Dive Brief:
-
Enterprise Community Partners released an updated edition of its Enterprise Green Communities Criteria for affordable housing that focuses on disaster preparation, climate-resilient housing and streamlined energy solutions.
- Based on community feedback, the standard now includes resilience assessments to determine properties’ vulnerability to high winds, wildfire, extreme heat, flooding and power outages, said Krista Egger, Enterprise Community Partners vice president of national initiatives. Every property will be required to create an emergency manual for residents to use during disasters.
-
Cities can use the criteria “to ensure that they’re serving their affordable housing community well in meeting their housing and their climate goals at the same time,” Egger said.
Dive Insight:
Enterprise Green Communities launched its Green Communities Criteria in 2005 “to prove that housing can be both green and affordable, while expanding access to healthier, more resilient homes,” according to a press release. Several cities and 29 states require or incentivize publicly funded affordable housing developments to meet the criteria.
Chicago, Cleveland and Portland, Oregon, integrate the criteria into their affordable housing programs as third-party certification pathways or requirements for communities to qualify for residential tax abatement. Boston, Denver and Philadelphia also include the criteria to varying degrees, an Enterprise Green Communities spokesperson said in an email.
The New York City Housing and Preservation Development Department requires Enterprise Green Communities or LEED Gold certification for all new construction and substantial rehabilitation projects that it finances. “Essentially, that’s because their climate goals are some of the most aggressive in the country, and they really rely on the certification … as the foundation for every property that they’re investing in,” Egger said.
Enterprise Green Communities created the criteria 20 years ago because “there was lots of desire to build green, healthy, efficient homes, but there weren’t any tools for the residential market about how you actually do this and … know at the end that you’ve succeeded,” Egger said.
The newly updated criteria include strategies to help communities prepare for and respond to heat waves, power outages, hurricanes, floods and wildfires; solutions to help developers advance to electrification and renewable energy; revamped criteria on noise, traffic and safety; and a new approach to green building product selection encouraging early screening and holistic assessment.
“We’re really leaning into the themes of energy, health and resilience because we’re feeling like those are the three areas in terms of impacts to families and individuals that are most important for us to cover,” Egger said.
During focus groups, affordable housing residents raised concerns about rising energy costs and traffic safety in their communities, so the updated criteria includes strategies for addressing those issues, Egger said.
The new criteria also include measures tied to resident health, including enhanced ventilation and noise mitigation, as well as strategies to add EV charging to properties, she added.
