Green/Sustainable Housing

Enterprise Community Partners is transitioning from the 2015 to the 2020 Green Communities criteria. To certify under the 2015 criteria, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency is requiring that the “Prebuild Submission” must be received by Enterprise by October 15, 2020. Any project unable to meet the October 15th deadline will be required to certify under the 2020 criteria.

The Health@Home webinar series consists of four webinars that provide affordable housing rehabilitation specialists and program managers with information on integrating healthy housing techniques into their rehabilitation projects and best practices from practitioners who have successfully implemented these techniques.

Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) will host an online workshop on July 9 (1:00 pm to 4:00 pm ET) to discuss how to move through design and construction to operations with the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria for projects in Ohio.

Robinson Cole published its updated Green Tax Incentive Compendium. This volume presents federal and state tax incentives promoting the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. The January 2020 release includes the tax extenders in the recently enacted Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019.

In 2016, the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Office of Multifamily Housing Programs introduced a voluntary green building standards program that allowed for a reduced annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP) at the rate of 0.25 percent for properties that are committed to green building practices. The reduced MIP for industry-recognized green housing encouraged owners to adopt higher standards for construction, rehabilitation, repairs, maintenance and property operations.

After careful consideration of all utility allowance options, the Virginia Housing Development Agency (VHDA) has elected to amend the options available for project utility allowances. VHDA review and approval is required before implementing alternative utility allowances for non-RHS (RD), and HUD Assisted Buildings. The following alternative utility allowance methods are approved by VHDA: Local Utility Company Estimate, Energy Consumption Model or HUD Utility Schedule Model.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the California Strategic Growth Council released the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (AHSC) Round 5 Guidelines, and Notice of Funding Availability for approximately $550 million. Applications are due by February 11, 2020. HCD will hold several information workshops: November 12 10:00 am – 12:30 […]

Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) released two new reports to provide industry experts and contractors the information needed to help make healthier building materials the easier choice. The first study by Elevate Energy provides a case study on the Energy Performance of Chicago Properties Retrofit With Fiberglass Insulation. The second study by Three3 examines Drivers, Adoptability and Performance of Healthier Energy-Efficiency Retrofit Materials in Affordable Multifamily Housing.

RIHousing announced the issuance of $73.6 million of new bonds, the first ‘Sustainability Bonds’ to be offered by the agency. The sale of the bonds will fund the acquisition and rehabilitation of 752 rental homes for low- and moderate-income Rhode Islanders. 

Two of Woda Cooper Companies, Inc.’s newest properties in Ohio recently earned LEED certifications. Fairwood Commons in Columbus was rated LEED Platinum, the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest level in its LEED for Homes program. Audubon Crossing in Dayton earned the second highest rating possible with LEED Gold. 

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) will hold a public meeting to solicit comments on its proposed changes to the energy efficiency policies for the LIHTC program in 2020 on October 14 from 9 – 10 am MDT in the Grand Lake Room of its Denver office (1981 Blake St. Denver, CO 80202).

This How Housing Matters article explains how energy efficiency upgrades can boost low-income multifamily properties’ net operating incomes, save low-income households money on energy bills and improve environmental outcomes—making investments in these upgrades a triple win. This evidence roundup highlights why policymakers and funders should continue to push housing providers, utility companies and intermediary organizations to bolster their efforts to bring energy efficiency upgrades to both subsidized and unsubsidized multifamily rental housing.