Going Green for Affordable Housing

There are a number of factors which make a compelling case for encouraging green energy use in affordable housing, such as household energy use is a major component of total U.S. energy consumption and CO2 emissions, utility bills are a major financial burden, recent technological advances have greatly reduced the cost and increased the efficiency of on-site green energy production, there are a wide variety of Federal, State, and Municipal incentives and subsidized programs available to encourage shifting to green energy, and lastly, local jurisdictions increasingly are considering green systems and design when approving and subsidizing affordable housing projects. In combination these factors can make a shift to green energy in affordable housing potentially a win-win-win for project owners, tenants, and the environment.

Citi Community Capital, the largest affordable housing lender for a decade, has the asked the Capstone team to provide baseline study of moving affordable housing to green energy systems. The study will lay out the current state of play and also identify opportunities for greater interaction between the environmental and low-income housing communities. The study will reveal current impediments and provide recommendations to make programs more effective.