This article is an overview of HUD's Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP). It was developed with help from National Housing Trust (NHT) and Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF). GRRP, a $1B IRA program, has issued $1M in awards but the program has seen lower application volume than expected to date, leaving more resources still available for applicable projects. The article recommends that developers assess their portfolios for eligible HUD subsidized properties, so these resources are not left on the table. It also includes information on changes to make it easier for housing owners to incorporate funding into their projects.

The Multifamily Portfolio Carbon Emissions Roadmap ("the Carbon Roadmap") allows portfolio owners to use results from the SAHF Multifamily Portfolio Carbon Emissions Calculator to set targets for decarbonization and develop a list of priorities for portfolio segments or decarbonization strategies.

The SAHF Multifamily Portfolio Carbon Emissions Calculator ("the Calculator") allows portfolio owners to calculate their annual greenhouse gas emissions in CO2 equivalent. It was created to allow multifamily portfolio owners to understand their carbon emissions baseline based on actual and estimated data, and to help measure carbon reductions.

National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) supported the leadership of the Building Energy, Equity, and Power (BEEP) coalition in creating this issue brief. The brief examines how we can center the leadership of disinvested communities and integrate health equity in building decarbonization to create a more just and equitable future.

This case study provides an overview of the adaptive reuse of the historic Ohringer Building in Braddock, PA. Guided by the Enterprise Green Communities 2015 criteria, developers were able to transform this local landmark into affordable, climate-ready housing while preserving the history and integrity of the building.

Salem Heights Apartments, an affordable multifamily property in Massachusetts, recently underwent a deep energy retrofit to achieve passive house performance. This case study highlights the retrofit design strategies that enable 60% energy use reduction and show the integrated benefit of efficiency improvements, electrification, and solar. Specific strategies are described for the building envelope, exterior insulation, HVAC, and solar energy.

Retrofitting buildings is a critical climate strategy, but we cannot ignore the embodied carbon impact of these retrofits. The production, transportation, and installation of materials all come with their own carbon footprints. This report provides data to support using low-carbon and carbon-storing materials in deep energy retrofits to reduce net emissions and transform buildings into climate assets. Lower embodied carbon options exist today and can be substituted for traditional materials.

Over half of California’s 3.2 million multifamily units were constructed before energy efficiency standards, resulting in poor performance and high greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, affordable multifamily housing must improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and lower tenant utility bills while enhancing quality of life. Yet building owners face many challenges to improving the performance of their buildings. This report covers the role certain types of energy service agreements, combined with federal incentives, can play in scaling affordable multifamily retrofits.

Geothermal heat pumps offer highly efficient heating and cooling without fossil fuels. They are especially valuable in supplying heating on extremely cold days and support heating electrification with only modest impacts on electric grids. These heat pumps are widely applicable from single family homes to large properties, or even networked systems providing heating and cooling to entire neighborhoods. The blog article highlights the characteristics of this technology and new opportunities for greater adoption.

This case study showcases Allston Brighton CDC’s approach to decarbonizing multiple properties through deep energy retrofits. This nonprofit affordable housing owner in Boston has emerged as a champion of building decarbonization. They are poised to cut energy consumption by an impressive average of 55% across 103 residential units. What’s more, their team members have offered a one-page guide for similar building owners and projects on how to pursue various funding sources for retrofit success.