Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future's (SAHF)'s case study explores learnings from Preservation of Affordable Housing's (POAH's) Salem Heights development, which electrified the HVAC system and improved the building envelope. The report shares details about the funding used and other strategies employed to make the project come together.

Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future's (SAHF)'s case study explores challenges and achievements from The Community Builders' North Commons at Village Hill development in western Massachusetts, built to the Passive House standard. The case study shares the developer's perspective on assembling a team, electrifying hot water heating, and installing Phius-compliant windows. Ultimately, the benefits outweighed the costs for this development.

This article breaks down a range of standards and considerations designed to build affordable housing more sustainably. It draws on interviews with industry partners to illustrate the progress that the sector has made as well as highlights work that still needs to be done. It also features affordable housing developers who are currently making green decisions in their projects.

This post examines the work involved to incorporate decarbonization and resilience upgrades into multifamily retrofits. Industry leaders share their perspective on the considerations the affordable housing industry must keep in mind to meet this moment.

The Massachusetts Decarbonization Hub helps owners of affordable multifamily housing interested in reducing carbon emissions from their Massachusetts properties navigate the complicated landscape of decarbonization. Created in partnership with LISC Boston and RMI, this site provides quick access to guides, resources, and funding opportunities currently available to support these projects. The Hub outlines some key steps to decarbonization, connects owners with technical providers, directs owners to the available incentive and grant funding programs, and showcases case studies of recent deep energy retrofit projects for inspiration.

Multifamily housing accounts for 20% of greenhouse gases. That makes taking advantage of unprecedented incentives and funding via the Inflation Reduction Act critical. This blog post previews new tools from Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) and Cadence OneFive to help the affordable housing sector unlock the potential of this landmark investment in affordable housing and energy efficiency.

The Hub is a technical resource designed to help equip the multifamily affordable housing community in Colorado with electrification design and decisions through access to technical resources, peer learning, and financing and development resources. This resource supports Colorado’s Renewable Energy and Climate Action Goals. In addition to local code compliance, building electrification can help reduce carbon emissions, improve indoor air quality for residents, reduce operating costs, and more.

Green building certifications provide benefits for a wide range of building stakeholders, with a focus on residents. The systems establish a roadmap that development teams can use to design and construct healthy, highly efficient buildings. This review provides a comparison of multifamily green building certifications to help stakeholders understand the relevant requirements and value proposition of each rating system. Analysis focuses on the application of these certifications to multifamily affordable developments in Colorado, including Housing Tax Credit developments.

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.

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.