Green/Sustainable Housing

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently released a new report that examines two renewable energy provisions included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that may help shovel-ready community wind projects move forward.

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) recently introduced a measure to help stimulate and resume development of renewable energy facilities, such as wind farms and solar panel factories.

The U.S. Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) yesterday jointly announced their 2009-2010 Priority Guidance Plan.

Representative James Himes (D-Conn.) has introduced new legislation (HR 4106) to make grants or loans to owners of Federally Assisted Housing projects to make green retrofit improvements.

American Council For an Energy-Efficiency Economy has issued its 2009 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard.

Representative Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) will introduce legislation (HR 4099) this week to facilitate retrofitting of HUD assisted properties. NH&RA’s Council For Energy Friendly Affordable Housing (CEFAH) has been working with Representative Kilroy, a junior member of the majority on the House Financial Services Committee, to draft this important bill.

On behalf of Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the accounting firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) has conducted a major survey entitled “Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Investment Survey” to provide an understanding of the current market environment for the LIHTC as well as investor motivations and investor responses to potential legislative enhancements to the LIHTC Program.

National Council of Affordable Housing Market Analysts (NCAHMA) has made available the PowerPoint slides presented during its recent 2009 Affordable Housing Underwriting Forum & Annual Meeting, held November 9-10, 2009 at the Doubletree Hotel Magnificent Mile in Chicago, IL.

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority recently published its new Green Communities Criteria and Certification Form. Beginning in 2010, to be eligible for LIHTC through CHFA, a project must comply with all of the mandatory provisions of the Green Communities criteria.

CEFAH has been working with Representative Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) and are pleased to report that she is well along in drafting “CEFAH legislation”. The draft legislation addresses a good portion of our legislative agenda (as laid out in our white paper from earlier this year)

A new AARP report co-authored by the National Housing Trust and Reconnecting America has found that more than 250,000 privately-owned, federally subsidized apartments exist within walking distance to quality transit in 20 metro areas.

The United States Senate passed the FY-2010 the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill (HR 3228) provides $45.8 billion to HUD. The measure now awaits consideration by a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate passed versions of the measure.