Green Communities

Green Communities is the first national green building program focused entirely on affordable housing. Launched by Enterprise in fall 2004, Green Communities is designed to help developers, investors, builders and policymakers make the transition to a greener future for affordable housing.

A comprehensive offering of Green Grants, loans, tax-credit equity, training and technical assistance gives developers and builders the resources to bring green projects to life....

For a pdf file copy of "Affordable Housing's Green Future - Building a Movement for Durable Healthier and More Efficient Housing: Lessons from Minnesota and Beyond"

Click here:http://www.practitionerresources.org/cache/documents/649/64911.pdf

Published in 2007, the following excerpt from the "Lessons from Minnesota" section says a lot:

(Timlynn: Note bold face in the following quote is my emphasis.)

"Although Minnesota Green Communities is the best example, thus far, of a statewide system beginning to organize and coalesce, the partnership for green affordable housing has had a similarly enthusiastic reception — and faster than- expected production — among housing developers all over the country. As this report goes to press, the national Green Communities initiative is two-and-a-half years old, and in its second year had 150 developments under way in 23 states, for a total of 7,000 apartments and houses. That is more than four times as much production as initially forecast for the first two years, with aggregate investment 61 percent higher than the target. The program has trained more than 2,700 housing professionals in green techniques through regional workshops, online training and other technical support.

The reason for the rapid progress, says national Green Communities Director Dana Bourland, is that “there is a real hunger for this kind of development out there, and lots of developers have been thinking about it, trying to get it funded, imagining what they’d do if they had the money, talking to one another about it. So they’re ready."

For anyone interested in what's being done elsewhere in low cost green housing, the Appendix: Beyond Minnesota showcases projects in Oregon, Massachusettes, Chicago, and Seattle.

The most interesting in terms of how green building can truly impact low income residents, the Chicago project is exceptional.

"A YMCA single-room occupancy building now offers greener, healthier living for 63 formerly homeless individuals, thanks to a conversion that included onsite recycling of demolition and construction materials."

For much more information on the affordable and low-income green housing movement - including free downloadable reports, free tools, and information on training events, workshops and online resources - Click here: http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/tools/resources/

For more information on the green community movement,

Click here: www.greencommunitiesonline.org