Green Urbanism
Green Affordable Housing
Over the past decade, Global Green USA has established itself as a national leader in promoting green building practices in the affordable housing community. Through our Greening of Affordable Housing Initiative (GAHI), we work extensively with non-profit community development corporations, architects, financial institutions, and government agencies at the local, state, and national level.
Green affordable housing directly benefits individuals and families in need by reducing energy bills and creating healthier living environments. Affordable housing developers and operators gain through higher quality, more efficient, and more durable buildings.
Through the Greening Affordable Housing Initiative, Global Green works to encourage the adoption of green building strategies and materials in affordable housing. Working with green building and affordable housing organizations, Global Green provides information and education on the practices and components of green affordable housing, cost issues and financial strategies, and relevant policy initiatives. Global Green has conducted over 30 workshops on greening affordable housing; facilitated over 25 green building charrettes; and authored publications and case studies.
Global Green has provided technical assistance to nearly two dozen affordable housing developers nationwide, including for the Nueva Vista Family Housing project in Santa Cruz, CA and the recently completed Plaza Apartments in San Francisco. Currently Global Green is also collaborating with the Habitat for Humanity New York City affiliate's Atlantic Avenue project in Brooklyn, a LEED-Home pilot project.
GAHI is engaged in a range of endeavors locally and nationally to encourage the development of green affordable housing, including:
- Consulting with Habitat for Humanity on their Operation Home Delivery program which will rebuild over 3,000 homes in the hurricane devastated Gulfcoast region.
- Conducting design charrettes for affordable housing developers across the country.
- Providing technical assistance to non-profit developers on utilizing green building strategies.
- Developing and advocating for the inclusion of green building criteria in affordable housing funding mechanisms, such as the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and the Los Angeles Housing Trust Fund.
- Participating as a national partner in the Enterprise Community Partners' Green Communities Initiative, a five-year $555 million initiative to build more than 8,500 environmentally healthy homes for low-income families.
- Authoring the "Making Affordable Housing Truly Affordable" report, which provides an analysis of green building criteria in state qualified allocation plans (each state's guidelines for allocating low-income housing tax credits) nationally.
8 Steps to Funding Green Affordable Housing
- Minimize additional costs through integrated design
- Work with contractor on cost estimates throughout the design process
- Identify partnership opportunities with the local government, utilities, state agencies, and non-profits
- Utilize technical support provided by utilities and state and/or federal programs
- Apply to utility and state programs for rebates on energy and water components
- Include remaining unfunded green items in the final bid documents as specification alternatives
- Approach local governments and foundation to fund the green alternatives
- Use any residual construction contingency funds to upgrade finish materials to the green alternatives
Green Affordable Housing Initiative Resources
Making Affordable Housing Truly Affordable - Global Green's Report Advancing Tax Credit Incentives for Green Building and Healthier Communities. Click here for the latest analysis of 2008 QAPs.
Public Housing Authority Toolbox - The Energy Efficiency Toolbox provides public housing authority managers with clear and concise information on energy and resource efficient strategies and technologies. A step by step process allows users of the site to quickly understand the key issues and then make smart, informed decisions about conducting retrofits and selecting products.
Case Studies - In-depth descriptions of affordable housing projects that have incorporated Green Building practices and solar photovoltaics
Top 20 No or Low-Cost Green Building Strategies - A cost conscious check list
Links to On-line Green Building Resources
Federal Government Accounting Office's Report on Green Affordable Housing - 2008 report on HUD's green affordable housing inititiatives
Santa Monica Affordable Housing Green Checklist
Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing
Drawing on over a decade of experience by Global Green staff on technical assistance and policy development, the Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing offers housing developers, designers, advocates, public agency staff, and the financial community specific guidance on green practices and innovative strategies for incorporating green building strategies into the design, construction, and operation of affordable housing developments. The book presents 12 case studies of model developments, including rental, home ownership, special needs, senior, self¬help, and cohousing from around the United States.
Publications
Green Building Criteria in State Low Income Housing Tax Credit Programs, 2009 Update
Global Green's review of the low-income housing tax credit allocation policy shows significant progress being made in the effort to make green building measures standard practice in affordable housing. This development is particularly apparent through a summary of the changes over the last five years to the green building criteria found in state Qualified Allocation Plans (QAPs), which states develop to guide the distribution of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). For the first time since we started the analysis in 2005, all 50 states were shown to exhibit some aspects of green building in their QAPs. To learn more, download our 2009 report here.
Here are links to Global Green USA’s annual reports for the previous four years:
Click here for 2008
Click here for 2007
Click here for 2006
Click here for 2005
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Green Affordable Housing Initiative Case Studies
These case studies describe innovative green affordable housing projects that range from maximizing green building techniques with limited resources to meeting net zero goals. You can download all four case studies by clicking the DOWNLOAD link, or click for the individual case studes here: SOLARA, Nueva Vista, Colorado Court, First Community Housing.
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