HUD Announces More than $837 Million from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to Improve Housing Quality and Reduce Energy Costs for Underserved Communities
New funding from Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and $4 billion in loan commitment authority will make HUD-assisted multifamily housing more energy efficient, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and improve climate resiliency.
SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced the availability of new funding through the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the energy and water efficiency and climate resilience of HUD-assisted multifamily properties serving low-income residents. HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Margaret Salazar made this announcement today in Seattle at Bellwether Housing’s development The Aries – a vibrant transit-oriented, affordable housing community near the Bitter Lake Reservoir and Park. It will offer about 200 homes to individuals and families with lower incomes, including those with disabilities, and feature green investments including rooftop solar, electric vehicle charging, and energy efficient heating and cooling systems.
The Inflation Reduction Act provided HUD with $837.5 million in grant and loan subsidy funding and $4 billion in loan commitment authority for this new program. The law also includes $42.5 million for a new HUD initiative launching later this summer to collect and assess energy and water usage data from HUD-assisted multifamily housing properties to better target opportunities to save energy and water, cut costs, and reduce emissions. This announcement is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild the economy from the bottom up and the middle out.
“Under the leadership of President Biden, HUD is committed to building a more equitable and sustainable housing system and making necessary investments to reduce the impacts of climate change and improve the lives of people across America,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “The launch of the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program today will ensure low-income individuals and families have better access to healthy, energy efficient, and resilient homes.”
“Lower-income communities are often the last to obtain access to state-of-the-art efficiency, resilience, and clean energy technologies., The Green and Resilient Retrofit Program will change this by providing communities with an opportunity to lead the multifamily sector in retrofitting homes to make them safer and more sustainable for the future,” said HUD Assistant Secretary for Housing Julia Gordon.
“In the Northwest, we are no stranger to climate change with our recent heatwaves, increased wildfire and smoke risk, flooding, and winter storms,” said HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Margaret Salazar. “I am thrilled at this opportunity to make affordable homes more resilient in communities across our region.”
“This federal investment rightly prioritizes investments that will benefit our most vulnerable residents,” said Bellwether Housing CEO Susan Boyd. “It will fund improvements to lower energy costs for low-income elderly and disabled residents on fixed incomes and pay for infrastructure to abate the health risks of extreme temperature days. These are critical investments that will ensure our housing remains affordable and safe notwithstanding changes in our climate.”
Building owners will be able to invest in technologies, such as solar panels, heat pumps, wind-resistant roofing, insulation, low embodied carbon materials, and other measures that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make properties healthier and safer for residents in the face of more severe weather and a changing climate. The program’s implementing notice and Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) released today detail a range of grant and loan funding options for multifamily housing owners with varying levels of expertise with green retrofits.
GRRP is the first HUD program that simultaneously invests in energy and water efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, clean-energy generation, and climate resilience strategies in multifamily housing. In doing so, it tackles the climate crisis and reduces costs for households. In alignment with President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, funding provided under the program is targeted to housing serving low-income families. These investments will help combat the climate crisis, furthering President Biden’s goals of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and support equitable economic development in American communities.
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