmental goals. IMPACT
• Close collaboration between the housing TOTAL PROJECT COST:

authority and contractors leads to a more TBD
successful process. TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
$4.45M
COST PER SQ FOOT:
$126
COST PER UNIT:
$82,000-177,000
BEST PRACTICES
TOTAL UNITS:
• The buildings are oriented for maximum 17
solar gain and exposure.
• Clustered massing minimizes the impact on
the site, including lessened impact on the
surrounding wetlands.
• A solar hot water system together teamed
with a high-efficiency system comprise an
efficient heating system.
Multifamily
Northeast
Drawing: Design Group Collaborative

KIKUNOL HOUSING
Today, Pleasant Point is a small reservation of about Kikunol Housing was designed with respect for Passama-
CONTEXT
CULTURE
2,000 residents. The Pleasant Point Housing Authority quoddy heritage. Passamaquoddy winter structures, such as
(PPHA) owns most of the housing on the reservation. The wigwams, were built with local materials, with their openings
community is very close and committed to its tribal his- facing to the east—welcoming the morning sun. A decorated
tory and roots. The project site is in a wooded area that pole was used to prop open a traditional entry. Designed to
is slightly elevated from the rest of the housing develop- blend with the wooded landscape, natural tones and curved
ment. It is developed in the form of a semicircle, which forms mimic the bark of trees. The common area, entrances,
references the form of traditional tribal gatherings. and building designs incorporate symbols and shapes that
express Passamaquoddy heritage and history.
The buildings are oriented for maximum solar gain and
GREEN
exposure, similar to Passamaquoddy traditional structures,
which took advantage of maximum solar exposure. The design
includes large overhangs and large south-facing windows in
each home to provide natural daylight and help reduce the
heat load in the winter. The homes also have high-efficiency
heating systems and airtight construction methods.
Photo: SNCC
5- 36"
ADA propane
tanks
UNIT
A
PROPANE
SHED
R=7'-10"
TWO BEDROOM ADA UNIT THREE BEDROOM UNIT TWO BEDROOM TYPE A UNIT TWO BEDROOM UNIT
32'-0" 28'-0" 32'-0" 32'-0"
124'-0"
Typical Building Floor Plan 1 BUILDING 'B' FLOORPLAN

Drawing: Design Group Collaborative A6.1 Scale: 1/8" = 1'-0"
DESIGN | LESSONS LEARNED
The homes are grouped four units to a building, minimizing impact on the site. The
staggered pattern allows for private entrances and backyard areas. Each building includes
STORAGE SHEDS:
a combination of one-, two-, and three-bedroom
ADD ALT.
units. A lesson learned was to coordinate
the impact of the development on the neighboring wetlands earlier in the process. The
landscape design had to be modified so as not to impact wetlands, which was
(TYP.) a good
36" MIN. ICE & WATER SHIELD
@ALL EAVES & VALLEYS
environmental move, but it required the circular layout of the housing units to be altered and
the tribal gathering area eliminated. If this impact had been realized earlier in the project,
the design could have been better coordinated with the wetlands. PROVIDE END WALL STEP FLASHING
RAIN DIVERTER AT REAR DOORS (TYP)
Photo: Design Group Collaborative

Plummer, ID COEUR D’ALENE | THE GATHERING PLACE
Start of design process

FEB 2010
Client/Developer: Coeur d’Alene Tribal Housing Authority Sustainability Contractor: Pura Vida Homes LLC (Straw Bale Installation)
Architect: Thomas W. Angell, AIA Site Design: Taylor Engineering Inc.
Contractor: MDM Construction Inc. Research + Collaborators: University of Idaho’s Bioregional Planning &
Engineer: Taylor Engineering Inc. Community Design Program
SUPER-INSULATED
This 18-unit multifamily housing project was constructed using
environmentally friendly natural building techniques. These straw
bale buildings were designed in collaboration with the Coeur d’Alene
Tribal Housing Authority (CDATHA) and tribal members, with initial
research and engagement by the University of Idaho’s Bioregional
Planning & Community Design Program. Prior to construction the
CDATHA demolished 12 existing lead and asbestos structures, and
salvaged a majority of timber for future reuse.
Photo: Tomas W. Angell
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: RESEARCH

DESIGN
BROWNFIELD DEVELOPMENT
SITE
COLLABORATION
Natural Salvage Health Engagement INNOVATION
Building
LANDSCAPE
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED SUPER-INSULATED
GREEN
• The ability to be flexible and the involvement of SUSTAINABLE MODEL
Start of construction
AUG 2010
a good collaborator help the overall design and IMPACT
building process.
TOTAL PROJECT COSTS:
• High-quality housing projects can foster a sense $4.5M
of pride in everyday living. TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
$4M
PER SQ FOOT:
$170
COST PER UNIT:
$222,000
BEST PRACTICES
TOTAL UNITS:
• Wood was salvaged from old structures for 18
creative reuse in future projects.
• Recovery ventilation combined with a super-
insulated, straw bale wall system lowers energy
costs significantly.
• Low-flow faucets, combined with ENERGY

STAR appliances and no- to low-volatile organic
compound materials, contribute to the greening of
a healthy living environment.
Substantial completion
APRIL 2011
Multifamily
Northwest
Photos: Tomas W. Angell

BEST PRACTICES | SITE
How can thoughtful site planning sustain

cultural heritage and natural habitat?
Density
Habitat
Community
Proximity
Native American communities have long sustained a strong sense of place, identity, and community, even through major social
SITE
and geographic upheavals. A native sense of place links the natural, physical world to cultural values, a strong cosmology, and an
understanding that everything is interconnected. These core values help to link cultural sustainability with ecological sustainability.
Many of these projects exemplify place-based solutions, such as project locations and site planning that consider infrastructure,
density, habitat protection, and affordability. In the tribal tradition, homes were typically rural, although due to many factors,
tribes often gathered within a defined community commons area. The small land base of many reservations, combined with the
high cost of infrastructure, is leading to a return to traditional arrangements of homes and community services in ways that
are appropriate to each community. For example, Owe’neh Bupingeh is based on a long-term master land use plan, promoting
compact development in the historic Pueblo core. Located in a high-altitude ponderosa forest, the I-Sah’-Din’-Dii Housing Project
at Mescalero Apache exhibits a low-impact design that maintains a rural feel but places the homes closer together to reduce
infrastructure costs and protect the natural habitat. The Navajo Housing Authority Planning Manual establishes standards for
maintaining sustainability and affordability in appropriately planned developments across the Navajo Nation. Access to healthy
food is an important aspect of site planning, and the Place of Hidden Waters is beginning to reap the rewards of onsite community
gardens. Managing and protecting water through rain gardens and rainwater harvesting help conserve a precious resource for
the future. The Place of Hidden Waters, Teekalet Village Housing, and Penobscot Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) Homes are creatively sited housing that protects and celebrates natural habitats central to their respective lifeways and
heritage.

Nageezi, NM NAVAJO | NAGEEZI HOUSE
Design process begins

FEB 2005
Client: Mary and Kee Augustine Design/Build Team: Daniel Glenn, Design Director
Architect/Developer: Arizona State University (ASU) Stardust Center Ernesto Fonseca, Construction/Energy Modeling
Development Partner: Navajo Housing Authority ASU Students of Architecture: Christopher Billey, Tanya
Yellowhair, and Jason Croxton
TRIBAL ENTERPRISE
The Nageezi House is a sustainable and affordable design/build
project of the Arizona State University (ASU) Stardust Center. It was
the first home to be built using Navajo FlexCrete, a subsidiary of the
Navajo Housing Authority. The home was designed and built with a
Navajo elder family in Nageezi, NM with a team of professionals and
students from ASU’s department of Architecture. The project was a
collaboration with the Navajo Housing Authority.
Design/build begins
MAY 2005
Photo: Daniel Glenn
CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE
DESIGN
MULTIGENERATIONAL CLUSTER
SITE
NAVAJO FLEXCRETE
Tribal Cultural Passive Partnerships INNOVATION
Materials Form Solar
INNOVATING TRADITION
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED PASSIVE SOLAR
• The collaboration between a tribal housing GREEN

MODEL FOR NATION
authority and a university can help to IMPACT
AUG 2005
provide new models for housing.
• Culturally relevant, sustainable housing can

TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
be adopted on a larger scale for new housing
$130,000*
developments.
COST PER SQ FOOT:
$100
COST PER UNIT:
$130,000
BEST PRACTICES TOTAL UNITS:
1
• The project incorporated passive cooling
ventilation and passive solar heating.
• Rainwater is harvested with a 1,200 gallon
underground cistern.
Occupied and monitoring begins
OCT 2005
• The house is designed to reflect and
celebrate traditional Navajo culture.
• The project used tribal materials for
construction—Navajo FlexCrete.
*Note that this project had
many student volunteers, and their
time has not been accounted for in the project costs
Single Family
Monitoring complete
OCT 2006
Southwest
Photo: Daniel Glenn

NAGEEZI HOUSE
The house is designed to reflect and celebrate traditional Navajo culture. The home’s innovative design reflects the traditional
CULTURE
structures of the Navajo, including the hooghan (home) and the chahash’oh (shade structure). Both Mary and Kee Augustine grew
up in traditional Navajo hooghans. For the past 40 years, however, they had been living in a conventional western home and had
grown accustomed to that lifestyle. In consultation with Mary and Kee, a design was developed that honored and reflected Navajo
traditions but provides the size, privacy, and compartmentalization of conventional housing. Like a hooghan, the doorway faces
east, and circulation through the home is in a clockwise flow, from the more public areas (living/kitchen/dining) toward the private
rooms (bathroom and bedrooms). These rooms wrap around an octagonal courtyard, designed to reflect the Navajo hooghan in
form and in the materials. Living, kitchen, and dining spaces are combined into one large, south-facing room to allow for larger
family gatherings and to reflect the shared space of the hooghan. A shade structure on the south face protects the southern win-
dows and deck from the summer sun and is designed to reflect the traditional chahash’oh that the Navajo use as a summer shade
structure and cooking area. At the center of the east-facing courtyard, an outdoor fire pit represents the fire at the heart of the
hooghan. Windows are placed to provide views through the house to all four cardinal directions from the courtyard.
Photo: Daniel Glenn
The Nageezi House was designed as a Leadership in Energy and

GREEN
Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes project during the pilot phase
of the program, although it was never certified as a LEED Homes project.
In the building of this affordable and sustainable demonstration home,
several of the green strategies were intended to be replicable and
low-cost approaches, including building orientation, passive cooling/
ventilation, and passive solar heating. Following construction, the home
was monitored for a full year to evaluate its performance with embedded
temperature sensors in the walls and on the interior and exterior of
the home, which demonstrated that overall energy use in the home is
reduced 50 percent from a conventional home. The site is not irrigated; a
gravelled surface surrounds the home.
Model by Daniel Glenn

Kingston, WA PORT GAMBLE S’KLALLAM TRIBE | TEEKALET VILLAGE
Community design
2009
Client: Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Landscape Architect: Brian McCormack, ASLA
Developer: Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Housing Authority Civil Engineer: Ahmis Loving, Loving Engineering & Consulting, P.S. Inc.
Architect: Roy Hellwig, Tormod Hellwig, LLC Partners: Common Ground
Contractor: Jack Grinnell, JM Grinnell Contracting Inc.
HERITAGE PROTECTION
The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal (PGST) Housing Authority designed
and built the Teekalet Village at a key location adjacent to historic
salmon fishing grounds on the Puget Sound. Site features include
a community building, a playground, and connections to walking/
hiking trails. This housing was built to replace asbestos-contaminated
houses on the same site. The site was carefully designed to protect a
salmon spawning creek, a tribal hatchery, and the historic waterfront
at Point Julia.
Photo: Nathaniel Corum
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: WALKABLE

DESIGN
Construction starts
2010
PROTECTED HATCHERY
SITE
H2O MANAGEMENT
Density Proximity Traditional Habitat INNOVATION
Lifeways
MEDICINE PATH
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED WASHINGTON EVERGREEN STDS
GREEN
• Good design can achieve appropriate density
TOWARDS FUTURE
in communities with histories of sparse IMPACT
settlement.
TOTAL PROJECT COST:
• Walkable communities can be anchored with $4.45M
access to key recreational, cultural, and TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
historic sites. $3.5M
COST PER SQ FOOT:
• New housing projects can help preserve $148
traditional heritage. COST PER UNIT:
$82,000-$177,000
BEST PRACTICES
TOTAL UNITS:
• The design/build team included a S’Klallam 17
tribal member contractor and a local
architect.
2011
• A playground, pathways, native plants, and
porches help to form a cohesive community
atmosphere.
• Landscape and water flow management

protect an adjacent salmon creek
and hatchery.
Single Family
JAN 2011
Northwest
Drawing: Tormod Hellwig, LLC

TEEKALET VILLAGE
Many of the approximately 1,300 tribal members of the

Because sunlight is scarce in the Pacific Northwest, during the
CONTEXT
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST) live on the shores
DAY LIGHTING
winter, architects designed the houses with smaller building
of Port Gamble Bay on the Kitsap Peninsula. A ferry and
envelopes to allow light to enter from two sides. The porches
short drive from Seattle, these 2 miles of waterfront are
were also equipped with transparent roofing allowing more light
part of the reservation. Although historically a Salish-
through. On the south side of the homes, shading elements
speaking people, the PGST were well established in the
keep the homes from overheating.
Puget Sound basin by 1400 BCE. Today, the S’Klallam
people continue to practice the traditions that shaped
their culture and lives, including fishing, hunting, singing,
and dancing. The tribal website makes it clear that the
PGST are working hard to build a better community for
future generations.
From my house, I can walk right
A pleasing cluster of homes in a variety of layouts and
down to the beach. I can walk to the
DESIGN
colors is anchored by a community center and an access

loop. Project materials include cement fibre board tribal administration; we have an
sheathing, composition shingle roofing, and timber porches. exercise room that we can all walk
to, right by the health clinic and the
dental offices. We’re pretty much
Several tribal offices and businesses are within walking close to everything, except the
COMMUNITY
distance of the site and an exemplary community center,

composed of a culturally appropriate longhouse, library,
store, which is a bit of a walk.
housing authority, other tribal offices, and new school. - Joanne DeCoteau, resident tribal member
2 1/2 Bedrooms | 2 Story | Floor Plans

Drawings: Tormod Hellwig, LLC Access to
Low-flow daylight/
fixtures compact plan
Low-flow
fixtures
Super-insulated
Porch covering
Open floor plan
accommodates
gatherings
First Floor Second Floor
A beautiful bluff above a fragile salmon creek, the site was previously developed in
SITE
the 1970s with five buildings containing asbestos, all of which were in various states
of disrepair. After evaluation, it was determined these structures had served their
functional lives and it would be cost prohibitive to renovate them, so they were
abated and demolished. The Teekalet project is considered an infill development
because it increased the density of the site, with 17 units and a community center
in the same footprint area. To protect the stream from runoff, landscape features
include a comprehensive system of rain gardens, permeable paving, swales, and na-
tive plants. A path network, water access, and a playground connect to community
facilities and shoreline hiking.

TEEKALET VILLAGE
Well-proportioned homes are in a colorful and cozy The homes feature low-to-no-volatile organic compound
GREEN
DESIGN
circle that features central access, a community center, (VOC) products, low-flow fixtures, and ENERGY STAR
and walkable paths to community services and natural appliances. Energy efficient features are extensive, including
resources. Pathways, native plants, and a playground form being photovoltaic (PV) ready, incorporating passive solar and
a cohesive community atmosphere, and landscape and heat-recovery ventilation, as well as instant hot water, and
waterflow management protects an adjacent salmon creek programmable thermostats. The owners were all provided
and hatchery from negative impacts of the development. with a manual and orientation to the green features.
Local Architect knows

contractor well
General Contractor
is a S'Klallam tribal
member
GC
Architect
TRIBE
PGSTHA
Boys & Girls Club

Boys & Girls collaborated on
Club “medicine trail”

Project relationships diagram
Through a process centered on a series of community According to S’Klallam oral tradition, the level sandy spit
PROCESS
CULTURE
meetings, the design/build team worked with the Port chosen for the mill site was the ancestral village known as
Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST) Housing Authority, tribal “Teekalet,” which is a Klallam/Chimakum word that describes
members, and the PGST Tribal Council to arrive at a design “the shining sand in full sunlight.” Fireplaces are important
approach and construction imperatives. The architectural to tribal members, as are places to store firewood for backup
program stemmed from community input and tribal heating and ceremonial use. The site is just upstream of a
members’ needs and preferences, including large kitchens, tribal salmon hatchery and adjacent to historic sites, including
ample storage, multilevel designs, and “half-rooms” that Point Julia on the Puget Sound.
could alternatively serve as an office or nursery.

TEEKALET VILLAGE
A dynamic site water system protects the salmon creek, Common Ground performed a study and determined a clear
INNOVATION
VISION
hatchery, and Puget Sound waters below. The site design need for affordable housing, confirming the tribe’s recognition
by civil engineer Ahmis Loving and Nez Perce tribal that there was not enough housing for low-income community
member and landscape architect Brian McCormack members, and that a priority was healthy homes in a dense
features water management, pervious paving, swales, configuration close to community facilities. The Tribal Council
and rain gardens to arrive at a resilient habitat for newly tasked the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST) Housing Au-
introduced native plants that protect the nearby creek thority with developing the project.
shed and allow for access to community services, fishing,
recreation, and play.
The design team was provided with information from

ITERATION
community meetings, where tribal members communicat-

ed the need for a large gathering areas. This was provided
through the inclusion of a community center, indoor/
outdoor social spaces, open floor plans for kitchen, living,
dining, and porches.
4% Grant writing
1.5% fees and attorney
Loan costs Photo: Roy Hellwig Photo: Roy Hellwig
5.5% Site architect
2% and engineering fees
Furnishings
8% 1% Site assessment
Contingency and surveying fees
We’ve learned from this project

that we have to make better
use of the land. We have to
increase density in order to meet
current and future needs for
housing, and of course we have
to continue to develop projects
that are environmentally friendly,
78% energy-efficient and have durable
Construction costs materials. -Chris Placentia
As a result of the Teekalet project process, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and housing
authority are now knowledgeable about providing high-quality, green housing at a higher
density. The standards for housing and the ability to produce it have been raised in the
community, and many tribal members have become more comfortable with denser housing,
especially when it is within close proximity to key services and activities. The sense in
the course of interviews is that when future residents and other tribal members are
consulted on design elements, a better product results. The close-knit, local design/build
team also assured close community contact throughout the process, addressing concerns
as they arose before problems became entrenched. There is now great confidence in the
community’s ability to provide for its own housing needs, paving the way to more successful
projects in the future.

Ukiah, CA PINOLEVILLE POMO NATION HOMES
Request for services

2008
Client: Pinoleville Pomo Nation Partners: Community Assessment of Renewable Energy &
Contractor: Pinoleville Pomo Nation Housing Authority Sustainability (CARES)
Consulting Engineer: Laco Associates University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
Development Center for Appropriate Technology
(DCAT), Vital Systems (Natural Building)
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
In collaboration with Pinoleville Pomo Nation (PPN), the Community
Assessment of Renewable Energy & Sustainability (CARES) and the
Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Architecture at the
University of California, Berkeley (UCB) created ambitious, cultur-
ally inspired, efficient model homes featuring natural materials and
integrated renewable energy systems. As the tribe continues working
toward culturally appropriate housing and facilities, these homes
UCB design collaboration

FALL 2008
demonstrate ways to provide for future needs.
Photo: SNCC
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: PARTICIPATORY PROCESS

DESIGN
INFILL ADJACENT TO FACILITIES
SITE
TRIBAL BUILDING CODES
Building Natural Partnership Engagement INNOVATION
Codes Building
TRADITIONAL MATERIALS AND FORMS
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED NATURAL MATERIALS
• Tribes with access to technical assistance and control GREEN
Design phase completed

SPRING 2010
PROTOTYPES FOR REPLICATION
over their funding can achieve green, culturally
IMPACT
appropriate housing even after years of being
marginalized. TOTAL PROJECT COST:
$1.3M
• Building multiple prototype versions allows for side-
by-side testing and research for future performance
$950,000
optimization. COST PER SQ FOOT:
• New housing projects can preserve cultural and $230

COST PER UNIT:
traditional values.
$475,000
• Developing a culturally informed community TOTAL UNITS:
engagement process helped develop tribal green 2
building codes.
BEST PRACTICES
SEPT 2012
• Renewable energy-efficient systems were co-designed
and built by tribal citizens.
• Rainwater catchment and greywater systems reduce
vulnerability to water shortages and support onsite
plantings.
Anticipated completion
2013
Single Family
Northwest
Photo: SNCC Photo: SNCC

PINOLEVILLE POMO NATION HOMES
Several key partnerships made this project unique Community engagement was important throughout the
INNOVATION
PROCESS
and helped to assure its success. A collaborative de- design/build process. The co-design approach developed after
sign approach allowed for technology transfer in many a request from PPN for University of California, Berkeley,
areas: education about passive solar, water harvesting, technical assistance. PPN was most knowledgeable about their
cob, earth plasters, and stone masonry. The culturally Nation and needs, and the University of California, Berkeley,
informed design of the houses reflect a Pinoleville Pomo had specific technical skills to add to achieve goals. One
Nation (PPN) preference for traditional curving and non- challenge in the process was to determine the tribe’s goals.
linear forms in their structures. The use of straw bale and UCB/CARES researched methods of engagement to arrive at
natural materials and finishes enhanced this preference. a framework for collaboration while helping to define what
The design went through several phases of revision by sustainability means to Pinoleville Pomo Nation community
local builders and natural-building facilitators. In a paral- citizens. Working with the DCAT and others, the tribe has
lel process, the PPN collaborated with the Development developed a framework of tribal green building codes to
Center for Appropriate Technology (DCAT) to produce a assert cultural sovereignty, address tribal priorities, and build
tribal green building code framework in 2011. capacity.
Putting in the straw bale brought

a lot of people together: tribal,
nation, university. People coming
together to build homes.
- Nathan Rich, PPN resident
A lowered floor area centers each

traditional home and allows for
ceremony.
Four wood columns support a clerestory

vault and emphasize the importance of
the cardinal directions.
Natural materials stand out, including:

earth plaster, straw bales, stone, and
abalone shell.
Open plan allows for diverse

gatherings and flexible use.
Curved walls reference traditional Pomo

architecture.
3 Bedrooms | 1 Story | Floor Plan

Drawing: Pinoleville Pomo Nation Housing Authority
These unique houses feature energy-efficient systems, straw bale walls,

GREEN
earthen plasters, no-to-low volatile organic compound paints and stains,

ground-source heat pumps, solar photovoltaic arrays, solar hot water
collectors, greywater irrigation, composting toilets, and rain-catchment
systems. Efficient and renewable energy systems reduce dependence
on outside service providers and demonstrate a tribal preference for
clean energy. These homes are designed to conserve resources with
passive heating and cooling considerations, mold- and pest-resistant
wall sections, and emissions-free heating and cooling system. Rainwater-
catchment and greywater systems reduce vulnerability to water
shortages and support onsite gardens and landscaping.
Photo: SNCC

Indian Island, ME PENOBSCOT INDIAN NATION | PENOBSCOT LEED HOMES
Community design process

2007
Client: Penobscot Indian Nation Contractor Phase I: DP Porter Contractors, Inc.
Developer: Penobscot Indian Nation Housing Authority Contractor Phase II: Penobscot Indian Nation Housing Authority
Architect of Record: Dan Miller, AIA
Architecture Firm: WBRC Architects Engineers
REUNITING HERITAGE
Through collaboration with local lenders and the U.S. government,
tribal member home ownership is on the rise. The Penobscot Indian
Nation Housing Authority (PINHA) built 12 Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Gold single-family homes. The project
has helped bring young, low-income families back to the community,
reuniting them with a strong cultural and traditional heritage. The
project features a nature path, native plants, a boardwalk network
connecting to community facilities, sweat lodges, and a ceremonial
multi-use space.
Photo: SNCC
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: CLUSTERED

DESIGN
Construction starts
JULY 2008
CONNECTING TO NATURE
SITE
TRIBAL LENDING
Health Partnership Traditional Habitat INNOVATION
Lifeways SITE FEATURES
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED LEED GOLD
• Working in a collaborative process helped to GREEN

REUNITING FAMILIES
identify the power of partnerships and come IMPACT
up with creative solutions beyond providing
housing. TOTAL PROJECT COST:
$3.1M
• Incorporating cultural elements and natural
resources in the site design helped to create
$2.84M
a beautiful environment and educate families
COST PER SQ FOOT:
about the tribe’s heritage.
$138
COST PER UNIT:
BEST PRACTICES $180,000
• Tailored model lending policies that were TOTAL UNITS:
adopted by the tribe helped families to return 12
and live on tribal trust land.
2009
• Comprehensive site planning met community
goals for enhanced green space, outdoor use,
and an integrated trail system.
• Tribal members led the project, chose the team,

and helped to determine home designs and
cultural features.
Single Family
Occupied
2010
Northeast
Photo: SNCC
PENOBSCOT LEED HOMES
The Penobscot Indian Nation Housing Authority (PINHA) The homes bridge nature and community, with pathways
CONTEXT
CULTURE
project is located on Indian Island in the Penobscot River. to ceremonial sites and access to river and woods. Tribal
Indian Island is the traditional center of a group of clans designs are cut into local woodwork on homes of natural
who lived along the river, and is connected by a single and earth tones, while trails link to town, to nature, and to a
bridge to Old Town, Maine. The homes are framed by ceremonial area that is a circle of standing stones and sweat
woods, with strong connections to cultural and historic lodges. Tribal artists created stone monuments along trails,
locations, and by the cultural focus of the river, boating, and the Tribal Cultural & Natural Resources team worked with
and recreation activities. the Boys and Girls Club to locate and illustrate indigenous
medicinal plants.
Photo: Richard Neill
The people that own these homes

are young families with children,
they are people who live alone,
there’s one woman that’s in the
medical field, there’s an elder who
has older children, there are elder
couples. You know, it has served
the need of quite a variety of
families. I think that’s really good...
a lot of families are reunited.
-Cynthia LeMay, Penobscot Indian
Nation Housing Authority
Photo: SNCC
The site sits on a rocky ledge forming the heart of the island
SITE
and is located conveniently between tribal services and commu-

nity facilities. The 12-acre site exemplifies a tribal conservation
strategy to place 12 homes on 1/4 acre lots and leave 75 percent
protected as green open space for community use and for cultural
education. There is now a short walk to the school, elder center,
tribal offices, cultural and ceremonial areas, and water. An acces-
sible, raised boardwalk protects habitat and acts as a nature trail
to celebrate and conserve natural resources. It is said that this is
a special place, where the diversity of plants live together with
areas for ceremonies and gatherings.
Photo: SNCC

The development consists of 11 three-bedroom homes The LEED Gold housing includes radiant hydronic floors, solar
DESIGN
GREEN
at 1,265 sq ft and one four-bedroom home at 1,478 sq ft. hot water systems, blown-in insulation, and efficient framing.
Compact one-story homes line an access road and then The many regional materials (within 500 miles) featured in-
transition to a trail network leading to a ceremonial circle. clude local wood such as cherry cabinets and maple flooring.
The homes feature inset porches for some relief from the Native, ceremonial, useful, and edible plants are cultivated
basic rectangular footprint. Their siting amidst the Maine along a “medicine trail” network that supports circulation,
woods and dramatic topography make the setting special. education, and recreation.
BEDROOM
BEDROOM
BEDROOM
Photo: SNCC
MECH
DINING
Compact, insulated, and tight
envelope emphasizes energy
economy.
KITCHEN Solar hot water heaters add
to home efficiency.
LIVING
ROOM
Open plan living and dining
allows for gatherings and
cultural events.
Eagle symbolized in rafter tail

detail.
3 Bedrooms | 1 Story | Floor Plan Photo: Richard Neill
Tribal members were responsible for the vision of the The original goal was to provide affordable housing in a chal-
PROCESS
IMPACT
project, and participatory design was a primary directive. lenging financial and environmental climate. A small com-
Multiple public hearings and design charrettes included munity came together to cooperate and innovate to meet the
homeowners who met with the design team several times housing needs. Ultimately, the project‘s impact went beyond
for 1-day workshops. According to architect Daniel Miller, housing to include infrastructure and community service
the community was focused on LEED certification and on improvements, and cultural and environmental linkages. A
developing an efficient floor plan that was “sustainable growing network of collaborators pulled in unison to achieve
and also met the needs of the families.” meaningful and effective use of the core of the islet.

The Penobscot Indian Nation Housing Authority (PINHA), A tribal committee was created to help address the develop-
VISION
PARTICIPATION
with tribal project lead Craig Sanborn, brought together ment of more financing choices for tribal members. They
elders, children, future homeowners, tribal agencies, and worked with leaders in the tribal community to negotiate with
banks to create a common vision. A primary focus was federal agencies, resulting in tailored model lending docu-
bringing young tribal members back to live on Indian ments that were acceptable and adopted by the Tribe through
Island through the provision of high-quality, affordable tribal legislation. The PINHA worked with lenders to conduct
homes. A dedicated internal team formed of PINHA staff, tribal mortgage and home buyer workshops. New financial
a grant writer, and an architect set a goal to create a cred- frameworks were created and cultural pathways were re-
ible and attractive vision for the community. Through this established.
committed partnership, they obtained commitments from
tribal leadership, departmental directors, and local and
federal agencies.
No area on the island was available

for traditional tribal ceremony.
Our tribe was the center of an Federal
inter-tribal alliance, in existence PINHA +
for thousands of years. There Local
are stories about where the
Tribal
community meeting area was. The Leaders Banks
ceremonial grounds, as a result
of initiating the trail, are restored
to be a gathering spot. You’ll see
that there are 23 stones, which Grant
Tribal Writer
represent the original clans. Every
Families
clan has a presence. It’s an area Tribal
that’s available to anyone: the Depts
Native American Church, there’s
a site for women, there’s a site for
men. Those are being used much
Architect
more frequently now and continue
to grow. That’s opened up a whole
new aspect of wellness in the
community that feeds the whole Contractor
person. - Craig Sanborn, Project Leader
What really stands out on Penobscot Indian Island is that a community was able to take bold
and creative steps to ensure their future resilience. Cultural, social, economic, and traditional
values were layered over the land with a deep historic reverence for the tribal members of
the Penobscot Indian Nation. Persistent collaboration among community members of all ages,
from within tribal government and local informal groups, arrived at a shared vision; cultural
protocols were valued alongside a range of financial and design efficiencies. Lessons learned
include the importance of developing model documents, including construction contracts
with consequences for delays. It was also important to phase future developments to allow
for flexibility and infrastructure placement. Although for this project, the initial cost of “going
green” was more expensive, the integrated design process allowed for incorporation of
traditional values and is more attractive to funders and community members.

Mescalero, NM MESCALERO APACHE TRIBE | I-SAH’-DIN’-DII, PHASE I
Development team
NOV 2006
Client/Developer: Mescalero Apache Housing Authority Syndicator: Raymond James Financial, Inc.
Architect: Atkin Olshin Schade Architects Partnering Agencies: New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, U.S.
Contractor: Pavilion Construction Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Development Consultant: Concept Consulting, Inc. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Services
LOW IMPACT DESIGN

The I-Sah’-Din’-Dii Housing Project, Phase I, is a rural development
Submit LIHTC application

JAN 2007
of 30 low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) units and a community
center that are located within a beautiful, high-altitude ponderosa
pine forest in southern New Mexico. Energy savings, occupant health,
and reduced impact on the surrounding forest were primary goals of
the project. The project team also compared different wall systems
to determine the most cost-effective approach to a tight building
envelope for use in future projects. I-Sah’-Din’-Dii is a model for
green, context-appropriate tribal housing.
LIHTC award | Design process

MAY 2007
Photo: Atkin Olshin Shade Architects
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: PASSIVE SOLAR

DESIGN
SITE
COMPARISON OF WALL SYSTEMS

Passive Envelope Natural Habitat INNOVATION
Solar Ventilation
HABITAT PROTECTION
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED MORTGAGE FINANCE AUTHORITY GREEN GUIDELINES
• A rural atmosphere can be maintained through GREEN

RURAL GREEN
thoughtful site planning. IMPACT
• Good design can help reduce construction and
energy costs. TOTAL PROJECT COST:
$7.4M
• Engaging all project partners at the outset of a TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
Syndicator closing | Construction begins

MARCH 2008
project enhances collaborative performance. $6.5M
COST PER SQ FOOT:
• Structural insulated panels (SIPs) for wall $165
construction are a cost-effective, green
COST PER UNIT:
alternate to wood stud wall construction. $214,500*
• The site plan was developed using low-impact 30

development principles. For example, compact
housing allowed for significant protection of
adjacent habitat.
• Construction followed the New Mexico Mortgage
Finance Authority Green Guidelines.
• All of the homes are oriented for passive solar,
with large windows and appropriately sized
overhangs on the south.
MAY 2009
* Costs shown include significant site

improvements for future phases, including a new lift station.
Single Family
Ribbon cutting
JUNE 2009
Southwest

I-SAH’-DIN’-DII, PHASE I
The site was designed using a combination of strategies The homes incorporate passive solar design and orientation
SITE
DESIGN
to incorporate walkability, low-impact development, and to reduce energy costs. The annual sun angles for Mescalero,
passive solar design. Low-impact development principles New Mexico, were analyzed and appropriately sized over-
are based on minimizing impact on the natural environ- hangs were built. This design approach allows the lower win-
ment, such as siting roads and building pads according ter sun to radiate into the home and the higher summer sun
to existing terrain and topography, limiting the area of to be blocked out. The combination of overhangs, concrete
disturbance around construction, clustering development, floor slab, and large southern windows, along with other de-
and designing roads and walkways that limit the velocity sign strategies such as a well-insulated building envelope and
of runoff and offsite erosion. wood stoves, helps reduce winter heating bills.
Summer Sun Winter Sun

I’ve seen a lot of affordable housing
developments over the years, but this
one was almost overwhelming in its
beauty, the location, and the amount
of work that went into the project.
- Julie Gunter, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Drawings: Atkin Olshin Shade Architects
To protect resident health, no carpets were installed, and low-volatile organic compound
GREEN
paints, sealants, and adhesives, as well as non-urea-formaldehyde cabinets were specified.

Structural insulated panels (SIPs) were appropriately specified to ensure that non-toxic,
urea-formaldehyde-free adhesives were used in the sheathing. ENERGY STAR appliances,
passive solar design, and a tight building envelope were addressed for energy efficiency,
with R-26 wall insulation and R-40 roof insulation. Passive ventilation helps maintain thermal
comfort in the summer by bringing air in through low windows and releasing warm air in high
clerestory windows. Water conservation includes low-flow fixtures and rain barrels to capture
roof water. Half of the homes were built with SIPs and the other half with conventional wood
frame construction. Post-occupancy utility data shows that the SIP walls are not only cost
competitive, but they also provide a tighter building envelope. Site disturbance was limited to
25 feet from homes.

Busby and Lame Deer, MT NORTHERN CHEYENNE | STRAW BALE HOMES
American Indian Sustainable Housing Initiative launched

1999
Client: Northern Cheyenne elders and tribal members Design Collaborators: Community members and homeowners
Developer: Red Feather Development Group Systems Engineer: Art Fust, P.E., Energy A.D.
Design + Build: Nathaniel Corum, Mark Jensen, Sergio Palleroni Other Partners: U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development,
Contractor: Red Feather Development Group + volunteers Indian Health Services, Enterprise Rose Architectural
Fellowship
Working with Northern Cheyenne tribal members, Red Feather Development
VOLUNTEER BUILD
Group (RFDG) has developed a cooperative design/build. The homes are
designed in collaboration with low-income first-time homeowners and built
through donations and volunteer efforts. Typically building one house each
year, RFDG has created homes with several Northern Cheyenne families
and initiated a similar program with the Hopi in Arizona. These load-bearing
straw bale homes represent a climate-appropriate, super-insulated response
to the Northern Plains’ winter conditions.
Photo: Michael Rosenberg
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: INTEGRATED

DESIGN
ORIENTATION
SITE
VOLUNTEER BUILD
Natural Training Partnership Engagement INNOVATION
Building
COMMUNITY DIALOGUE
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED SUPER-INSULATED
• Culturally appropriate features can be easily GREEN
incorporated into new housing through dialogue MODEL FOR DEVELOPMENT
IMPACT
with residents.
Construction
2001-PRESENT
• Innovative and climate-appropriate heating
systems result from working closely with project
$1.1M*
engineers.
COST PER SQ FOOT:
$108*
• Volunteer-built projects need to be well
COST PER UNIT:
coordinated but provide savings on labor.
$151,395*
7
• Cultural elements include east-facing doors,
large kitchens for gatherings, locating windows
for key views and privacy concerns, and
designing accents specific to each family.
• Radiant heat and heat-recovery ventilation
combined with a super-insulated straw bale wall
system lowers energy costs significantly.
• Community outreach is key, especially when
combined with volunteer labor.
*Project was subsidized by volunteer

labor and donated materials.
Single Family
Ongoing
2013
Northern Plains
Photo: Skip Baumhower

STRAW BALE HOMES
The Straw Bale Construction Internship (SBCI) provides The Red Feather Development Group (RFDG) employs green
INNOVATION
GREEN
paid training for tribal members to learn and utilize approaches where possible without sacrificing efficiency,
construction and project management skills. SBCI equips cost-effectiveness, or ease of construction/maintenance.
tribal members with the necessary skills to address Straw bale is suited well to the community/volunteer build
long-term housing needs in their communities. Equally im- approach and represents a local, renewable, non-toxic and
portant, the vocational skills participants learned to help carbon-sequestering material. RFDG typically builds a super-
pave the way for future employment opportunities. The insulated, load-bearing straw bale envelope atop a thickened-
SBCI program addresses the need for safe and affordable edge high-volume fly ash concrete foundation. Stained
tribal housing by combining sustainable home construc- concrete floors avoid many interior pollution issues and
tion technology with hands-on, paid construction training. typically contain radiant floor systems. Other green features
The program equips tribal members with the skills to ad- include: solar PV and/or hot water, post-consumer attic
dress long-term housing needs in their communities while insulation (newspaper), rainwater harvesting, efficient fixtures
strengthening future employment opportunities. and appliances, local wood, and low/no VOC paints and stains
Standardization and Culturally appropriate features connected with these
CULTURE
materials analysis Northern Cheyenne homes include east-facing doors to
yields economies, face the rising sun, large kitchens open to living areas for
efficiencies, and celebrations and gatherings, and design accents preferred by
reduced waste. individual tribal member families. Cultural features include
site orientation and location adjustments, location of windows
to control key views and privacy concerns, shade structures
Pre-manufactured
and covered entries, building portions made of salvage
components: trusses,
materials, live-edge wood porch columns and tribal and family
cores, appliances
designs such as rafter profile details. Such features reflect
respect for native-to-place materials.
Protective
stucco plaster
Super-insulating
local, structural
straw bales
Radiant floor
heating system
Frost-protected
shallow foundation
saves concrete
cost and adjacent
trees
Exploded perspective
Drawing by Nathaniel Corum and Corbin Playes
Though the number of homes needed on the Northern Plains is very high, the Red
IMPACT
Feather process has been an effective and scalable path to incremental development.
The impact of this work goes far beyond the seven houses constructed. Red Feather
shows that continuing to work with the same community yields results over time. The
cultural bridges built between volunteers, students, RFDG staff, and tribal members are
lasting and have incredible value. Also, producing publications, curricula, and workshops
alongside homes has had wide-ranging effects. In one case a group of tribal members in
Yakima, Washington, used the construction handbook to create a house for themselves
without RFDG assistance.

INNOVATION | BEST PRACTICES
What innovative thinking is needed

to help build sustainable and healthy
neighborhoods?
Partnership
Training
Enterprise
Material
Many of the project teams featured here were clearly determined to build new models of housing specific to their communities, ex-
INNOVATION
hibiting a high degree of innovation demonstrated in various ways, including new partnerships, innovative technologies, research,
and creative financing. Some development teams reached out to establish partnerships and collaborations that became critical
for their success. The Apsáalooke (Crow) Tribe partnered with the University of Colorado Boulder to develop and test an earth
block house made with native earth and built by a tribal workforce. The Pinoleville Pomo Nation collaborated with many partners
to achieve a prototype home and develop tribally based building codes. The Nageezi and Guadalupe homes, which the Arizona
State University Stardust Center helped to design and build, are desert-appropriate homes using Navajo FlexCrete, a Navajo tribal
enterprise. Many of these partnerships included a high level of analysis and research on new and appropriate materials. Straw
bale homes at Northern Cheyenne are part of a larger Red Feather Development Group initiative, building super-insulated housing
through all volunteer builds. The Owe’neh Bupingeh Rehabilitation Project incorporates new technologies to preserve and stabilize
ancient adobe homes, with an education and research component informed by cultural leaders and homeowners. Many of these
projects were built using multiple funding sources—some as many as 13. They often utilized the Native American Housing Assis-
tance and Self Determination Act (NAHASDA) funding to creatively leverage additional resources. The Ysleta del Sur Low-Income
Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Pueblo Homes project was the first tribal LIHTC project in Texas, which required a high degree of
partnership-building and tenacity. Penobscot succeeded in its goal to design new financing products so young families could move
back to tribal land and participate in their cultural heritage.

BEST PRACTICES | CULTURE
How do culture and heritage impact

the way we build housing?
Heritage
Gathering
Off-Grid
Traditional
Lifeways
These featured projects demonstrate that affordable, cost-effective, and healthy housing can be specific to each culture, place, and
CULTURE
climate. Most of the projects that incorporated culturally based design strategies did so through a strong community-engagement
process, meeting with various user groups, including potential residents, community members, elders, youth, and cultural leaders.
In the Penobscot Nation, such meetings helped define not just the tribe’s housing needs but also its health and wellness needs,
together with a stronger connection to cultural heritage. The Penobscot decided to incorporate a trails network and cultural ele-
ments as part of the site planning for their homes, to honor their river and community connections to it and to provide health
benefits by encouraging walking. The Puyallup Tribe returned to its cultural housing form, the longhouse, which was reinterpreted
in a contemporary context and is helping rebuild a sense of community. A primary goal of the Teekalet Village Housing project
was to protect the salmon hatchery near the project, which was accomplished by specifically designing watershed protection
systems from the housing site downstream. Because the project team for Owe’neh Bupingeh worked closely with many different
project stakeholders, more than half the homes in the sacred and cultural core of Ohkay Owingeh have been rehabilitated by tribal
members using indigenous methods and materials. The project team for Devine Legacy, which is oriented toward urban Indians in
Phoenix, needed a universal approach to incorporating cultural elements, because families of many traditions would live there. To
meet these challenges, the project team based its design on the ancient Hohokam culture, one of the first settled people in this
area. Many project teams, such as the Diné who worked with Indigenous Community Enterprises (ICE) to develop Elder Hooghan
Homes, worked directly with the homeowners to ensure the project met their needs and incorporated traditional elements, such as
east-facing entries.

Navajo Nation NAVAJO | NHA PLANNING MANUAL
Need identified
JAN 2011
Client: Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) Partners: Enterprise Community Partners, Inc
Architect/Planners: Swaback Partners, pllc Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative (SNCC)
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sustainable
Construction in Indian Country Initiative (SCinIC)
SUSTAINABLE PLANNING
SNCC green planning workshop

JULY 2011
The Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) undertook the ambitious task
of creating a sustainable planning framework for the Navajo Nation,
the largest tribal membership and land base in the United States, that
includes 5 agencies, 24 regions, and 110 chapters. The goal was to lay
out a framework for 34,000 housing units that will satisfy the need for
sustainable and cultural housing on the Navajo Nation. This effort in-
cluded site planning meetings with each agency, followed by planning
sessions with each region and its respective chapters.
Enterprise Green Communities Charrette

DEC 2011
Drawing by Swaback Partners, pllc
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: REGIONAL PLANNING

PLANNING
RANGE OF DENSITIES
SITE
TRIBAL CODES
Tribal Engagement Partnerships INNOVATION
Codes LEARNING FROM ELDERS
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED FUTURE GENERATIONS
GREEN
• Understanding the importance of 34,000 UNITS
directly engaging the community at the IMPACT
grassroots level can help gain insight into a
community’s needs and culture.
HUD SCinIC technical assistance begins

JAN 2012
• Using “smart growth” planning strategies
must be modified for a rural context with NUMBER UNITS PLANNED FOR:
limited infrastructure, remote sites, and a 34,000
traditional rural culture that values very low
* Dashed lines indicate
densities. potential impact of all
categories as shown.
BEST PRACTICES
• Community-based planning methodologies
were developed to directly engage the
community through onsite workshops and
charrettes.
• Tribal professionals, housing authority
Request for proposal

FEB 2012
staff, and students were all involved in the
engagement process.
• Regional planning must achieve sustainable

goals that are specific to culture and climate.
Planning charrettes Completion
JULY 2012
Density
FEB 2013
Southwest
Drawing by Swaback Partners, pllc

NHA PLANNING MANUAL
Relative to the United States overall, housing on the Navajo Nation is generally are smaller and in very poor condition, with
CONTEXT
overcrowding and limited access to utilities. The Navajo Nation population is relatively young, poor, and underemployed. A
number of factors affect housing needs on the Navajo Nation, including geographic dispersal across the reservation, affordability
of housing, existing housing conditions, and inventory. The 2009 Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) Housing Needs Assessment
estimates a total need for 34,000 new and replacement units of housing and a need to expand 8,500 existing homes to
accommodate growing families. Some 60 percent of Navajo Nation housing structures are single-family homes, 17 percent are
mobile homes, and 11 percent are traditional hooghan. The remaining 12 percent are made up of multifamily attached housing units
and a variety of other unit types. It is estimated that 5 percent of all children on the reservation live in housing classified simply as
“available shelter,” which is defined as non-standard housing of the lowest quality. Because available shelter is comparable to tents
or shacks and is not suitable shelter in extreme weather, this situation indicates a dire housing need.
Photo: Daniel Glenn Photo: Daniel Glenn Photo: Swaback Partners, pllc
Photo: Daniel Glenn Photo: Swaback Partners, pllc Photo: Daniel Glenn
Many community meetings were held during the planning process.
The Navajo Nation has the largest land area of any tribe in the United States:
COMMUNITY
more than 24 million square miles in four states—Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and
New Mexico—and a population of approximately 300,000 tribal members. A major
goal was to help the Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) identify appropriate land for
new housing while offering sustainable planning approaches for housing patterns
and designs that would align with Navajo culture, regional climate, and community
needs. Each chapter is required to have Chapter Land Use Plans (CLUPs)
identifying land for various uses. Through the planning process, the planning
team determined that these CLUPs do not identify enough land to accommodate
Symbol of Navajo Nation with 5 Agencies,
a projected need of 34,000 new housing units.
24 Regions, and 110 Chapters

NHA PLANNING MANUAL
In the Navajo (Diné) way of life, the concept of “hózhóogo naasháa doo,” “walking in beauty,” is an ancient term describing a
CULTURE
sustainable way of life, “steeped in the land, water, air, sun, and seasons.” As described in the NHA Planning Manual, “the Diné are
meant to live off the land in beauty, harmony, happiness, and in the “hózhó” way of life, in balance with the natural environment.”
The planning effort sought to bring this way of thinking into dialogue with tribal members in the development of a sustainable
framework for designing new communities on Navajo land. There was a challenge in this process, however, given the history of
the Navajo as rural people living as sheepherders in small, remote, multigenerational family clusters. Although this rural lifestyle
remains the preferred way of life for many Navajo, it can conflict with other sustainability goals, such as walkable, more compact
communities, less reliance on automobiles, and mitigating costly infrastructure and services to remote communities. Many Navajo
now live in highly urbanized contexts, either in communities on the Navajo Nation, or off reservation in urban areas. To reach this
Diné diaspora, planners will have to address both the traditional and the urban Navajo.
Different Patterns of Rural Development
Drawings: Swaback Partners, pllc

Housing generously spaced and Housing close together, with large, Housing connected by pedestrian
oriented around native open space. surrounding lots for farming and networks to community amenities
animal pens. beyond.
The master planning effort began in January 2011 at a meeting of NHA leadership, led by Chief Executive Officer Aneva Yazzie
PROCESS
and was further developed in a visioning workshop led by the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative (SNCC) in the
summer of 2011. In December 2011, SNCC led an Enterprise Green Communities Charrette with NHA leadership to begin work
on a sustainability standard for new housing developments. In 2012, with technical support from the U.S. Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), Sustainable Construction in Indian Country (SCinIC) Initiative, a request for proposal was issued to develop a
planning manual. Swaback Partners, pllc, was selected for the project, which was completed in the spring of 2013.
The planning process was organized in three phases.

Phase one: Site reconnaissance and evaluation.
Phase two: Programming confirmation and refinement.
Phase three: Prototypical plans and sustainable community master plans.
The planning team engaged the community representatives at each phase. Extensive planning workshops and site visits took place
across the entire Navajo Nation, with daylong charrettes in each of the 24 regions. These planning meetings were instrumental
in getting direct, hands-on input from tribal members. Following these planning meetings, NHA requested individual meetings
with each of the 110 chapters to understand its individual community needs. The process was also an opportunity to gain a better
understanding of specific regional needs across Navajo Nation and how new developments across the reservation could be better
coordinated and better linked to serve the communities.

NHA PLANNING MANUAL
Drawing: Swaback Partners, pllc

Vision for the downtown core of Shiprock, New Mexico, can help set in motion a range of possibilities for future
community needs.
Definition of Appropriate Housing Typologies:
NEXT STEPS
The planning process identified five different types of housing: (1) single-family detached, (2) single-family attached, (3)
multigenerational homes, (4) apartments, and (5) senior living. Concepts for these building types will be developed as potential
prototypes for development.
Design of Demonstration Projects:
The NHA is now planning to develop a series of demonstration projects on a larger scale to test the larger planning goals and
sustainability strategies for implementation across the nation, in the build-out of a projected need for 34,000 homes.
HUD Sustainable Construction in Indian Country Initiative (SCinIC):
The HUD SCinIC technical assistance team was part of the planning process, which led to new policy recommendations that the
NHA will use to carry out the goals of the master plan as well as the larger goals of fostering more sustainable communities on the
Navajo Nation. The following recommendations were approved by the NHA board and are being implemented as policy:
- Develop an interdisciplinary NHA design review committee to develop a Navajo sustainability standard and guide the
design/planning process.
- Base the Navajo sustainability standard on the national Enterprise Green Communities Criteria and implement a
modified version of this standard immediately on all planned projects.
- Revise the NHA request for proposal/request for qualifications selection process for design professionals to reflect
sustainable/cultural goals.
- Adopt a community-based design/planning process for all new development and new housing types.

Guadalupe, AZ PASCUA YAQUI | GUADALUPE HOUSE
Community design
NOV 2005
Client: Bejarano Family Design/Build Team: Hoopa Valley Tribal Community Conservation Corp,
Architect/Developer: Arizona State University (ASU) Stardust Center Valley of the Sun Habitat for Humanity, and
Design/Build Team: Daniel Glenn, Design Director Americorps
Ernesto Fonseca, Construction/Energy Modeling, Partners: Town of Guadalupe, Navajo FlexCrete
DESERT DESIGNED
The Guadalupe House is a low-cost home designed for the harsh des-
ert climate of the Valley of the Sun, and reflects the unique cultures
of the Latino and Yaqui communities of Guadalupe. It is a multigen-
erational house, designed to be expanded over time and accommo-
date several generations living in one household. With a passive solar
design, photovoltaic panels, water-cooled solar-powered air condi-
tioning, and aerated concrete walls of Navajo FlexCrete, it requires
minimal external energy to operate.
Construction design/build
MAY 2006
Photo: Michael Pyatok
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: DESERT BASED

DESIGN
XERISCAPED
SITE
NAVAJO FLEXCRETE
Tribal Density Solar Water INNOVATION
Materials Management
YAQUI/MEXICAN AMERICAN
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED LEED
• There is value in a community working GREEN

REGIONAL MODEL
together with universities in the IMPACT
development of new designs and materials
for new housing. TOTAL PROJECT COST:
OCT 2006
$140,000
• Culturally relevant, sustainable housing can
be adopted on a larger scale for new housing $140,000
developments. COST PER SQ FOOT:
$93
COST PER UNIT:
BEST PRACTICES $140,000
• Passive cooling ventilation, passive solar TOTAL UNITS:
heating, and photovoltaic solar panels were 1
incorporated.
• Greywater reuse and rainwater harvesting,
together with a series of cisterns, are
featured.
Completion of construction
DEC 2006
• The house is designed to reflect and
celebrate traditional Mexican culture.
• The project makes use of Navajo FlexCrete,
a lightweight highly insulated and tribally
produced material.
Single Family
Occupied
JAN 2007
Southwest
Photo: Michael Pyatok Photo: Michael Pyatok

GUADALUPE HOUSE
Guadalupe is a predominantly Pascua Yaqui and Mexican-American community between Phoenix and Tempe. Its residents have
CULTURE
preserved a degree of cultural and geographic uniqueness while participating in the economic and political structures of Phoenix’s
society. Many components of the home are designed to meet the standards for minimal energy usage. The outside courtyard is
equipped with a shaded trellis and water fountain to keep it cool and comfortable. The courtyard additionally serves as a place for
traditional large family gatherings. The carport serves as an outdoor ramada. Other cultural elements include a combined kitchen/
dining/living area, making the kitchen the heart of the home. As a multigenerational household, a separate casita serves as a room
for a young adult or child. On the porch there is a specially designed niche for the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Public meetings were held to develop the design of the home,

PROCESS
with the participation and support of the city council and

mayor. Meetings were held in the town hall, which included
design workshops and presentations/discussions of the design
concepts. Educational presentations included information on
regional and Yaqui traditions, design techniques, and case
studies to respond to the desert climate.
This home was designed as a prototype for the town of

DESIGN
Guadalupe, its climate, and its culture. The design was

developed in a “kit-of-parts” workshop process with
community members and the homeowners, the Bejarano
family. Several key elements came out of this process,
including a courtyard-style design for cross ventilation; the
creation of a large shaded outdoor space for large family Drawing by ASU Star Dust
gatherings; the separation of the master bedroom for the
elder homeowners from the bedrooms for their adult children;
the inclusion of a “casita,“ a small, separate guest room
for visiting family members or adult children; the capacity This project is helping us build a
to expand the home upward, to add additional rooms or an dream home, but in an affordable
apartment for the expanding family; the incorporation of a way. We love the design of our new
carport, both for cars and as a outdoor “ramada,” a shade
structure to use for large family gatherings; and the centrality home and look forward to living in
of the kitchen opening directly to the living/dining areas. it as a family. - Olivia Bejarano, homeowner
This Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes

GREEN
Gold project focuses on utility reduction and low-maintenance core

design principles, with a minimal cooling need and reducing heating.
Sunlight is largely used in place of artificial lighting, and proper shading
and orientation protect the home during summer months. Thick walls
made of Navajo FlexCrete provide an insulation that maintains a balanced
temperature within the home year round, reducing heating and cooling
requirements. Rooftop solar panels donated by ASU’s Photovoltaic Energy
Lab are expected to provide 90 percent of the home’s electrical energy
needs. Other green features include a tankless water heating system,
ENERGY STAR windows, and highly insulated rooftop structural panels with
a non-toxic coating that reflects solar heat. The roof is also a rainwater-
harvesting system that collects water for future use, with a potential
savings of 5,000 gallons per year. A greywater collection system was
integrated into the design for the dual-flush toilets and irrigation of the
courtyard.
Photo: Michael Pyatok

Crow Agency, MT APSÁALOOKE (CROW) TRIBE | GOOD EARTH LODGES
Start of materials research

2009
Client: Apsáalooke Nation Housing Authority Engineering: University of Colorado Boulder
Developer: Good Earth Lodges Engineering Research : Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing
Designers: Tom Bowen, Matthew Jelacic, Rob Pyatt Communities (MCEDC)
Design Team: University of Colorado Boulder
The Apsáalooke Nation Housing Authority’s Good Earth Lodges project
EARTH BLOCK HOMES

is the culmination of a research and development project funded by
the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development. It has three
objectives: to determine if the raw materials needed for compressed earth
blocks could be found on the Crow Indian Reservation, if the blocks could
withstand Montana’s extreme climate, and if a tribal workforce could be
put in place to carry out the program. With technical assistance from
Concept and design development

2010
the University of Colorado Boulder’s Mortenson Cener in Engineering for
Developing Communities (MCEDC), the project is meeting these goals.
Seven homes have been completed and six more are nearing completion.
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: PASSIVE SOLAR

DESIGN
INFILL DEVELOPMENT
SITE
COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCK
Natural Partnership Passive Engagement INNOVATION
Building Solar
LARGE GATHERING SPACE
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED LOCAL MATERIALS
Start of construction
2011
• The material and human resources for developing GREEN
LOCAL ECONOMY
climate-appropriate new housing exist on the IMPACT
Crow Indian Reservation.
• In the future the community would prefer site

and unit planning based on Crow traditions, such TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
$1.38M
as positioning buildings in a circle.
COST PER SQ FOOT:
• Critical partnerships can help to realize local $157
capacity. COST PER UNIT:
$197,000
7
2012
• Affordable housing can both help to alleviate
homelessness and provide a pathway to skills
building and tribal employment.
• Passive solar orientation and design, combined
with compressed earth block construction,
provides excellent passive heating during harsh
Montana winters.
• Each home has space for large family gatherings. Occupied

2012
Project ongoing
Present
Single Family
Northern Plains

GOOD EARTH LODGES
The Apsáalooke Crow Tribe is located in south-central On the Crow Indian Reservation, most of the existing houses
CONTEXT
COMMUNITY
Montana and is the largest American Indian reservation in are aged stick-frame and trailer homes. Approximately 8,000
the state. Like many American Indian tribes, the Crow are tribal members live on the Crow Reservation. In 1997, the
a proud people with strong cultural traditions, but they Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) identified a need for 1,040
are plagued with high unemployment, high poverty rates, new housing units. This need has increased to approximately
and a shortage of adequate housing. Few opportunities 1,500 units. The BIA recorded that 370 (48 percent) of the
are available for private enterprise or jobs on the reser- reservation’s 1,130 housing units are in substandard condition.
vation; this lack coincides with a lack of skilled workers. Although a large population of homeless people live on the
Problems are exacerbated by the reservation’s extreme reservation, they are mostly unseen because families take in
climate, with temperatures as low as -40°F in the winter members, which leads to overcrowding.
and as high as 110°F in the summer. Many tribal mem-
bers live in houses that are poorly suited to the climate,
racking up extremely high utility bills, as much as $500
per month in the winter. (From Crow Tribe/Good Earth
Lodges by Tim Sullivan.)
Seven completed homes are on scattered sites in two We needed land for more housing,
SITE
communities, Crow Agency and Lodge Grass. Another six and started to identify property
homes are under construction in a new subdivision locat-
ed in Crow Agency, on the western side of the community
throughout the reservation based
and on a high windswept plateau overlooking the Little on factors like water, sewer, and
Bighorn Valley where most of the homes are located. infrastructure. - Michael Stewart, ANHA

GOOD EARTH LODGES
The single-family homes were designed with participation The houses feature a passive solar design, with south-facing
GREEN
DESIGN
from community members who wanted a large, shared facades containing a trio of sliding glass doors and high win-
open space that combines kitchen, living, and dining into dows. No windows are on the east side of the house to protect
a single space, and a vaulted ceiling that would open up to from the summer’s harsh sun. The exterior shell is primarily
the south, allowing the warm winter sun in and blocking compressed earth block construction made of locally sourced
the summer sun. This responds to the need for a large in- materials and labor. Vaulted ceilings provide natural light and
terior space for family gatherings and to the centrality of improve ventilation through the structure. The first seven
food in the Crow culture. Bedrooms are relatively small to homes have ground-source heat pumps. The current designs
maximize the large shared space and to provide space for use standard heat pumps to reduce the cost and simplify
storage. The homes are built using a double-wythe earth construction.
block construction technique. Each compressed earth
block weighs 28 pounds. The walls of the houses are built
with two rows of the 7-inch blocks, with the 4-inch space
in between filled with insulation, creating an 18-inch total
wall thickness. The roofs on the first seven homes were We would rather utilize the heat
built using structural insulated panels. This technique on the southern facing wall during
was modified to trusses and spray-on insulation in later the winter and then block that sun
designs to reduce costs and simplify construction.
during the summer months.
- Larry Falls Down
Exterior porch encourages

outdoor activities during warmer
months.
Small northern windows minimize

heat loss in winter.
The super-insulated wall is

constructed of two rows of earth
block with a 4-inch insulation
between the block.
Large family gathering spaces

reflect a cultural planning tradition.
Large south-facing windows allow

passive solar heating in winter. Eastern entry and
vestibules provide
Wooden deck encourages outdoor airlock to reduce air
activity during warmer months. infiltration to the
home.
Ample storage
2 Bedrooms | 1 Story | Floor Plan
Drawing by Good Earth Lodges
The design of the Crow Good Earth Lodges is in response to the needs of the larger, multigenerational families typical of the Crow
CULTURE
community. The intent, however, is to build more houses to lessen the demand for housing, so that the need for more than one
generation to share a single house is reduced. Multigenerational families living under one roof is not a cultural preference but a
forced condition based on limited availability of housing. The large gathering space is important for large family gatherings and a
relatively communal lifestyle.

GOOD EARTH LODGES
Creating a new material and a new production process The long-term vision in collaboration with the Division of En-
INNOVATION
VISION
while training workers in both the production of the mate- ergy and Mineral Development is to continue to develop and
rial and its use in construction was challenging, but there enhance the tribe’s ability to identify resources that enhance
is great pride in the project and the way in which Crow re- its economic stability. The Good Earth Lodges project starts
sources and Crow tribal members were used to construct to achieve that vision. Historically, the focus was to extract
these homes. The external collaboration between the Uni- resources on tribal lands. This project, although challenging,
versity of Colorado Boulder and the Apsáalooke Nation identifies a series of solutions for issues on the Crow Reserva-
Housing Authority has been embraced by all who have tion, such as addressing unemployment and the need for job
participated in the projects. Involvement of the university training, addressing the critical need for housing, and identify-
in the project has been instrumental both in providing ing resources on tribal lands that can be used in construction
technical and management support and also in providing and tribal enterprise.
continuity, as the staffing within the housing authority
has continued to change due to internal challenges and
changes in government during the life of the project.
The Crow people believe that they have
three mothers. The first is the woman
who gives birth to the child. The last is
Mother Earth, who the people go back to
when they die. And then the home, the
lodge is our mother, it protects us as we
are being raised, coming up in this world.
- Cedric Black Eagle
Photo: Apsáalooke Nation Housing Authority Photo: Apsáalooke Nation Housing Authority
The Good Earth Lodges project explores the potential for sovereign nations to produce
their own building materials and use their own labor to create more sustainable, locally
based economies. It is an excellent example of how universities can collaborate with tribal
communities to develop projects that fit the needs and achieve the vision of the community.
The project also provides lessons about the challenges of achieving locally produced, locally
sourced, and locally built houses. Moving outside of conventional construction practices and
materials presents significant challenges, but it also allows for creative solutions. It allows
tribes to work outside the conventional marketplace to provide innovative products and
approaches to achieve many additional benefits beyond the provision of housing.

Tacoma, WA PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS | PLACE OF HIDDEN WATERS
Community design
MAY 2009
Client/Developer: Puyallup Nation Housing Authority Civil Engineer: Haozous Engineering
Design Architect: Daniel Glenn, AIA, NCARB Structural Engineer Malsam Tsang Engineering Corporation
Architecture Firm Environmental Works Landscape Architect: Thomas Rengstorf and Associates
Contractor: Puyallup Nation Housing Authority and Marpac Partner: Ecotope
CULTURAL FORM
Place of Hidden Waters represents culturally and environmentally re-
Funding application
JULY 2009
sponsive new housing for the Puyallup Tribe in the Pacific Northwest,
one that achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) for Homes Platinum certification. The project is located on
traditional Puyallup tribal lands on a hill overlooking the Puget Sound
tidal flats. The design emulates the rectangular, shed-roofed form of
a traditional Coast Salish longhouse, using a variation of the modern
townhouse courtyard.
Completion of schematic design
MAR 2010
Photo: Tucker English
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: COMMUNITY INTEGRATED DESIGN

DESIGN
HABITAT PRESERVATION
SITE
XERISCAPE + RAIN GARDENS
Cultural Water Renewable Engagement INNOVATION
Form Management Energy
LONGHOUSE FORM
CULTURE
Construction starts on housing
MAY 2010
LESSONS LEARNED LEED PLATINUM
• Affordable tribal housing can achieve LEED GREEN
Platinum certification and be a national NATIONAL MODEL
IMPACT
housing model.
TOTAL PROJECT COST:
• Resident and staff participation in the design $6.6M
process was a critical ingredient to the TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
project’s success. Phase I: $2.6M Phase II: $2.1M*
COST PER SQ FOOT:
• Careful study of historic precedents can Phase I: $166 Phase II: $135*
provide inspiration for modern living. COST PER UNIT:
Phase I: $260,000
Construction starts on rec center
NOV 2010
BEST PRACTICES Phase II: $210,000*
• An integrative process was key to the TOTAL UNITS:
design from the beginning, following the 20
requirements for LEED for Homes.
• The vision for the project came from
engagement among the housing authority,
community, and architect. The project was
developed through careful site evaluation,
historic precedents, and green building
goals.
• Consistent project leadership by housing
Completion of rec center
AUG 2011
staff allowed for continuity. * Estimated costs
Multifamily
Housing occupied
MAR 2012
Northwest

PLACE OF HIDDEN WATERS
Located near the city of Tacoma, the project lies between Of the three buildings in the newly developed area, two are
CONTEXT
DESIGN
a midcentury, single-family development and a forested 10-unit townhouse clusters designed to emulate the tradi-
habitat corridor. The site is 75 percent flat, giving way to a tional Coastal Salish “longhouse” in which multiple families
gently sloping, big leaf maple forest and dropping steeply shared a single long building and a shared linear gathering
toward the west into a seasonal creek called Julia’s Gulch. space. The one- and two-story townhomes face a central,
The gulch feeds into Commencement Bay via the Hylebos partially covered courtyard, with an orientation that maxi-
Waterway, which historically is one of the most productive mizes natural light, views, and cross ventilation in every room.
salmon runs in the state of Washington. It was critical that On the south side are five one-story, one-bedroom homes,
the project have no negative impact on this important designed for seniors or disabled residents as fully accessible
habitat. units. On the north side are two-story, two-bedroom homes
for small families. The shed roof is partially open to the
spaces below, adding height and daylight to the homes. The
newly renovated and expanded gymnasium building is located
The residential buildings are sited along an east-west axis
between the two developments, with new community rooms,
INNOVATION
to allow for prevailing summer breezes and for passive so-

a kitchen, and office space. A “community living room” with a
lar heating/cooling. It was initially designed with a “solar-
gas fireplace serves as an informal meeting space for story-
ready” roof design for future installment of a photovoltaic
telling and conversation.
array (to be installed in phase two). This design, combined
with the installation of ground-source heat pumps, is tar-
geted to yield a zero-energy building. (Phase II does not
use ground-source heat pumps.)
Gymnasium
Dance circle
and arbor
Typical two bedroom unit
Typical one bedroom unit
Community
living room
Site plan: Phase I

Drawing: Environmental Works
The project site is located in a wooded, suburban area adjacent to 27 units of Puyal-
SITE
lup Nation Housing Authority (PNHA) rental townhouses built in the 1980s. The site
originally included an abandoned youth home and a deteriorated gymnasium. The
wooded area is sloped, overlooking the Puget Sound tidal flats, with a wildlife cor-
ridor on the lower slope, which has been redeveloped with a nature trail leading to
a sweat lodge area. Rain gardens and native plants help to provide a natural setting,
minimize irrigation, and protect the Puget Sound from runoff. The site amenities in-
clude a dance arbor, playground, salmon-bake pit, sweat lodge area, and walking trail.
Photo: Tucker English Salmon-bake pit

Resident and staff participation in the design process An integrative design process was key to the design from the
COMMUNITY PROCESS
LEED
was a critical ingredient in the project’s success. Design beginning and also met the LEED for Homes requirements. An
workshops were held in the old gymnasium, and residents interdisciplinary green charrette was held at the outset, which
were invited to give input. Additional design meetings included the full design team and PNHA staff. Agreement was
with maintenance and operations staff were held at the made to pursue a LEED for Homes Platinum certification, if
Puyallup Nation Housing Authority (PNHA) offices. Resi- it could be achieved within the budget. This early decision
dents and staff also helped to deconstruct the abandoned helped to guide the process from the beginning and brought
youth home and clean the wooded site. the design team, contractors, construction manager, and staff
together to achieve this goal.
Shed style frame, Lummi, Washington
Daylight from above, Chinook
Shed-style longhouse interior, Klallam Salish Photo: Tucker English
The housing and the community center designs emulate the traditional multifamily cedar plank longhouses of the Puyallup Tribe,
CULTURE
a housing type common throughout Pacific Northwest Salish tribes. Multiple families were housed in linear shed- or gable-roofed
structures sharing a long, central, linear gathering space with sleeping spaces on either side. This design was redefined in this proj-
ect in contemporary terms as a linear courtyard, partially covered, with townhomes lining either side. The courtyard, like the long-
house, creates a shared common area and protected entry area, which is intended to encourage community interaction, provides
safe play space for children, and ensures greater security for each family. Like the longhouse, Place of Hidden Waters is designed
as a single, repeatable modular structure. The existing gable-roofed, cinder-block gymnasium was renovated and extended to the
south, emulating the way longhouse structures were added onto for additional families. A community living room with its own
fireplace, offices, kitchen, and activity rooms is housed in this two-story addition to the gym. A salmon-bake fire pit on the south-
facing community front porch is used for traditional salmon bakes. A nature trail leads to a site for a sweat structure in a wooded
park to the west.

The project was managed and built by tribal members— The design evolved from concept through construction,
INNOVATION
VISION
force-account labor crews from the Puyallup Nation integrating a community process in which the vision for the
Housing Authority (PNHA) combined with an experienced project came from engagement with the client and the com-
construction manager who developed training apprentice- munity, with careful study of historic precedents and culture
ships. The contract documents were divided into two sep- and with analysis of the site and its challenging opportunities.
arate bid packages to facilitate this training component,
with the community center, gymnasium, site redevelop-
ment, and infrastructure under one contract, and the ver-
tical construction of the housing, built by the PTHA crews,
under another contract. The housing features structural
insulated panel (SIP) construction, which facilitated rapid
construction and assured a very tight building envelope.
Tribal workers were trained in SIP/ technology and instal-
lation. The modular design allowed for the crews to learn
on the first units and speed up production on the rest of
the development.
This project is not only protecting

Mother Earth, it is transforming
lives. The design encourages
community interaction. Our tenants
are gardening, cooking, learning,
praying, and living in concert
together, like we have done for
generations. - Annette Bryan, PNHA
This project provides a strong example of sustainable and culturally responsive housing. For
centuries, the Coastal Salish people lived in cedar plank longhouses in the Pacific Northwest.
Ideal for a rainy climate, this compact, multifamily dwelling type also reduces environmental
impact. The project type also provides a highly communal environment, although there was
concern that perhaps it was “too” communal for today’s tribal people, who are accustomed
to a more individualized contemporary lifestyle. However, interviews with current residents
demonstrated that the design has been well received by the residents. Place of Hidden Waters
also proves that a tribal project can be a model for green housing nationwide, even beyond
tribal housing. The project received the Project of the Year Award by LEED for Homes as well as
recognition through the 2013 Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED) Awards, the 2011
Excellence in Affordable Housing Award, and locally through a Tacoma Pierce County Housing
Consortium for Sustainability award.

El Paso, TX YSLETA DEL SUR | LIHTC PUEBLO HOMES
Tax credit application

2006
Client: Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Housing Department Syndicator: Raymond James Financial, Inc
Developer: Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Development Consultants: Travois, LIHTC consultant
Architect : CEA Group
ACCESS TO RESOURCES
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is located within the cities of El Paso
and Socorro, Texas. This Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
(LIHTC) Pueblo Homes project is situated in a 66-acre master
planned community called District II in Socorro. As a clustered
multiuse project, this mix of single-family and multifamily
homes is in a 60-unit development, with 30 duplexes and
30 single-family homes. Additional site elements include
a playground/picnic area and community center/police
substation. The project is the first Native American LIHTC
project in Texas.
Photo: SNCC
Tax credit awarded

July 2008
PUEBLO
DESIGN
CLUSTERED
SITE
CREATIVE FINANCING
Envelope Weaving Modular Water INNOVATION
Management
BUILDING COMMUNITY
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED ENERGY STAR
• When tackling a complex tax credit project there GREEN
are multiple obstacles to surmount, including FIRST TRIBAL LIHTC IN TX
IMPACT
understanding the application process, and
structuring the project within the required
TOTAL PROJECT COST:
scoring criteria and thresholds. $7.59M
• Partnerships are critical to successful, first-time TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
projects between a tribe and state. $6.58M

COSTS PER SQ FOOT:
$102*
Construction starts
2009
COST PER UNIT:
$109,000
• Consultants were brought on early to design a 60
master plan and to understand the market and
the environmental impact.
• Though it took time, every available source of
funding was used to raise the needed dollars,
including leveraging loans and grants through
regional, county, and state organizations.
• 100 percent of stormwater was retained on the
Construction complete and project fully rented
site. FEB 2011
*Estimated costs
Single Family,
Attached + Detached
Southern Plains
Drawing by CEA Group

LIHTC PUEBLO HOMES
In addition to full stormwater runoff retention, The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is situated just north of
CONTEXT
GREEN
structural insulated panels (SIPs) provide a Mexico along the Rio Grande. The primary reservation
continuous R-23 value for thermal resistance. community is one mile northeast of the Zaragoza
Openings on the western facades are kept to a International border between the United States
minimum to control heat gain, and all windows and Mexico. The land configuration is referred to as
are equipped with double-pane low-emissivity “checkerboard,” with tribal trust land and non-tribal
glazing, with internal blinds for reduced thermal land pieced together with non-contiguous boundaries.
conductivity. Plumbing fixtures are low flow, and
furnaces are ENERGY STAR rated. Native and 4% Land improvements
drought-tolerant landscaping was planted, using 2% Architecture and
xeriscape methods to minimize irrigation. engineering fees
9% Misc. soft
cost
44%
Building
Construction 38%
Infrastructure
Photo: Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Housing Department
Bedrooms
3% Native
Kitchen + dining 6% Ysleta loan to project American Housing
Assistance and Self
Living Determination Act
14%
Covered entry 4% Home
Misc. Loan Bank
Funding
38%
Garage 35% Infrastructure
LIHTC funded by
LVWD
TXDOT
FHA
Typical Floor Plan

Drawing: Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Housing Department
Project funding sources

The tribe partnered with local, state, and federal The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Housing Department
INNOVATION-FINANCING
INNOVATION-PARTNERS
agencies to help fund $6 million in infrastructure completed the first Native American Low-Income
costs, such as a lift station that was partly funded Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) project in Texas, utilizing
by the Lower Valley Water District (LVWD), traffic multiple sources of funding. This was accomplished by
lights that were funded by the Texas Department developing partnerships with tax credit consultants
of Transportation (TXDOT), and roads that and investors who understood the project’s scope and
were partially funded by the Federal Highway intent and who helped negotiate the multiple levels of
Administration (FHA). compliance required by state funding agencies.

Ohkay Owingeh, NM OHKAY OWINGEH | OWE’NEH BUPINGEH
Preservation education program

2006
Client: Ohkay Owingeh Development Consultant: Concept Consulting Group
Developer: Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority Partners: HUD Office of Native American Program, Chamiza Foundation,
Architect: Atkin Olshin Scade Architects National Park Service, NM Mortgage Finance Authority, NM
Contractor: Avanyu General Contracting, Inc. Historic Preservation Division, McCune Charitable Foundation,
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Owe’neh Bupingeh, the traditional name for the Ohkay Owingeh
TRIBAL PRESERVATION
village center, is believed to have been occupied for at least 700 years.
Owe’neh Bupingeh is composed of four plazas, surrounded in the past
by several hundred homes. Sixty of the homes remain, most of which
had been abandoned by 2005 due to deterioration. This multiphased
Oral histories + mapping

2007
project balances rehabilitation with functional renovations of the homes,
permitting contemporary life and cultural traditions to comfortably
coexist and allowing families to return to the sacred core of the Pueblo.
Approximately half of the construction crew were tribal members.
Photo: Kate Russell

CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: COMMUNITY-BASED
DESIGN
TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENT
SITE
PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY + TRAINING
Preservation plan + MOU

2008
Heritage Natural Training Engagement INNOVATION
Materials
YOUTH + ELDERS
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED NATURAL MATERIAL
GREEN
• Involving many different community groups,
REGIONAL MODEL
including elders and youth, can provide a IMPACT
strong first step to define the vision and gain
support. TOTAL PROJECT COSTS:
$7.1M
• Developing partnerships with state and TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:
federal agencies can help define new $5.1M
pathways toward compliance and build COST PER SQ FOOT:
enthusiasm. Phases I-II: $115 | Phase III: $133
COST PER UNIT:
BEST PRACTICES
$175,000
• A strong preservation technology component TOTAL UNITS:
combined with training and employment led 29
20 homes Phase I and Phase II

Phase I begins construction
2010
to almost 50 percent employment by tribal
members.
• Understanding the cultural resources
philosophy of tribal leaders helped identify an
alternative pathway to Section 106 (Historic
Preservation) compliance.
• Being prepared through long-term planning
can lead to “shovel-ready” funding to kick-
start a project.
29 homes
Phase I–III complete
JULY 2013
Multifamily
South West
Drawing: Atkin Olshin Shade Architects

OWE’NEH BUPINGEH
In the past, the connected house blocks of this traditional Owe’neh Bupingeh is the historic center of Ohkay Owingeh.
CONTEXT
SITE
village supported a social structure that knitted the Four traditional plazas are surrounded by 60 extant homes
families and clans together. Although U.S. Department of and at least 20 lots on which homes previously stood. Com-
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) developments of pared with the later Spanish plazas and American squares,
the 1970s consist of suburban, single-family homes built which are landscaped, furnished, and ornamented, the tra-
at the outskirts of the pueblo and served a need for new ditional earthen pueblo plazas are very sparse. Yet Owe’neh
housing at the time, they also contributed, with other Bupingeh is the setting for ritual observances and is the
societal changes, to a devastating decline in the language tribe’s spiritual center. Several times a year, the plazas are
and lifeways of the people. The rehabilitation of Owe’neh filled with people. This project marks the start of a long pro-
Bupingeh is one strand of a broad tribal effort to rebuild cess by which the traditional use and character of the historic
the cultural traditions of the tribe by bringing families Pueblo core will be restored through the form and appearance
back to the historic and cultural core of the Pueblo. of the dwellings.
74
wy
St H 107
001
001
105
109
102 104
109 106
106
107 103
101 # 102
103 P 110
108
105
101 108
601a
104
111
901
201 202a
126
P
601b 124 128
127 123
131 125
130 {} 120 202c
# 204
122
132 121 119 #
P 118 116
301 134 135 117 203
601c 115 113

P P 902
P 136
P 200
604 114
133 137
609 302 303d
610
306
602 138 P
603 143 305a
904 903
P
139 144 304 157
611 Tsay 303a
156 {}
145 146 P
140
303b 158
801 182 150 151 153
605
141 305c 159
154 155
P’o
147 148 149 152

802
160
Pay
P
P
Ave
606
n
608 P
ue
403c
162
401 {} 161?
163 164
607
402 403a P
166 {}
177 174 169 168
165
803
176
172
170
167
Current project boundary
173 171
175
501
504
503 181
701 180
178 179
Private - Inhabited Daily

502
Private - Feast Days only

702
703
National Register historic district boundary
P
704 Private - Uninhabited
Communal - Regular Use

N
0 10 30 50 75 100 150 ft
Communal - Unused
Frequency of use: 2006

Drawing: Atkin Olshin Shade Architects
The project began with tribal youth who were taught to document and research the
CULTURE
existing buildings and perform research. Elders contributed recollections of build-

ings no longer present and stories of their lives on the plazas. Dozens of community
meetings were held to gain feedback, and the preservation plan was developed
through extensive discussions with the Tribal Council and a newly formed Cultural
Advisory Team. The rehabilitation principles that evolved are sometimes in conflict
with federal preservation standards. However, these principles are based on Ohkay
Owingeh community and cultural values, and are being implemented by construc-
tion crew members and homeowners from the tribe who, through learning tradition-
al methods of construction, ensure that the project is culturally appropriate.
As a preservation project, Owe’neh Bupingeh is inherently sustainable. The entire project team (tribe, architect, and contractor)
GREEN
was committed to retaining as much of each existing building as possible. Constructed by their ancestors, the earthen walls
contain the breath and sweat of the Ohkay Owingeh people. Where adobe walls were no longer structurally sound, they were
taken down and ground up as the main ingredient of the new earthen plaster. In the initial phases, green design features include
highly insulated roofs, insulated windows, and ENERGY STAR appliances. Phase III meets Enterprise Green Communities standards;
however, it was determined that getting a HERS rating separately for each individual home would be cost prohibitive.

OWE’NEH BUPINGEH
The design of the project is rooted in, but not restrained by, the past. The existing
DESIGN
condition of the homes in 2005 was disappointing to tribal members. Owe’neh Bup-
ingeh still functioned as the traditional center of the tribe, but appearances were
marred by extensive deterioration and by the introduction of inappropriate modern
details (doors, windows, gutters, cement plaster, etc.). An analysis of more than
400 historic photos was completed, with a clear understanding that only the last
140 years of this 700-year-old place had been documented. Great changes were ob-
served in the photos found, and while it was necessary to understand the changes
during the last 150 years, a strict restoration was neither possible nor desirable. The
earliest images show the pueblo at its greatest density, with the dwellings, before
doors were installed, still accessed via roof hatches. These historic photos provided
the tribe with the ability to determine an authentic vocabulary, distinct from other
pueblos and the pueblo revival style.
Photo: John Gaw Meen Collection
Federal funding required meeting the Secretary of
CULTURE
the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Places (Section 106). These standards are based on
the notion that historic places have a “period of sig-
nificance” that should guide preservation treatment.
However, to Ohkay Owingeh, the present and the future
are just as significant as the past, and “preservation”
means sustaining an entire way of being, not just build-
ings. The federal standard needed to be reinterpreted
in ways that afforded a meaningful discussion and
prioritized local needs. Although the preservation phi-
losophy developed by the tribe sometimes challenges
federal preservation standards, these self-determined
principles are culturally sustainable. Rather than return
to a specific appearance from the past, the tribe has
developed a process for balancing traditional building
elements with contemporary amenities.
Community participation is the foundation of the

PROCESS
project. Throughout the process, the project team

worked with elders, cultural leaders, residents, and
youth in defining their goals and vision. Construction
and homeowner training was a high priority, resulting in
43 percent of the construction crew being from Ohkay
Owingeh.
Ohkay Owingeh developed a comprehensive preservation plan to guide practical

INNOVATION
housing improvements according to cultural values. Planning costs were funded

through traditional preservation sources, with construction funded primar-
ily through various HUD programs, requiring a fine balance between regulatory
standards in addition to the tribe’s own perspectives. The project is rooted in the
preservation philosophy of Ohkay Owingeh tribal leaders, which values the life of
the Pueblo and inhabitation over material conservation. The preservation technol-
ogy is highly innovative, utilizing many years of material sciences field research
by specialists in adobe construction. For example, the repair and reconstruction
of damaged vigas (round timber beams) included boring dowels into the viga and
splicing on new extensions, in order to save as much of the existing material as pos-
sible. This was an important cultural factor, as many of the vigas were “gifted” from
one family to another, with initials still visible.
Photo: Avanyu, LLC

OWE’NEH BUPINGEH
2.5% 1.25%
Tribe Nonprofit
This project has its roots in two previous projects at
VISION
Ohkay Owingeh. Tsigo Bugeh Village is a 40-unit rental .25%

development completed in 2003 and financed with low-in- NM STATE
come housing tax credits (LIHTCs). It was the first modern
project at the pueblo to incorporate substantial commu-
nity participation, including storytelling about life in the
25.25%
plaza area. Immediately following was a comprehensive
American Recovery
master plan in 2004, which won a Smart Growth Award 57.75%
for Small Communities and was also developed with and Reinvestment
U.S. Department of
community input. The success of these projects helped to Act
4.5% Housing and Urban
develop capacity to rehabilitate the historic core. It also Development
I.H.S.
brought the community and cultural leaders to the table
with the Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority (OOHA) to .5%
realize their collective vision to bring elders and families National Park
Service
back to live in the historic core.
8%
HOME Investment
Partnership program
Project funding sources
Where does the vision

actually come from for
the community? It should
come from the members
from that community,
where members always
have input. - Joe Garcia
Photo: Kate Russell
A significant portion of the funding for the next phase of rehabilitation has been secured
and the qualification process has begun. Funding thus far has been limited to low-income
families, leaving many families just above low-income thresholds out of the project. OOHA
established Cha Piyeh, Inc., a community development finance institution (CDFI), to provide
low-interest loans to families who do not income-qualify and have no other means of
participating in the project. Parcels of land on the plazas that have long been vacant have
had ownership confirmed, and future phases of the project will include new construction on
these sites to fill in the gaps between house blocks. Many of the other Pueblo tribes have
come to visit Owe’neh Bupingeh and meet with the project team. Other groups, including the
World Monuments Fund, the Getty Conservation Institute, and a delegation from Morocco,
have visited to learn how culturally appropriate housing can help rebuild the strength of a
community.
Dancers, photo: Guy Ambrosino

Navajo Nation, AZ and NM NAVAJO NATION | ELDER HOOGHAN HOMES
Community design
2006
Client: Navajo elders and tribal members Project Engineers: Bill Druc, P.E.; Art Fust, P.E.
Developer/Builder: Indigenous Community Enterprises Project Partners: Navajo Housing Authority, Navajo Tribal Utility
Architect: Nathaniel Corum Authority, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural
Builders: Western Strawbale Builders, Matt Robinson, Development, Arizona Department of Commerce,
Jaime Ballesteros Architecture for Humanity
OFF-GRID TRADITION
Indigenous Community Enterprises (ICE), one of the first green builders for
the Navajo Housing Authority, providing culturally appropriate housing for
low-income Navajo tribal members. The Elder Hooghan Homes initiative
worked directly with Navajo elders who helped design floor plans that
would support traditional lifeways while being efficient and low-impact. On
off-grid sites, the homes often make use of traditional design knowledge,
local skills, and materials from the Navajo Nation, including straw bales
from Navajo Agricultural Products Industries (NAPI) and timber from tribal
forests.
Photo: Harry Connoly
CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: ELDER INPUT

DESIGN
Construction starts
2007
OFF-GRID
SITE
SKILLS TRAINING
Tribal Cultural Engagement Off-Grid INNOVATION
Materials Form
TRADITIONAL HOOGHAN FEATURES
CULTURE
LESSONS LEARNED SOLAR STRAW BALE
• Good building envelopes reduce heating GREEN
costs, which is extremely important in rural, HOME PROTOTYPES
IMPACT
off-grid homes.
• Low-tech alternative building materials can TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST:

provide needed job skills to a community. $2.4M
PER SQ FOOT:
• New materials can be used to construct
$105
traditional housing types.
COST PER UNIT:
$150,000
TOTAL UNITS:
BEST PRACTICES
16
• The project benefited many communities by

introducing Navajo workers to green building
skills.
2010
• Unique elder-approved designs included
traditional hooghan designs built with new
materials.
• Off-grid systems enable elders to live in their

traditional lands, often far from paved roads
and power lines.
Single Family
Occupied
2011
Southwest
Photo: Harry Connoly

ELDER HOOGHAN HOMES
Indigenous Community Enterprises (ICE) expressed an The designs and materials support traditional life in several
DESIGN
CULTURE
interest in designing a straw bale home with a culturally ways. It was clear that an east entry and approach to the
relevant design. To this end and with technical assistance hooghan was important for cultural reasons. Additionally, the
from the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship to octagonal primary space on the interior supports ceremonial
explore the possibilities of traditional forms built of Flex- use while providing a traditional space for gatherings and cer-
Crete (a Navajo-owned, lightweight, energy-efficient tribal emonies that reference the four directions. A wood burning
building material) and with straw bales sourced from stove has traditional as well as practical uses.
NAPI and SIPs systems. Several rounds of workshops with
future homeowners and elders were held to determine
floor plan variations and how to integrate hooghan forms This initiative represents a prime example of tribally staffed
INNOVATION
with other rooms and features. Three dimensional models nonprofits producing culturally appropriate green home
were used so that elders could move walls and comment ownership opportunities. The Navajo hooghan, a traditional
on their likes/dislikes among design options. place-form, was designed and built with elder input and tribal
workforce, with local and natural materials for the benefit of
tribal families who wished to live in a more traditional manner.
These traditional Diné hooghan plans utilized the off-grid
systems, enabling elders to live in their traditional lands, even
Passive solar design | 1 bedroom | 1 story far from paved roads and power lines.
Drawing: Nathaniel Corum
Wood stove for off-grid
and traditional uses.
Navajo materials: straw

bale, timber products
Dense utility core and, FlexCrete.
Wood stove for off-grid

and traditional uses.
East-facing entrance Octagonal hooghan is the primary

faces sunrise space to accommodate ceremony and
traditional lifeways.
Photo: Harry Connolly
This Elder Hooghan Homes initiative features passive solar design, natural materials,
GREEN
day-lighting and efficient systems. In addition to solar-generated electricity, these off-grid

homes use a cistern water system designed for native houses that are too remote to
hook up to a community water system. Homes feature green and culturally appropriate
features while focusing on efficiency, cost-effectiveness and ease of construction and
maintenance. Tribal-member crews were trained in the “tilt-wall” erection process. Straw
bale is a local, renewable, non-toxic and carbon-sequestering material. Stained concrete
floors avoid many interior pollution issues. Other green features include: solar PV and/
or hot water, post-consumer attic insulation (newspaper), rainwater harvesting, efficient
fixtures and appliances, local wood and low/no VOC paints and stains, and structural
insulated panel (SIP) systems.

GREEN | BEST PRACTICES
How does green building help achieve

affordable, healthy housing?
Ventilation
Renewable
Salvage
Water
The case studies profiled here are composed of many shades of green. Some, such as Puyallup Place of Hidden Waters, Devine
GREEN
Legacy, Kumuhau Subdivision, and Penobscot LEED Homes, sought Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
certification to verify the green performance of their buildings. Others used the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, developed
specifically for affordable housing. All the projects exhibit comprehensive approaches to green building—looking at project location,
site design, water conservation, energy efficiency, appropriate materials, healthy indoor air quality, and long-term operations
and maintenance. In most cases, cultural and economic sustainability was as high a priority as environmental sustainability. Tribal
enterprise and employment are crucial to economic sustainability, and many projects incorporated new materials such as Navajo
FlexCrete, earth, straw, and structural insulated panels (SIPs). Coeur d’Alene and Northern Cheyenne feature super-insulated straw
bale wall systems. Passive solar design strategies are found to be cost effective. The Mescalero Apache and the Apsáalooke (Crow)
Tribe projects both optimize site orientation and design to allow for passive solar and ventilation to reduce heat load in the winter
months and provide protection and airflow during hot summer months. Indoor air quality is critical to protect residents’ health and
can be incorporated with little additional cost. The project team for Kumuhau Subdivision worked to modify the Airscape whole
house fan specifically for its project, to produce a quieter ventilation system called the Kohila fan. Many homes were built to be
ready for renewable energy connections in the future. Penobscot, Kumuhau, Passamaquoddy, and Pinoleville Pomo all installed
photovoltaic panels, and Puyallup installed ground source heat recovery. The Pinoleville Pomo Nation developed a tribal green
building code as part of its two prototype homes project, which will positively affect future development.

BEST PRACTICES | IMPACT
How do our actions impact future

generations?
Future
Generations
Replicable
Health
Tribal
Codes
These exemplary projects serve to inspire and educate others even outside of the tribal housing sphere. Several, such as the Place
IMPACT
of Hidden Waters, Devine Legacy, and Owe'neh Bupingeh have acted as catalysts for community revitalization projects. Many are
considered national and regional models. For instance, both Place of Hidden Waters and Ohkay Owingeh received the international
SEED award, and have received national awards for exemplary green design and planning. The Navajo Housing Authority
Sustainable Master Planning Manual may have the most potential for influencing change, with a goal to lay out a framework for
sustainable planning and development for 34,000 housing units. Each project involved many partnerships, and many projects
are increasing their impact by connecting housing to long-term planning and other tribal initiatives. For instance, many have
incorporated training and tribal employment, which not only helps address the challenge of economic development but also acts to
maximize the investment by keeping dollars local. The Owe’neh Bupingeh Rehabilitation Project was possible because the housing
authority and the community already had experience with community engagement processes and a master plan that addressed
land use and smart growth. The 60-unit Ysleta del Sur LIHTC Homes project and the 65-unit Devine Legacy project, the two largest
projects, will positively affect many families in need of housing. Each project is a game changer: Ysleta del Sur LIHTC Pueblo
Homes is the first tribal tax credit project in Texas, and Devine Legacy is the first mixed-income, transit-oriented development
along the Phoenix Metro light-rail line. Similarly, the Kumuhau Subdivision, by providing 45 LEED Gold Homes, has proven that
houses appropriately designed for climate can be competitive in the marketplace while providing significant utility savings for
homeowners. The projects with the most impact are typically those that leverage most or all of these best practices simultaneously:
thoughtful design and site planning, green building, innovative approaches, cultural and community engagement, and consideration
for the generations to come.

RESEARCH TEAM
Jamie Blosser
AIA, LEED AP, Founder, Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative
Associate, Atkin Olshin Schade Architects
Jamie Blosser, AIA, LEED AP, is the founder of the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative (SNCC), and
is an associate at Atkin Olshin Schade Architects in Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 2000 to 2003, Jamie was an
Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow at the Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority. Jamie has facilitated trainings
throughout the country on the importance of cultural and environmental sustainability, including recent work
with Public Interest Design Institutes around the country, and at Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation in Montana,
Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota, Fond du Lac Band and White Earth Nation in Minnesota, and Red Cliff Band
in Wisconsin. Her work has been featured in Architectural Record, Indian Country Today, Progressive Planning,
and will be included in New Architecture on Indigenous Land, a new book on contemporary Native American
architecture. She has led the Case Studies 2013 project, researching and showcasing exemplary Native American
housing nationwide. Jamie served on the Enterprise Green Communities technical advisory group for the 2011
Criteria, helping to develop a new tribal and rural pathway for compliance. She also has serves in a number of
volunteer capacities, including project reviewer for SEED certification through Design Corps, an advisory group
member of the AIA Housing Knowledge Community, and a board member for the Housing Trust of Santa Fe.
Jamie graduated with a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.
Nathaniel Corum
Architect, Head of Education Outreach
Architecture for Humanity
Nathaniel Corum is an Architect and Head of Education Outreach with Architecture for Humanity (AfH). Nathan-
iel has worked with Indigenous Community Enterprises, Red Feather, and AfH on housing and community initia-
tives and to develop and research appropriate building prototypes and materials. His work has been featured in
Architecture, Dwell, Wired and the New York Times. As a Senior Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas
(ECPA) Fellow, Nathaniel researches culturally appropriate development and regenerative land use. He is an
integral member of the SNCC, most recently helping to provide outreach, site visits, research, and writing on
exemplary Native American housing nationwide. Nathaniel runs the AfH Pac Rim Studio, involving students of
architecture in regions stretching from California to Asia to develop holistic, sustainable design solutions that
respond to global design challenges. He is the recipient of an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship and is the
author of Building a Straw Bale House from Princeton Architectural Press. Nathaniel holds an undergraduate
degree from Stanford University. His Master of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin culminated in
a Fulbright Scholarship to study architectural preservation and urban poverty issues in North Africa.
Daniel J. Glenn
AIA, NCARB
Principal, 7 Directions Architects/Planners
Daniel Glenn is an architect from the Crow Nation and the principal of 7 Directions Architects, an Indian-owned
design and planning firm based in Seattle. Daniel’s design work has received national and regional recognition,
including the Little Big Horn College Campus in Crow Agency, Montana; being featured in the documentary film,
Aboriginal Architecture: Living Architecture; and the University of Montana’s Payne Family Native American Cen-
ter in Missoula, Montana, featured in Indian Country Today Magazine. He is on the Board of Directors of Navajo
FlexCrete Building Systems, a subsidiary of the Navajo Housing Authority, and is a regularly invited speaker at
professional and academic conferences, including HUD Office of Native American Program events across the
country. An MIT-trained specialist in the design of green affordable housing, Daniel was the founding design
director of the Arizona State University Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family in Phoenix and ex-
ecutive director of Environmental Works Community Design Center in Seattle. He has taught architectural design
at Arizona State University, the University of Washington, Montana State University, and the Boston Architectur-
al Center. His work will be included in New Architecture on Indigenous Land, a new book on contemporary Native
American architecture.

SUSTAINABLE NATIVE COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE
Russell D. Kaney
Director of Programs, Rural and Native American Initiative
Enterprise Community Partners
Russ Kaney is director of programs for the Enterprise Rural and Native American Initiative. Russ manages key
developer relationships across the country on behalf of the organization. Formerly a senior project manager for
the Enterprise Community Investment syndication unit, Russ was deeply involved with transactions involving the
low-income housing tax credit. Prior to joining Enterprise, Russ was an underwriter and low-income housing tax
credit allocator for the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). Russ also worked for an
agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as an underwriter and asset manager. While there,
he assisted with the massive effort to reconstruct the devastated housing areas of south Florida following the
destruction left by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Over the past 5 years, Russ has provided direct training and technical
assistance to tribal housing organizations nationally, emphasizing the sourcing of capital and creation of housing
units. Russ was a key partner in the Enterprise partnership with the American Indian Supportive Housing Initiative
(AISHI). Russ is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has continued his real estate education at
the University of Illinois and the University of Maryland. He also served as a U.S. Action/Peace Corps volunteer in
South America.
Joseph Kunkel
Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow
Santo Domingo Tribal Housing Authority (THA)/Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative
Joseph Kunkel is an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow currently working directly with the Sustainable Native
Communities Collaborative (SNCC), and the Santo Domingo Tribal Housing Authority. His most recent focus with
SNCC has been to help research and showcase exemplary Native American housing nationwide, and to build and
develop emerging best practices. His professional career has centered on community-based educational design.
His work ranges from material research and fabrication to community-based design and planning. Prior to the
Rose Fellowship, Joseph co-led the design of two public First Nations schools in Regina, Saskatchewan, and
White Horse, Yukon Territory. There, Joseph helped facilitate an integrated collaborative process where students,
teachers, parents, and elders worked together to create an environment designed around culturally appropriate
learning. Joseph has taught, lectured, and presented on the topics of land, culture, and place. His current work
in southeast Montana on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, where he is an enrolled member, focuses on the
need for culturally relevant sustainable housing. This has led to the creation of the HabLab (hablab.org), partially
funded by Nike, which ties sports and wellness to education and cultural heritage. This August, HabLab will hold
its third annual basketball clinic, a week-long sports and education curriculum, at Northern Cheyenne. Joseph is
also working on a cultural district plan at Santo Domingo Tribe, funded by a National Endowments for the Arts
(NEA) Our Town grant. Joseph received his Master of Architecture from the University of Maryland.
Ed Rosenthal
Vice President, Rural and Native American Initiative
Enterprise Community Partner
Ed Rosenthal is vice president of the Enterprise Rural and Native American Initiative. Since 2008, he has di-
rected all of Enterprise’s rural housing development activities nationwide, with a focus on Native American and
farmworker housing issues as well as rural multifamily and single-family housing preservation. Enterprise has
developed more than 15,000 affordable homes in rural communities across the country with an investment of
more than $800 million dollars. Previously, Ed served as director of Enterprise’s New Mexico office, where he
provided a variety of financial and technical assistance tools to community development and local government
organizations. Enterprise’s New Mexico-based partners have created more than 1,500 affordable homes, many
incorporating green building and planning concepts, and many specifically designed to address regional inequi-
ties in access to decent housing. Ed received his law degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., where
he helped numerous tenant organizations convert their apartment buildings into affordable housing coopera-
tives.

THANK YOU
Su stai n a b l e N a ti ve Co m m u n i ti es Co l lab o rative

The 2013 Case Studies research is made possible by generous
support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development Policy Development and Research (PD&R)
Office Sustainable Construction in Indian Country grant,
and the generous donation of time from our Collaborative
volunteers. The Sustainable Native Communities
Collaborative is a program of Enterprise Community
Partners.
Thank you to all the case study teams participating in the

2013 Case Studies, and special thanks to:
Atkin Olshin Schade Architects
Adventure Pictures
ANAGR.AM
Enterprise Rural and Native American Initiative
Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship
Enterprise Green Communities
Rural and Native American Initiative www.enterprisecommunity.org

Through its Enterprise Native American Program, Enterprise works with tribal and community partners to
create healthy, safe, green affordable housing and to increase opportunities for economic advancement for
individuals and families. Since 1997, Enterprise has invested more than $100 million in grants, loans, and equity
in Native American communities and has developed more than 1,700 homes in 20 states. Nationally, Enterprise
has provided training to nearly 40 tribes and tribal housing entities in financial acquisition and has worked with
tribal governments to help improve regulations for increased homeownership with mortgage lenders and financial
institutions.
Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship www.rosefellowship.org

Established in 2000, the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship honors the late Frederick P. Rose, the prominent
developer and philanthropist who believed strongly in the value of good design and the spirit of public service.
Administered by Enterprise, the program has achieved dramatic results in more than 40 communities. The Fellows
have contributed to more than 5,000 green affordable homes and more than 40 community facilities, living proof
that the long-term financial and social viability of affordable housing depends on design excellence, sustainability,
and community engagement in the development of neighborhoods. The Fellowship partners promising architects
with local community development organizations for 3 years. To date, there have been three Fellowships focused in
Native American communities.
Enterprise Green Communities www.greencommunitiesonline.org

Enterprise Green Communities is transforming the way America thinks about, designs, builds, and rehabilitates
affordable housing. Enterprise Green Communities aligns affordable housing investment strategies with
environmentally responsive building practices using the Green Communities Criteria, the first national framework
for healthy, efficient, environmentally smart, affordable homes. Green Communities also assists state and local
governments to ensure that their housing and economic development policies are smart and sustainable. The 2011
Criteria offers three pathways for projects, based on the location of the project and surrounding development
patterns. The revised criteria allow more tribal communities to participate in Green Communities.
*All information found in this document will be available on our website in a digital downloadable format.
www.sustainablenativecommunities.org
www.sustainablenativecommunities.org
Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of Policy Development and Research
Washington, DC 20410-6000
October 2014

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BEST PRACTICES IN TRIBAL HOUSING:

CASE STUDIES 2013

Atkin Olshin Schade Architects

Katherine O’Regan, Ph.D.

iv Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013

vii Executive Summary

1 Best Practices | Design

2 Devine Legacy | Native American Connections

6 Kumuhau Subdivision | Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

10 Passamaquoddy Tribe | Kikunol Housing

12 Coeur d’Alene Tribe | The Gathering Place

13 Best Practices | Site

14 Arizona State University Stardust Center | Nageezi House | Navajo

16 Port Gamble S’Klallam Nation | Teekalet Village

20 Pinoleville Pomo Nation | Pinoleville Pomo Nation Homes

22 Penobscot Indian Nation | Penobscot LEED Homes

26 Mescalero Apache Tribe | I-Sah’-Din’-Dii, Phase I

28 Northern Cheyenne Nation | Straw Bale Homes

30 Best Practices | Innovation

31 Best Practices | Culture

32 Navajo Nation | NHA Planning Manual

36 Pascua Yaqui Tribe | Guadalupe House

38 Apsáalooke (Crow) Tribe | Awe’-Itche Ashe, Good Earth Lodges

42 Puyallup Tribe | Place of Hidden Waters

46 Ysleta del Sur Pueblo | LIHTC Pueblo Homes

48 Ohkay Owingeh | Owe’neh Bupingeh Rehabilitation Project Indigenous Community

52 Enterprises | Elder Hooghan Homes Initiative | Navajo

54 Best Practices | Green

55 Best Practices | Impact

Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 v

347 HOMES 38% MULTIFAMILY

56% HOMEOWNERSHIP 44% SINGLE FAMILY

44% RENTAL 18% DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

40% TRAINING IMPLEMENTED PROGRAMS 25% LIHTC PROJECT

38% TRAINING EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS $142 AVERAGE COST PER SF

Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 vii

Bishop, CA Isleta Pueblo, NM

Lower Red Lake, MN

Duluth, MN Pleasant Point, ME

Tribal green projects

Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 ix

How does the community help to guide

1 Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013

Devine Legacy is a mixed-income, transit-oriented development along

Development plan approved

Photo: Perlman Architects of Arizona

CORE PROJECT EMPHASES: UNIT TYPE VARIETY

Received LIHTC allocation

• Access to an outdoor community space

Photo: Perlman Architects of Arizona

Photo: Perlman Architects of Arizona Photo: Perlman Architects of Arizona

The primary site feature is the courtyard on the second level

that is open to the sky. The courtyard provides a protected

3 Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013

Best Practices in Tribal Housing: Case Studies 2013 4

Started as a vision five years ago, Devine Legacy, located

on Central, is the first mixed-income transit-oriented

Trying to secure funding for the project in late 2009 and

early 2010 was very challenging in the capital markets. A