When co-developer Jonathan Arnold envisioned Second + Delaware, a 276-unit apartment community, the triple bottom line was always at the forefront of his mind. Measured by benefit to people, the planet and achieving profits, Second + Delaware will be the largest Passive House building in the world.

“Now is the time for developers to think bigger than ever before,” says Arnold, co-developer and Principal, Arnold Development Group. “We have the technologies we need to deliver safer, more responsible, and equally beautiful solutions to the built world. I hope that Second + Delaware will be the impetus that moves our industry forward.”   

Arnold’s vision of a healthy, ecologically advanced development dates back, to a time pre-COVID, when issues like indoor air quality were not at the forefront of developers’ minds.

Passive House best practices were developed over decades of research conducted by the Passive House Institute (PHI) in Darmstadt, Germany. Because passive houses are so energy-efficient, heating and cooling them typically costs 80-90% less than in other homes – whether single or multi-family. 

Several of the community’s Passive House design elements are unique to both the national and local Kansas City multi-family market.

The building features triple-glazed certified windows – most multi-family buildings have two. The extra glass layer, combined with a highly-insulated frame, keeps the interior of the window within two degrees of the interior air temperature. Another unique element is constant fresh air flow. A Dedicated Outside Air System (DOAS) draws fresh air from outside into living spaces, while the ventilation system and the Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) heat pumps assure every unit has superb indoor air quality. Finally, 16-inch-thick walls consisting of 10 inches of concrete sandwiched around a 6-inch layer of insulation makes for optimal thermal comfort and privacy built to last.

“Second + Delaware is a legacy project for me and my team,” says Jonathan Cohn, CEO of Yarco, co-developer of the project. “It’s our best foot forward in bringing benefits to those we serve and the future generations of our planet.”

The first residents are set to move in to studio, one and two-bedroom apartments starting in October of 2020.

www.secondanddelaware.com