A Greener Plan For Affordable Housing

The report analyzes elements in states' 2005 Housing Credit allocation plans that supportthree key areas of green development: Smart Site Locations, Energy and Resource Conservationand Healthy Living Environments. The purpose of the report is to provide a snapshot of stateHousing Credit allocation policies that support green, sustainable development and to encouragestates to continue to “raise the bar” in health, efficiency and sustainability in the affordablehomes they help provide.

...Enterprise believes now is the time to bring the benefits of green building and sustainabledevelopment to affordable housing at a large scale – and this report indicates an emergingcommitment to that goal by the states. It is fitting that states are using the Housing Credit as atool to advance the benefits of green building in affordable housing. The Housing Credit offersstates flexibility to meet the challenges they identify in their annual allocation plans, and they are encouraging affordable housing providers to think and work in a more holistic way, whilekeeping costs as low as possible to serve families with limited incomes."

[Editor's note: The link below is to a 1MB PDF document.]

Thanks to Ashwani VASISHTH