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ADVOCACY

Affordable and Energy Efficient

2016 May-June, ADVOCACY

[vc_row row_type="row" type="full_width" text_align="left" padding_bottom="15"][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text] Affordable and Energy Efficient [/vc_column_text][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text] Changes in the FHA’s insurance rates foster sustainability in multifamily housing.   By Bryan Howard [/vc_column_text][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text]For decades the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has been helping individuals and families be part of the American dream of owning a home or property. FHA’s role of insuring loans has helped millions of borrowers get better interest rates for both the purchase and refinancing of homes. Recently, the FHA multifamily lending program has taken a monumental step in signaling to the market the value of LEED-certified buildings.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="22179" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="full"][vc_column_text] U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type="row" type="full_width" text_align="left"][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text]In April the FHA Office of Multifamily Housing Programs announced a change that will benefit certain FHA-insured loans through reduced upfront and annual insurance rates. For new or renovated LEED-certified multifamily properties, annual rates will drop to some of the lowest levels that FHA is allowed to offer. // // ]]> // ]]> “By reducing our rates, this Administration is taking a significant step to encourage the preservation and development of affordable and energy-efficient housing in communities large and small. This way, hard-working families won’t have to make the false choice between quality or...

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Green State

2015 September-October, ADVOCACY

[vc_row row_type="row" type="full_width" text_align="center"][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text] Green State [/vc_column_text][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text] California green builders find new solutions to scaling LEED with green codes.   By Alison Gregor[/vc_column_text][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=".vc_custom_1443107067114{margin-top: 25px !important;}" row_type="row" type="full_width" text_align="left" padding_top="25"][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_single_image image="20655" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="full"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="10"][vc_column_text]Workshops held at the congregations spread the word about mitigating waste, growing vegetables in the church gardens, and carpooling. Top right photo: Kathy Arnold; Left and bottom right photos: Kari R. Frey, FREYtography[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=".vc_custom_1443189009446{margin-top: 25px !important;}" row_type="row" type="full_width" text_align="left" padding_top="15"][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text]Building codes in many areas of the country are becoming incrementally greener, with the state of California in the lead after the 2010 adoption of the nation’s first and only statewide mandatory green building code, called CALGreen. CALGreen is considered so eco-friendly that the LEED Steering Committee ruled this spring that a handful of their building measures are aligned enough with LEED credits for building professionals to use a streamlined documentation path for LEED certification. As of July, projects in California subject to the mandatory 2013 CALGreen requirements and registered under the 2009 or v4 versions of LEED BC+C or LEED ID+C can use the streamlined path for select credits and prerequisites. “The streamlining of paperwork has obvious benefits,” says Wes Sullens,...

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The New Capital of Energy Conservation

2015 July-August, ADVOCACY

[vc_row row_type="row" type="full_width" text_align="left"][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text] The New Capital of Energy Conservation [/vc_column_text][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="25"][vc_column_text] How Atlanta is leading the south in energy efficiency policy.   By Cecilia Shutters[/vc_column_text][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="25"][vc_column_text]From the baking heat and humidity of an Atlanta summer, stepping into the cool, climate-controlled, reprieve of one of its large downtown buildings offers instant relief. Once a largely unchecked box for potential savings and even job growth, Atlanta’s commercial building stock is now at the center of the city’s newest, boldest energy policy, the Commercial Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance. The city projects “a 20 percent reduction in commercial energy consumption by the year 2030,” which will “spur the creation of more than 1,000 jobs a year in the first few years, and reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent from 2013 levels by 2030.” The unanimous passage of the ordinance by the City Council in April of this year makes it the first city in the southeast, and the 12th city in the United States, to pass a version of what is known as benchmarking and disclosure (also known as transparency) policies. Atlanta’s announcement precedes Portland, Oregon’s and Kansas City, Missouri’s recent announcements of similar polices, bringing the total number of cities...

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Winner’s Circle

2014 November-December, ADVOCACY

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_single_image image="18142" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="full"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text]By Cecilia Shutters Sustainability in Louisville is all about taking the reins.   [dropcaps type='normal' color='' background_color='' border_color='']H[/dropcaps]ow does a city design for a sustainable future? Answer: Begin by having the right people at the starting gate. In a Derby City-style trifecta, leadership from the city, the university, and a new innovation incubator—the Nucleus Innovation Center—aim to place Louisville, Kentucky, in the winner’s circle of sustainable development. Louisville’s Mayor Greg Fischer is unequivocal about his commitment to put the city’s 400 square miles on the map as an eco-friendly hub. Maria Koetter, director of the office of sustainability for metro Louisville, actualizes this commitment. Mayor Fisher tasked her office with developing a comprehensive sustainability plan, Sustain Louisville, which the office[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2" css=".vc_custom_1418069954938{margin-top: 25px !important;}"][vc_single_image image="18146" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="full"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1418070040248{margin-top: 10px !important;}"]Louisville’s Nucleus Innovation Center offers a rooftop garden and a 100 percent reflective roof.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text]released in March of 2013. Key successes from the first year have already been reported this past June. “For a new office of sustainability like ours, leadership means bringing the right pieces together and building from there, rather than trying to ‘reinvent the wheel,’” Koetter says. “We are fortunate to...

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Inland Empire Gives Back

2014 November-December, ADVOCACY

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_single_image image="18158" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="full"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text]By Jeff Harder A Californian USGBC chapter brings green principles to its residents.   [dropcaps type='normal' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he Inland Empire begins some 40 gridlocked miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It’s a bedroom community comprising Riverside and San Bernardino counties, a place famous for reasonable housing prices and exhausting commutes. It’s also a proving ground for a crucial question: Beyond extolling the virtues of energy audits and sealing building envelopes to architects, builders, and contractors, how can the sustainability movement convince ordinary homeowners and community members why going green matters? The answer looks a lot like the Sustainable and Healthy Communities [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2" css=".vc_custom_1418069954938{margin-top: 25px !important;}"][vc_single_image image="18159" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="full"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1418071185508{margin-top: 10px !important;}"]Through community workshops, residents gain job experience and sustainability training. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text]Initiative, now in its third year under the auspices of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Inland Empire (IE) Chapter. It’s a plan aimed at exposing the benefits of energy efficiency and environmental consciousness using a simple principle: Show—don’t just tell. By partnering with other organizations, the initiative has upgraded more than a dozen homes in the area, given unemployed volunteers skills and experience to build new careers, and brought sustainability...

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Sustainable Housing Breakthrough

2014 September-October, ADVOCACY

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_single_image image="17299" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="full"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type="row" type="full_width" text_align="left" padding_bottom="20"][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text] [caption id="attachment_17267" align="alignright" width="686"] The LEED Gold University of South Florida Apartments student-housing project in Tampa, Florida, by The Dinerstein Companies, consists of two 4-story mid-rise buildings with 182 apartment units and 24 town homes. Photo: Laurence Taylor[/caption] By Eric Butterman A sustainable rating system for multifamily dwellings is a win-win for residents and real estate investors alike.   [dropcaps type='normal' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he opportunities abound—if you know the score. That’s the thought behind the ENERGY STAR rating system 1 to 100 scale finally being applied to multifamily buildings as it’s been for so many other structures. Available through Portfolio Manager this September, owners can assess their building for this official rating. Previously, multifamily buildings were not able to show their green value in this way. Team Effort With the EPA’s ENERGY STAR recognized by 80 percent of the public as high-brand recognition, that label can change the conversation, says Chrissa Pagitsas, director of Green Initiative Multifamily for Fannie Mae. The problem was multifamily was left silent without a rating system. “It hurt multifamily’s ability to assess their property’s performance,” she says. “It wasn’t viable to do it before because...

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Hitting the Mark

ADVOCACY

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_single_image image="16518" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="full"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text] By Eric Butterman Benchmarking continues to sign on new cities. How can you win yours over?   [dropcaps type='normal' color='' background_color='' border_color='']M[/dropcaps]easuring or “benchmarking” energy and water conservation performance of any building can increase awareness as to how to make that building more efficient. And when benchmarking becomes mandatory for cities’ commercial buildings, this enables owners to improve decision making around energy use. Passing a benchmarking bill seems to be almost an art in which only 12 cities or counties have succeeded. Still, for the areas that took the plunge, the results have been encouraging. But what is the best chance to pass the law in your area? Philadelphia, able to benchmark energy use for 50,000-square-foot buildings and higher, was the sixth city to adopt tracking. Holly Shields, advocacy coordinator for the Delaware Valley Green Building Council, says it was a sweet victory—but not one that came easily. Before legislation was introduced, it was important to form the Coalition for an Energy Efficient Philadelphia. “It was about talking to contacts in different sectors,” Shields says. “We needed enough people whose experiences would allow them to hit enough areas.” Still, once the law was passed, the...

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Incubator of Green Home Policy

ADVOCACY

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_single_image image="16370" border_color="grey" img_link_target="_self" img_size="1130x80"][vc_separator type="transparent" position="center" up="30"][vc_column_text] By Cecilia Shutters Cincinnati becomes an incubator of green home policy innovation.   [dropcaps type='normal' color='' background_color='' border_color='']O[/dropcaps]hio is well known for its leadership in green building—impressively, it leads the nation with 150 LEED-certified K–12 schools. The city of Cincinnati uses its home state’s forward-thinking policies to full advantage, taking the state-granted authority to incentivize green building and running with it. In 2006, Cincinnati enacted the Community Reinvestment Area Residential Tax Abatement Program—in short, a tax abatement program that encourages property improvements via renovations or the construction of new homes. Promoted under the headline “Save Money, Live Well,” the program was enacted to achieve four main policy intentions: stimulate community revitalization, retain city residents, attract homeowners, and reduce development costs for for-sale and rental projects. Here’s how it works. Any resident within the Cincinnati city limits who is renovating or building a new home that increases the property’s value by a minimum of $2,500 (for one- and two-unit structures) and $5,000 (for three-unit structures) can apply for the abatement. (Properties composed of more than four units are considered commercial and can also apply for tax abatement through a corresponding program.) Once the improvement is complete,...

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