User:Lhogberg/My sandbox

Links and materials to look up or use
http://ftp.deq.virginia.gov/export/sites/default/info/documents/climate/Virginia_Energy_Analysis_091008.pdf Trisko, Eugene. "The Rising Burden of Energy Costs on American Families, 1997-2007.

Energy efficiency in existing buildings: http://www.huduser.org/portal/periodicals/em/Summer11/highlight1.html#title Green retrofit: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/recovery/programs/green Examples healthy homes: http://www.nchh.org/Research/Minnesota-Green-Housing-Rehabilitation.aspx

USGBC White Paper on Sustainability https://www.usgbc.org/Docs/Resources/BDCWhitePaperR2.pdf

Article draft (also see main wiki article, updates continuosly
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Green_building_in_the_United_States#Green_Affordable_Housing) Green Affordable Housing (sub-category of Green Building in the US)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:MoS

Green Affordable Housing is a term that refers to affordable housing that also exhibits "green" or "sustainable" features. The phenomenon has become increasingly common in the United States with the adoption of state and local policies that favor or require green building practices for publicly owned or funded buildings. A challenge to green affordable housing is to balance the upfront cost premium and the lower energy costs as it already can be a challenge to raise capital to finance affordable housing.

Definition
Green Affordable Housing can be defined as affordable housing that exhibits "green" or "sustainable" features.

There is no single definition for what constitutes a Green Building, but some elements recur. A Green Building can be defined as a high-performance building designed, built, operated and disposed of in a resource-efficient manner with the aim to minimize the overall (negative) impact on the built environment, human health and the natural environment. Some examples of green building features are choice of site and orientation, efficient use of materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation.

Affordable Housing in the US is defined as dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Affordability is commonly defined as not spending more than 30 percent of household income on housing. Given the need for public assistance, the most salient features of green affordable housing are energy use, material use/durability and a healthy indoor environment.

Background
The triple bottom line expands the concept of sustainability to include economics, social equity and the environment. Affordable housing already addresses economics and social equity, so green affordable housing encompasses all three aspects. Many local Public Housing Authorities aim to provide "decent, safe and affordable living environments" for people with low incomes, and green affordable housing speaks to all three. The preservation of affordable housing is sensitive to public funding and low-income households are particularly exposed to increases in costs for e.g. utilities or medical expenses. In this respect, making affordable housing greener is a logic step to reducing long-term costs and increasing stability, to the individual as well as to society as a whole.

Costs and benefits of Green Affordable Housing
Upfront cost Depending on level of "greenness", the costs of green building often imply a premium upfront compared to the cost of conventional buildings. Newer technology and the requirement of special labor skills are examples of cost drivers in green building projects. However, careful planning and deliberate choices can minimize these upfront costs. It is expected that the costs of building green will decrease over time, thanks to experience and the development of products and services. Life cycle cost Funds available to the development of affordable housing are scarce and to maximize the supply of housing low construction costs are often favored in choosing projects. However, one of the main arguments for green affordable housing is that a higher upfront cost for construction/renovation can be motivated by a lower cost over the life cycle of the building. If the initial investment leads to lower operating costs and/or higher durability the higher upfront capital cost needed for construction or renovation can be motivated. This is especially true considering that holders of affordable housing often have a longer-term perspective than holders of other types of housing. However, the need to preserve affordability of housing sometimes restricts value enhancement and may thus be a barrier to investing in green features. It is therefore important to. Benefits General green building benefits include environmental, economic and social benefits. The potential environmental benefits are enhancement and protection of biodiversity and ecosystems; improved air and water quality; reduced waste stream and conservation and restoration of natural resources. Economically potential benefits include lower operation costs; a market for green products and services; enhanced occupier productivity and the optimization of life-cycle performance. Social potential benefits include improved health and comfort for residents, minimizing the burden on local infrastructure and improved aesthetics. For affordable housing in particular, the potential benefits can be divided into direct, regional and global benefits. The direct benefits include lower utility costs, a healthier indoor environment and increased durability. Regional benefits include support for solid waste management and improved water quality. Globally benefits may include reduced energy use and carbon footprint and lower material use. Energy efficiency and other building improvements for low-income households can also lead to direct financial, in-direct financial, and social welfare and livelihood co-benefits. Direct financial co-benefits accrue to governments, energy-providers, property owners and residents, and examples include reduced energy bills, reduced outlays for assistance to low-income households, reduced rates of shut-offs and thus reduces related administrative costs. In-direct financial co-benefits accrue to residents, property owners and tax-payers and society as a whole. Examples of these co-benefits are increased property values and economic activity, increased home and fire safety and reduced involuntary mobility for low-income households. Potential co-benefits for social welfare and livelihood include improved comfort, health and safety for the residents, community pride and improved health outcomes.

Energy consumption among low income households
However, since the affordable housing stock tends to be older energy consumption in affordable housing also tends to be higher than for regular housing.

Utility expenditures for low-income households
Over the past decade home energy costs have risen in American homes in general. For low-income households this cost increase is even more pressing, for which home energy expenditures can be as high as a fifth of household income and more than a quarter of total housing costs. For that reason, improving energy efficiency has been pointed out as one of the challenges for American housing by the Joint Center for Housing Studies. Energy expenditures for low income households have risen over the past decades, and the energy burden (energy expenditures as share of household income) has increased since 1997. Mean residential energy expenditures increased by 27 percent from 2001 to 2005, to $1,522, and by almost 20 percent to $1,822 by fiscal year 2009. The mean group residential energy burden (the ratio between mean energy expenditures and mean income for a given set of households) for households with incomes at or below 150 percent of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) poverty guidelines rose from 10.7 percent in 1997 to 13.5 percent in 2009.

Utilities are included in housing expenditures in calculations of housing affordability. However, higher energy costs mean that rents will be higher and/or that more assistance is needed to cover the difference between actual and "affordable" energy expenditures, assistance that already is insufficient to cover this gap.

http://ftp.deq.virginia.gov/export/sites/default/info/documents/climate/Virginia_Energy_Analysis_091008.pdf

Trisko, Eugene. "The Rising Burden of Energy Costs on American Families, 1997-2007.

Characteristics of the existing affordable housing stock
The affordable housing stock varies in terms of ownership, type and quality. However, financing of affordable housing has in most cases been constrained which means quality of affordable housing construction projects often has been compromised.

Policy programs that require green building standards in new construction will contribute to greening the affordable housing stock. However, new construction, whether green or conventional building, will in general be of higher quality, more efficient and healthier than older buildings. In contrast, the existing affordable stock constitutes a challenge from many perspectives. According to the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) 5.7 million of American families live in substandard housing. The low-cost housing stock tend to be older than the housing stock in general. For example, in 1995, 68 % of the affordable rental housing stock was constructed before 1970 and another 21 % were built before 1980. A considerable share of the older affordable rental stock has been removed from the market since 1995, but many of the remaining units are in older buildings . Due for example to differences in building standards, technical development and historical maintenance, the older building stock is generally of worse quality than newer buildings. Deficits include cold down draft, poor insulation and inefficient windows and appliances.

(sources)

Energy efficiency in existing buildings: http://www.huduser.org/portal/periodicals/em/Summer11/highlight1.html#title Green retrofit: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/recovery/programs/green Examples healthy homes: http://www.nchh.org/Research/Minnesota-Green-Housing-Rehabilitation.aspx

Measures and Strategies to achieve Green Affordable Housing
Financing of energy efficiency improvements http://www.efficientwindows.org/LIHToolkit.pdf

Energy Star Recognition Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=affordable_housing.affordable_housing_recognition

Look up: http://www.frontierassoc.net/greenaffordablehousing/ http://www.builditgreen.org/about/ http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/ http://globalgreen.org/greenurbanism/affordablehousing/ http://www.nrdc.org/cities/building/fhousing.asp http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/More-low-income-housing-being-built-green-1236518.php http://www.smartcommunities.ncat.org/buildings/affhousing.shtml http://www.cityofboston.gov/dnd/D_green_housing.asp http://www.mnshi.umn.edu/

(New vs. existing buildings, state and local programs)

Outcome/Results so far
(heading?) (Evaluation, examples... http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2031