Affordable Housing Goes Green at Last

from The Next American City

by Gregory Maher and Judith Turnock

While green building techniques are becoming mainstream for government and commercial developers, as well as a growing number of well-to-do homeowners, residents of affordable housing have not yet shared in the benefits. But that is about to change.

The barriers to “greening” affordable housing are many. Because it often costs developers more to build affordable housing than they can recoup in rental or sales income, the developers work with razor-thin margins. They tend to be wary of anything that increases the upfront costs of design and construction, even if, as is the case with many green building techniques, the long-term savings would eventually outweigh the price of premium building materials. Because affordable housing developers also rely heavily on public and private subsidies, they juggle many restrictions - from per-unit cost caps to design limitations - which make it more difficult to incorporate innovative green techniques. When a project involves multiple funding sources and players, each with its own set of design and cost requirements, green innovations may get nixed early on.

But now, two large community development organizations - the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise), formerly the Enterprise Foundation - are on board with the greening of affordable housing, and the early projects are exciting. In 2005 LISC’s Boston office expanded the Green Community Development Corporation (CDC) Initiative it formed in 2003 with other community development corporations, New Ecology, Inc., and the Tellus Institute to launch the Green Building Production Network (GBPN). GBPN has already attracted $2 million in financing for high-impact green affordable housing projects.

GBPN’s first project was Urban Edge’s Jackson Square in Boston, one of the largest CDC projects in the country to date and now in the design phase. The 430-unit community of mixed-income housing, retail space, a community center and offices, located on a twelve-acre site in Jamaica Plain, is right at a public transit stop and will also maximize green building and energy techniques:

Energy will come from a combination of photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, geo-thermal heating and cooling, green roofs, co-generation powered by burning bio-diesel fuel, and ventilation systems that allow recapture of exhaust to heat common areas. Grey water will be used for larger bathrooms in the office buildings and the community center. An array of materials and fixtures will yield improved indoor air quality: wood and cork flooring, non-vinyl floor tiles, low VOC paints, adhesives and solvents, non-toxic finishes, and continuous exhaust fan ventilation systems to control moisture. In addition, native plants as landscaping will require no irrigation. Construction is expected to begin in early 2008.

The Better Housing Coalition (BHC), a CDC in Richmond, Virginia, will begin construction of Winchester Forest, a 100-house single-family project, in the fall of 2007. The development is being built to comply with EarthCraft, a green building standard tailored to the southeastern U.S. climate and developed by Southface Energy Institute and the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association. Winchester Forest’s window coatings and wall assembly adhere to the most energy- efficient specifications for mixed humid climates like Richmond’s. Twelve home plans, based on vernacular Virginia architecture, are designed to appeal to a wide variety of families and lifestyles. The site plan was designed to preserve existing mature trees: 90% of trees 16 inches or more in diameter will remain, and the largest clusters of mature trees have been set aside for parks. The pedestrian-oriented development has continuous sidewalks and narrow roads to encourage residents to walk to neighborhood stores and to minimize asphalt surfaces. Stormwater will be absorbed by planted rain gardens and permeable driveways throughout the community.

In Walnut Way, one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Walnut Way Conservation Corp, a CDC, is encouraging sustainability through a network of initiatives, starting ten years ago with rehab of existing historical homes, some abandoned but others owner-occupied. In all cases, they have kept existing owners in place. For the community as a whole, Walnut Way sponsors a recycling program and community vegetable and flower gardens, celebrated with an annual Harvest Festival, now in its sixth year. A 2006 expansion of the gardens added bee hives for a new honey-making venture and a recently-planted peach orchard.

Farther north, in Duluth, Minnesota, the New San Marco, which began construction in March 2006 and is on track for completion in April 2007, will serve 70 formerly homeless or addicted individuals. Enterprise, through Minnesota Green Communities, made a $150,000 grant to the project, allowing the sponsor to achieve the requirements of the Green Communities checklist. LISC added a $100,000 recoverable grant, and a LISC affiliate, the National Equity Fund, provided $5.9 million in project equity. The urban infill project is convenient to public transportation, and green design and building features include a high efficiency steam heating and hot water system, maximum use of natural daylight and energy-efficient lighting and controls, ceiling fans, Energy Star appliances, continuously ventilated bathrooms and low-VOC paints, sealants and adhesives to improve indoor air quality, and landscaping that requires no irrigation.

There has been a significant shift in the momentum surrounding green affordable housing projects such as these, compared to just a few years ago. Local funding pools are larger, and the relationships between lenders and community groups are stronger. More important than funding, however, is systemic change, beginning with the idea that sustainability is an appropriate and important goal for residents of affordable housing. Thanks to leadership from LISC, Enterprise, and the thousands in their national network, those changes are happening.