Housing Agencies

Housing Finance Agencies

ENERGY STAR certified homes and apartments provide homebuyers and residents with healthy, comfortable, and efficient homes that offer substantial utility savings.  Likewise, funded properties can benefit from lower and more stable operating expenses, as well as from the marketability of the ENERGY STAR label.

There are a number of important reasons for tax credit allocating agencies to specify ENERGY STAR construction in their Qualified Allocation Plans for all multifamily building projects:

  • Incentivize high quality construction
  • Help stabilize long-term finances for funded properties
  • Maximize the impacts of public and private investment
  • Demonstrate Low Income Housing Tax Credits are being utilized wisely

Public Housing Authorities

Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) provide important housing opportunities to residents in need, and the ENERGY STAR residential programs’ focus on quality design and construction can help address any perceptions that such housing is lower quality. When PHAs build new multifamily developments (both low rise and high rise) or substantially rehabilitate older neglected properties, the ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction program offers a great opportunity to introduce a thorough design process that minimizes both short and long-term risk for the Authority and the occupants.  By specifying important energy efficiency measures in the design, ENERGY STAR certification helps contribute to both high-quality housing and lower-cost operations. 

When public housing authorities partner and build with ENERGY STAR, they’re able to provide:

  • Safer, healthier, more comfortable homes & apartments
  • Properties with lower and more stable operating costs
  • Improved community infrastructure and housing stock
  • Lower monthly expenses for occupants through reduced rents and/or utility bills

Affordable Housing Programs

Affordable housing programs play a significant role in the development and rehabilitation of housing opportunities throughout the country.  Not only can they provide critical gap financing to complete the financial picture for prospective projects, they can also provide loan guarantees and fully fund projects in their efforts to ensure quality affordable housing is available to residents in their communities.

Affordable housing programs at the federal, state, and local level also establish the quality standards and rent limits that must be met by assisted projects in order to protect the health, safety, and financial resources of residents. The lower utility costs and stabilized project operating expenses that are achievable through ENERGY STAR certification can also allow a project’s finances to support more private debt and equity.

Incorporating the ENERGY STAR Residential New Construction program into the guidelines for federal, state, or local affordable housing programs provides numerous benefits, including:    

  • A recognized national standard for high-quality design and construction
  • Fully-supported national programs with available training resources and technical assistance
  • Improved perception of the quality and durability of the affordable housing being built in a community
  • Enhanced marketability of assisted properties with the ENERGY STAR label
  • Reduced and stabilized operating expenses for properties
  • Reduced and stabilized monthly expenses for tenants

Find further information and resources on affordable housing and low-income housing communities.