HUD Transforms the U.S. Housing Market Via Green Incentives & Policy
Just over a decade ago, homes and apartments were behind in earning green certification. The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system had launched 10 years prior with help from the Federal Energy Management Program, and increasingly offices, educational buildings, medical facilities and other commercial buildings were earning green certification for their green, high-performance features.
Unfortunately however, that didn’t account for the buildings where we live – single-family homes, townhouses, duplexes, garden style apartments, assisted living, student housing, mid-rise and high-rise apartments. The exception was multifamily or mixed-use buildings where the local jurisdiction mandated LEED certification. In those cities, there wasn’t a choice.
According to NGBS (National Green Building Standard), Understanding the barriers that existed for residential buildings seeking green certification helped Home Innovation craft the NGBS Green program to eliminate many of those barriers. As a result, NGBS Green certifications soared over the past 10+ years.
For example, unlike commercial buildings, green certified apartments do not command higher rent than non-certified buildings. Also, tenants typically pay their own energy costs, so investing in energy efficiency measures for multifamily buildings does not yield an ROI for the developer.
Developers who were early adopters of NGBS Green cited two specific reasons for seeking certification: 1) corporate sustainability goals, and/or 2) institutional investor preferences. Multifamily developers such as Crescent Communities and Alliance Residential set environmental stewardship as a key corporate goal, backing their sustainability commitments by seeking and earning NGBS Green certifications. Other developers agreed to earn NGBS Green certification when institutional investors prioritized green certified buildings for their real estate portfolios.