Green Affordable Housing Initiative
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Learn what to look for when trying to green existing affordable housing and what design and engineering considerations you should make when building new green affordable housing.
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Learn about some very important planning, design and energy considerations when building green housing, from the Massachusetts Smart Growth/Smart Energy presentation. |
| East Boston’s Maverick Landing consists of 411 LEED-certified, mixed-income housing units that feature efficient lighting, appliances, and photovoltaics. | ||
The Green Affordable Housing Initiative aims to catalyze the affordable housing financing, development, and builder communities to include more green design and renewable energy in future developments. |
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MTC Partnership Programs
Joint Management Committee
The Joint Management Committee (JMC), administered by ICF, International has $1.5 million in funding opportunities for design and construction of small photovoltaic systems for affordable housing developments throughout Massachusetts. Developers can seek funding on a rolling basis provided the development meets ENERGY STAR standards (or equivalent) and is at least 20% affordable. Click here for program details and eligibility requirements. For more information about the JMC’s affordable energy star home program contact Sara DeCotis at sdecotis@icfi.com
Boston Community Capital
Boston Community Capital, in partnership with Massachusetts Housing Partnership, will investigate the overall effectiveness and cost-efficiency of green housing by using their $5 million MTC grant to fund several developments across the state over a 2-year period. In the process, Boston Community Capital seeks to create a model for financers to follow that will allow other developers to include greening of developments in their financing requests. Go to page 15 for funding opportunities from Boston Community Capital in this presentation and contact Dick Jones at djones@bostoncommunitycapital.org. For more information visit bostoncommunitycapital.org.
Cape Light Compact
Cape Light Compact looks to build on its already successful Residential New Construction Demonstration Pilot with their $1.5 million grant award. The Compact’s program will try to find ways to shrink the “environmental footprint” of homes, including the cost of energy for those homes. Over the next 2 years, the program will help to build several affordable housing units in Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. Contact Margaret Song at msong@capelightcompact.org and for more information click here.
City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development
Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development will use their $2 million MTC award to augment and assist the development of green affordable housing in the City by creating a program that incorporates renewable energy, energy efficiency, green design and healthy homes construction techniques into the City’s affordable housing program. The City released a Request for Proposals May 7th. Letters of intent are due May 25th and RFP submission deadline is June 8, 2007. For more information contact John Feuerbach at jfeuerbach.dnd@cityofboston.gov and visit www.Cityofboston.gov/dnd. Go to page 11 in this presentation for more information. Additional city link: http://www.cityofboston.gov/dnd/D_Green_Housing.asp
MassHousing
In a cooperative effort with Enterprise Community Partners, Inc, MassHousing and MTC have established the Massachusetts Green Communities™ partnership. Within this cooperative effort, MassHousing’s Green Affordable Housing Development Program seeks to promote the construction of renewable energy generation systems in affordable housing developments financed by MassHousing or the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. MassHousing, through an $8.5 million RET funding award, offers feasibility grants, design grants and construction grants or loans for installing renewable energy systems. Larger multifamily affordable rental housing developments that meet ENERGY STAR standards may qualify for funding for a renewable energy system greater than or equal to 10 kW (100kW for wind power projects). For more information contact Ray Johnson at rjohnson@masshousing.com or visit www.masshousing.com.
For details on available award amounts and eligibility requirements click here.
Also read about the Massachusetts Green Communities™
HAP, Inc.
HAP, Inc., along with Rural Development, Inc., looks to create a Green Affordable Housing Initiative program that will provide funds for renewable energy systems and the incremental costs associated with green building upgrades for homes that meet the Energy Star minimum program requirements. Additional criteria for funding includes such considerations as renewable energy feasibility and production capability, developer capacity to execute, project type, and geographic and developer diversity. HAP, Inc. will also use this program to encourage not-for-profit developers to achieve a Zero Net Energy Home level (creating homes to be able to produce enough energy to meet all of its own energy needs). The $2 million program will lead to 140 affordable housing units to be built in Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin over the next 3 years.HAP, Inc. is accepting pre-applications for funding. Click here to access the pre-application and email your completed pre-application to Craig Marden at cmarden@HAPhousing.org. For more information visit www.haphousing.org.
WinnDevelopment
WinnDevelopment, in partnership with greenGoat, is using a $2.5 million MTC grant to create a model for including energy efficiency and renewable energy by studying two affordable ‘test’ properties (both of which are renovations) that represent three different building types—townhouse, apartment style, and historic mill. This project alone will directly influence 301 units, transitioning 500 kW to renewable energy. Lessons learned at these two test properties will be used to create an Affordable Housing Energy Strategy that will be used by Winn and will be shared with the housing industry. The project strives to influence at least 500 external affordable units / 700 kW. This Affordable Housing Energy Strategy will offer an approach to implementing and financing renewable energy and energy efficiency in the complex world of affordable housing development (such as an 'energy scorecard' with which future projects can benchmark energy performance and make improvements suitable to building type). WinnDevelopment currently offers funding to Winn projects only. Contact Heather Clark at hclark@winnco.com for more information.
Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development
Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development is developing a program that looks to provide additional funding as an incentive for affordable housing developers to include green building design into their projects. The $1.5 million in funding will help tackle the extra expenses required to include energy conservation and generation into new buildings. DHCD will issue a competitive Request for Proposals for projects once the program is developed. For more information contact Eric Alexander at eric.alexander@state.ma.us.
MTC also offers installation incentives through these Green Building & Infrastructure Small Renewables Initiative and Large Onsite Renewables Initiative.
CONTACT:
Elisabeth Krautscheid
Project Manager, Green Affordable Housing & Green Schools
508-870-0312 x223
krautscheid@masstech.org