A Columbia-based national affordable-housing financier intends to funnel $4 billion in the next five years toward building and retrofitting homes that aren't just affordable, but also green.
Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that raises money from corporations, foundations and government agencies, said Wednesday that it believes that investment can build or renovate 75,000 homes and apartments.
At the same time, it challenged builders across the country to go green on all projects aimed at lower- and moderate-income residents. Increasing energy efficiency, improving indoor air quality and using environmentally friendly materials are cost-effective, the group said.
The utility savings alone - an average of about $4,850 over the useful lifetime of a residence - outweigh the about $4,500 cost of complying with Enterprise's green-building criteria, the group said. Enterprise leaders launched a green-building initiative five years ago to encourage such work and have been studying the results.
"This is the right direction," said Dana Bourland, vice president of Enterprise's green initiative. "Not only are there financial savings, but there are health benefits and lower carbon emissions. ... We just can't afford not to make sure everything we do is green."
Green housing - or at least aspects of it, like energy efficiency - has broken into the mainstream. Shelley Poticha, senior adviser for sustainable housing and communities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said her agency is "encouraging public housing authorities to go green." And traditional builders, ones who aren't part of the affordable-housing movement, are also increasingly embracing green construction to attract budget-conscious buyers in a tough market.
"The economic picture right now is such that people are looking for something with a real payback," said Kevin Morrow, senior program manager for the National Association of Home Builders' green building program. "People see a benefit in that, and they're doing it."
Like Enterprise, the home builders association has its own green-building criteria. Since it began certifying homes as green last year, 550 have received its seal of approval and 4,500 more are in the pipeline.
Enterprise's effort is designed to make sure the projects it helps fund or finance are green. Its home-building arm, which works in the Mid-Atlantic, is already green-only on all projects.
