Santa Monica architectural firm   Pugh + Scarpa has just completed a new 46-unit permanent housing complex with rehabilitation and support services for  homeless people and the mentally disabled.

Step Up on 5th incorporates energy efficient measures that exceed standard practice, optimize building performance, and ensure reduced energy use during all phases of construction and occupancy. The planning and design of Step Up on 5th included locating and orienting the building to control solar cooling loads, shaping and orienting the building for exposure to prevailing winds, shaping the building to induce buoyancy for natural ventilation, designing windows to maximize day lighting; shading south facing windows and minimizing west-facing glazing,  designing windows to maximize natural ventilation; shaping and planning the interior to enhance daylight and natural air flow distribution. These passive steps have made the building 50% more efficient than a conventional structure.

Step Up also incorporates numerous sustainable features that exceed state mandated Title 24 energy measures by more than 30%.

Pugh + Scarpa is an architecture, engineering, planning and interior design firm with offices in Santa Monica and Charlotte, North Carolina.