The federal government’s primary support for green housing has been through the Energy Star program, a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Launched in 1992, Energy Star certifies products, equipment and buildings, including homes that met verified levels of energy efficiency. Energy Star homes are at least 15 percent more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code and can include a variety of energy-efficient features, such as effective insulation, high performance windows, tight construction and ducts, efficient heating and cooling equipment and Energy Star qualified lighting and appliances.
There were 167,000 new Energy Star homes built in 2005, according to EPA. Homes of three stories or less can participate in the program; almost all to date have been market rate homes. An Energy Star program for larger multifamily buildings that holds significant promise for affordable housing developments is being pilot tested.
The federal government could realize substantial costs savings itself with a more aggressive green affordable housing policy. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spends an estimated $4 billion a year on energy, more than 10 percent of its annual budget, through utility allowances in connection with rental assistance payments to low-income renters and indirect operating subsidies to public housing authorities. A savings of just 5 percent a year over five years could generate $1 billion to invest in affordable housing. In 2006 HUD provided a report to Congress outlining administrative and regulatory steps to reduce energy costs in public and assisted housing.
The High Performance Buildings Act creates incentives and resources for developing housing that is healthy, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable. (PDF, 75KB)
The HOPE VI program helps transform dilapidated and severely distressed public housing into mixed-income developments in healthier communities. (PDF, 96KB)
Affordable Housing Preservation Tax Relief Act preserves the federally assisted affordable housing stock. (PDF, 110KB)
National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act establishes funding for the production of new housing and the preservation or rehabilitation affordable homes. (PDF, 31K)
Affordable Housing Investment Act enhances the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, the nation’s largest affordable housing production program. (PDF, 560K)
