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Miraval Residential Villas — Health & Sustainability

Miraval has been rated America’s #1 Destination Resort Spa for three consecutive years, offering intimate luxury where the air and water are pure. Located in a pristine portion of the Sonoran Desert, hospitality joins a healing mission to help people balance their lives by living mindfully. Mithun’s design of 16 new single family villas at Miraval’s Tucson, Arizona resort combine the desert’s rich human history with environmentally intelligent practices and brings Miraval’s physical environment in line with its award-winning spa experience.

The Villas, designed as part of a master plan for growth and expansion of the resort, are currently under review by the United States Green Building Council for LEED® Certification.

The LEED Green Building Rating System is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. Administered by the United States Green Building Council; LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability. The LEED rating system rewards performance in sustainable site-development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality as well as innovation in building design.

As part of Miraval’s commitment to Healthy Living, the Residential Villas at Miraval are to include several strategies of health and sustainability to provide the residents with a high performance built environment that is in balance with the surrounding natural landscape.

Miraval’s stated design goals include promoting optimal health and well being by creating healthy buildings, communities, and social environments; all while using a guest-driven approach to provide the luxury guest experience expected from a world class resort. Sensitivity to durability, longevity, and low life-cycle costs all serve to protect the owner’s investment, as well as Miraval’s reputation and campus-wide approach to sustainability. Many decisions, which are operational in nature, also contribute to this effort, such as removing automobile traffic and parking from the villas’ site, thereby contributing to cleaner air, and the use of non-toxic cleaning and maintenance supplies. Thoughtful attention to social and psychological sustainability has resulted in buildings carefully oriented to optimize day-lighting and exterior views, as well as land set aside for conservation in an effort to protect viewsheds. The creation of a strong connection to the Sonoran Desert landscape is crucial to evoking one’s deeper sense of well being and Miraval’s goal to help people experience Life in Balance.

In addition, seven interest areas derived from the United States Green Building Council have been identified as a way of facilitating and measuring what may constitute healthy and sustainable design.

• Innovation and the careful attention to the design process helps ensure durability and quality control, while allowing new technologies or initiatives to influence the design. Mithun led an integrated design team that worked closely together throughout the entire design and construction process. Built by Sundt Construction, the team included interior design by Clodagh Design, landscape architecture by Greey Pickett, MEP engineering by Bridger’s & Paxton, structural engineering by Schneider & Associates, civil engineering by Rick Engineering, and the crucial efforts of Miraval’s Project Director, Leon Tenn.
• Striving to build sustainable sites encourages the use of locally appropriate, native landscape materials, careful control of erosion, site runoff and pollution, as well as attention to materials that could negatively affect the surrounding landscape. The site of the villas will include plant species native to the Sonoran Desert, and direct water into vegetated natural arroyos to slow runoff, allowing water to percolate and recharge the site. Pocket gardens and select water features will attract birds & local wildlife – the site is a magnet for local wildlife. In addition, measures were utilized in the design to control pests (such as termites), protecting the buildings from damage.
• Crucial to the desert climate, are strategies of water efficiency. An effort to reduce the demand for fresh water through the use of efficient, high performance design will help to protect this precious resource. The Villas will reduce demand for water with careful landscape choices, as well as deliver water more efficiently with a high efficiency irrigation system, and high performance interior plumbing fixtures. Examples include dual flush toilets, low flow sinks and aerated shower heads that deliver the feel of luxury while using less water.
• The use of energy and a buildings effect on the atmosphere is an area of concern striving to lessen energy demand and the associated release of harmful compounds into the atmosphere. The Villas use methods such as Insulated Concrete Forms at the exterior walls and high performance windows to contribute to an energy saving building envelope. Deep overhangs keep direct sunlight off the glass, and thick stone, or rammed earth walls reduce temperature fluctuations in the home by their “thermal mass.” Other energy saving strategies at the Villas include highly efficient appliances, solar heated hot water, as well as very efficient mechanical systems. A synergy was found with the local utility,” Tucson Electric Power”:http://www.tucsonelectric.com/Green/, where extensive onsite testing and commissioning was provided at no cost to verify proper installation and quality control. This was done as part of the utility’s Guarantee Home initiative to reduce energy consumption, reduce utility rates paid by the owner, and guarantee the owners’ comfort in their homes.
• Smart choices of materials and resources make a huge difference on how the Villas feel and how they impact the environment. Also, by reducing construction waste through waste management planning, efficient construction and purchasing, demand for raw material is minimized. The design employs the use of natural and traditional materials in new and innovative ways, and specifies materials and furniture high in recycled or reclaimed content. Wood from managed forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council help to protect dwindling virgin forestland. Every opportunity has been taken in the Villas to specify products with low or no VOC’s,as paints, carpets, and adhesives can release harmful toxins in the indoor air of a home for years after its completion.
• Steps taken to ensure high indoor environmental quality such as, high performance ventilation, air filtering and air handling, as well as generous natural light and air flow through an abundance of operable windows and doors, help to ensure healthy air quality and reinforce a connection to the outdoors. Combustion appliances, such as fireplaces, were selected to minimize negative effects on indoor air quality by selecting sealed gas fireplaces. Each Villa also endured a week long “flush-out” to rid the home of any residual construction-borne contaminants prior to occupancy. The design also consciously removed automobile parking from the homes’ site, and provided no garages. Owners will park remotely and walk or use electric vehicles around the resort in order to preserve high air quality near the homes.
• Homeowner’s awareness and education ensures that the prospective user of the high performance home understands what sustainable measures have been implemented and how to operate and maintain them. Manuals, warranties, and DVD’s were provided to owners explaining how the systems in their homes work. Part of this goal also is to educate the onsite building maintenance manager, as well as to raise public awareness of the efforts to create sustainable architecture.

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