What is Green Affordable housing?

Green Affordable Housing is designed to meet multiple goals. First, it must be affordable. Systems design leads to high performance at the lowest first cost. Energy efficiency is also important so that low operating costs make houses more affordable over their lifetime. Housing cannot be made more efficient at the expense of occupant's health. Indoor air quality can be improved through ventilation design, construction systems, and material selection.

Durability and low maintenance are critical issues as well. Long lasting systems and materials are more affordable in the long run. Green Affordable Housing also means selecting systems and materials with the least lifetime impact on the environment.

Finally, housing must be well designed so it adds value to the community and makes individual homeowners want to stay and improve their property.

For policy and decision makers, community acceptance and quality of affordable housing are critical issues. Well designed housing meeting multiple goals of energy efficiency, health, durability and low environmental impact can contribute to community acceptance and perceived quality of affordable housing. In addition, lower operating and maintenance costs will make single-family houses more affordable in the long run leading to more stable, owner-occupied communities.

Green Affordable Housing has a number of financial benefits to the community as well. The ability to optimize first cost and long term operating costs will lead to the best investments for communities and public agencies. Where public agencies partner with rental property owners to develop affordable multifamily housing, lower operating and maintenance costs protect public investments. In addition, sustainable design strategies can assist local governments in reducing costs for street, water and sewer infrastructure as well as waste removal and landfill costs.

Sustainable Design Homes are designed to be flexible in floor plans and size to accommodate lot size requirements in addition to the ease of assembly which allows for the employ of unskilled labor in the community. For many communities the collection of homes we offer is the most cost effective. For others, we work closely to develop a specific set of plans to meet the needs of that specific project, such as multi-units, mixed use, etc. All our homes comply with Energy Star requirements and can assist in achieving Green credits for certification and of course continue to deliver all the benefits of building Sustainably.