Rising energy costs spur green affordable housing
Posted on June 9th, 2008By Robin Bravender
Climatewire: Green homes decked out with solar panels, low-flow showerheads and rain gardens are no longer just for an elite few.
A growing number of affordable housing developers throughout the country are building green — and advocates say their residents stand to gain the most from measures like energy-efficient windows and better insulation.
Low-income families spend, on average, 17 percent of their income on utilities, according to Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit group that helps build low-income housing. As electricity rates continue to skyrocket, that percentage also is expected to keep growing.
Affordable housing organizers, as well as state and city leaders, are noticing the trend. Several municipalities already have implemented green affordable housing legislation, arguing that helping developments cut down on energy use helps taxpayers as well as residents since the federal government subsidizes many public housing energy costs.
As energy costs rise and the cost premiums associated with green building fall, experts say, the country will likely see a rising number of green units.
District residents get greener homes
Washington, D.C., has been one of the leaders of the sustainable affordable housing movement. In 2006, the district passed the Green Building Act, which mandated that residential projects bigger than 10,000-square-feet and receiving at least 15 percent public funding meet certain green standards.
Galen Terrace was among the first such projects. The Section 8 apartment complex in Washington’s Anacostia neighborhood was rundown and needed renovations when, in March 2006, the Somerset Development Co. acquired it in partnership with the National Housing Trust-Enterprise Preservation Corp. and the Galen Terrace Tenants Association.
“It would have looked like a concrete jail,” said Aimee McHale, assistant vice president of the NHT-Enterprise Preservation Corp.
Residents said the window air conditioning units caused black stains on the white paint below them. The floors were old, and graffiti marred the walls inside.
“Everything was too old for me,” said Rachelle Dobbins, 43, who has lived at Galen Terrace since 1991 and has raised four children there.
So Dobbins and the other residents temporarily moved while the complex underwent $5.3 million in renovations. They returned to greener apartments in March 2007.
What once was just a series of parking lots is now a playground made from recycled plastic. A solar reflective roof helps keep the building insulated. The toilets are low-flow, and rain barrels around the property collect water for landscaping. Residents also got new Energy Star appliances and more efficient heating and cooling systems.
Advocates say going green outweighs higher costs
McHale estimated that the green portion of construction cost between $134,232 (a 2.5 percent premium) and $358,089 (a 6.7 percent premium), because they would likely have taken some of those steps anyway.
Dana Bourland, Green Communities director at Enterprise Community Partners, said those costs can be even lower with careful planning.
“Cost premiums can range from zero percent up to 3 or 4 percent,” Bourland said.
“For the most part, you can do it at zero and/or very little incremental cost,” if you decide do it early in the process, she said.
Yet in pricey real estate markets like New York City, upgrading merely affordable housing to green affordable housing can add up to 10 percent to the overall development cost, said Josh Lockwood, executive director of Habitat for Humanity New York City.
Raising those extra funds can be tough for cash-strapped nonprofits. But many are willing to take the extra steps because green building fits into their overall mission of providing affordable and healthy housing, Lockwood noted.
Habitat NYC is working now on a $13 million Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified affordable housing development in Brooklyn that will house 41 families. The Atlantic Avenue complex is expected to be completed in 2009.
‘Immediate benefit to low-income families’
While residents enjoy the economic benefits, McHale acknowledged that “green” aspects of the housing development are not a top priority for them. But what does resonate in a complex where all but two households are headed by women, mostly single mothers, are health and pocketbook savings.
She noted that 72 percent of the households at Galen Terrace earn less than $10,000 annually. They receive government allowances for their utilities — so if they conserve energy, they can actually make money.
Dobbins, for one, already is reaping savings, spending about $52 per month in utilities — $15 less than her government allowance. Moreover, she said, the cost savings also make life more comfortable for her family in the dead of summer.
“Before, I couldn’t afford two air conditioners, so everyone had to be in one room,” she said. And one of the best things about the renovations was her new, efficient electric stove — which replaced an old gas stove. Now she doesn’t think about carbon monoxide poisoning anymore, which used to worry her.
“You sell the sort of ‘going green’ with, ‘It improves the life of your family,’” McHale said. “There’s just such immediate benefit to low-income families.”
