Green Urbanism

Green Affordable Housing

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, 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.

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. At the project level, Global Green regularly conducts workshops and green building charrettes and assists development teams certify their projects through third party rating systems such as LEED for Homes, the Green Communities Initiative, and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Current and past affordable housing development partners include Bridge Housing, Mercy Housing, Abode Communities, LA Housing Partnership, Wakeland Housing, Community HousingWorks, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, and several Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the country.

 

Global Green's work with affordable housing developers has resulted in thousands of energy efficient and healthy homes, including many certified to the highest levels of the Leadership in Energy Environmental Design LEED Rating System.

 


 

 

On the programmatic and policy front, Global Green is engaged in a range of endeavors locally and nationally to encourage the development of green affordable housing, including:

 

  • Developing and advocating for the inclusion of green building criteria in affordable housing funding mechanisms in California, New York and Texas.
  • Participating as a national partner and technical assistance provider in the Enterprise Community Partners' Green Communities Initiative.
  • 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.
  • Providing assistance to Habitat for Humanity on their Operation Home Delivery program which is rebuilding over 3,000 homes in the hurricane devastated Gulf Coast region.

 

Zero Energy Affordable Housing

Overview

A zero energy building or net zero energy building is a term used for a building that greatly reduces its energy demand via efficiency measures and then meets that demand through on-site energy generation, typically solar. Zero energy buildings are gaining considerable interest as a means to cut greenhouse gas emissions and conserve energy.

Global Green has developed a business model to develop zero energy affordable housing that is now being used throughout the state of California. This business model, and a suite of resources Global Green provides to support the model, lowers and stabilizes utility bills for low-income families, while allowing affordable housing developers to reduce operating costs and maintain a healthily portfolio of affordable properties.

 

Solar Affordable Housing Assessment Calculator

Ready to incorporate solar into your affordable housing project? Global Green USA has created a Solar Affordable Housing Assessment calculator to assist affordable housing developers and their design and finance teams in assessing various options for incorporating solar photovoltaic systems into their California-based Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) developments.

The assessment marries design and finance considerations by asking questions that should be answerable during schematic design. The calculator produces a variety of financial scenarios that developers can incorporate into their preliminary pro-formas and tax credit applications, as well as photovoltaic sizing options that design teams can use to issue RFPs for solar design/build services.

To use the calculator, click here

 

8 Steps to Funding Green Affordable Housing

1. Minimize additional costs through integrated design.    

2. Work with contractor on cost estimates throughout the design process.

3. Identify partnership opportunities with the city/county, utilities, state agencies, and non-profits.

4. Utilize technical support provided by utilities and state and/or federal programs.

5. Apply to utility and state programs for rebates on energy and water components.

6. Include remaining unfunded green items in the final bid to fund the program

7. Approach local governments and foundations to fund the green alternatives.

8. Use any residual construction contingency funds to upgrade finish materials to the green alternatives.

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Projects

Los Vecinos

Opened in May, 2009, Los Vecinos is a 42-unit affordable housing project that meets nearly all of its annual electricity demand through 93 kW of on-site solar photovoltaic power, saving residents 75% or more on their electricity bills. Located along a light rail line in the southern part of the San Diego metropolitan area, this LEED Platinum certified project is the second Zero Energy Affordable Housing project in the State of California.

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Solara

SOLARA, the first apartment community in California to be fully powered by the sun, opened in June 2007. This development represents a breakthrough in integrating solar in multifamily housing and establishes a new standard in sustainable design.SOLARA is part of a mixed-use development with independent office space and 56 apartment homes.

Read More >

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Publications

2010 Green Building Criteria in Low Income Housing Tax Credit Programs

Global Green USA has prepared its 6th annual QAP Green Building Rating Summary.  Thirty-three states improved their scores this year. Connecticut and Georgia tied for the top position for the second consecutive year, both earning 50 points of a possible 55.  The 2010 report shows that the Top 15 most referenced green building strategies are reflected in nearly two thirds of the state QAPs, a significant increase from 2009.


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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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