Rehab Advisor

Very good resource for evaluating the scope and benefit of various improvements to multi-family and single family structures. Sponsored by the folks behind HUDUser, HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (OPDR), it includes research and recommendations from the Department of Energy and the EPA.

I met some folks from OPDR in 2007 at the National Building Museum’s “Sustainable Design: New Directions for Affordable Housing Symposium”, and found them to be well-informed about building materials and multi-family operations. They presented a welcome focus on what can be achieved through existing structures and the financing to many rather than the more demonstrative projects that due to participants, locations, or costs, are ultimately not easily repeatable. I think Jonathan Rose is an effective advocate for sustainable development, clearly a successful and devoted developer, but many of the examples cited had the feel of one-off efforts that held few useful lessons for those of us who finance and own affordable housing. Maverick Landing is an ambitious, $75 million project, but if you look at its financing structure, very few developers would undertake a similar process.

Symposia materials (Scroll about 3/5 down for lectures, materials, and background papers)

See also “Big & Green” for occasional lectures and materials on sustainable technologies.

The Rehab advisor serves largely as the front end to a database full of ideas about energy efficiency. Each page contains a summary of the proposed action, a rough cost estimate (per unit and/or psf) and an estimate of energy savings. Much of the data was last updated in 2005, so the numbers may need to be re-examined. Nevertheless, as a place to start planning a rehab or operational improvements, this is one of the best resources available.

Honeywell updates Denver Housing Authority

Showing that housing authorities and other owners can be lucrative customers, Honeywell is upgrading the heating and cooling systems of the Denver Housing Authority. As part of the Greenprint Denver program, Honeywell was awarded an $11.6 million dollar, 12-year contract to reduce utility costs. Interestingly, the project is expected to be revenue-neutral, as savings should offset costs. Phase 1 is expected to finish in August 2008, just 12 months after the awarding of the contract.

“The first phase of the program will focus on traditional infrastructure upgrades to more than 940 DHA buildings, including hi-rise apartments, single-family homes and offices. Honeywell will make improvements to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, install new boilers and furnaces, seal buildings to reduce the loss of hot and cool air, retrofit existing fluorescent lights with energy-efficient fixtures, upgrade plumbing systems with aerators for improved water conservation, and replace resident refrigerators with high-efficiency Energy Star models.”

Quantifying your savings

I’m evaluating a proposal right now to replace non-functioning garage exhaust fans with a variable speed fan that claims to reduce my power load. It sounds great and with Minnesota efficiency rebates, I may be only be responsible for 50% of the cost.

But I’m not certain the savings will be there. The existing system is broken and runs constantly. Replacing CO monitors and fans will immediately reduce my energy consumption anyway for $17,000. Just how much savings can I expect from these variable speed fans for an additional $9,000?

What I will probably do is authorize replacement in 2-3 buildings and compare energy use for the remaining buildings. The structures are identical and if I establish the baseline energy consumption off the house meter, I should be able to see what type of reduction I’m earning.

All that leads to the largest problem for those of us who are or deal with owners of physical assets: can you prove your savings?

The Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships is a non-profit supported by a variety of foundations, federal agencies, and regional utilities. In 2006 they produced a report entitled “The Need for and Approaches to Developing Common Protocols to Measure, Verify and Report Energy Efficiency Savings in the Northeast”. Although their focus was regional and industrial in nature, they identified questions faced at the micro-level:

1. Are these investments reasonable with sufficient credibility and certainty;

2. Are the savings transparent and verifiable from readily available sources;

3. Are the savings consistent or trackable across a variety of locations?

“The Need for and Approaches to Developing Common Protocols to Measure, Verify and Report Energy Efficiency Savings in the Northeast”

Qualified Application Plan and Sustainability

I need to finish reviewing the summary of state QAP’s, but the sustainability trend continues at the state level for affordable housing. Most of the language address a mix of location and material incentives. There is an uneven message on reuse and rehab and certainly some of the language seems cribbed from the USGBC. That’s not always a bad thing, but it certainly doesn’t do much for addressing the operational challenges of sustainability.

I’ll have more once I’ve finished reading the report.

“A Greener Plan for Affordable Housing”

For 2007, there’s an updated report “Greener Policies, Smarter Plans” by James Tassos and distributed by Enterprise Community Partners.

The bottom line is upfront:
“All states promote sustainable development in some fashion through their Housing Credit allocation plans. Forty-two states employ “threshold criteria” – mandatory design, construction, energy standards or other program requirements – that address sustainable development. Forty-eight states encourage green development using selection criteria incentives. State policies that address sustainable development generally fall into four broad categories: energy efficiency; sustainable site selection; resource conservation and indoor air quality.

Perhaps most significantly, 29 states (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin) implemented notable new policies or substantially revised policies encouraging sustainable development since just last year. Thirty-nine states have made significant strides in this area during the past two years.”

The report does not offer substantial discussion of the various QAP allocations and preferences, but it does note some interesting trends. The one that jumped out at me was the Energy Star appliance requirement from 13 states. If you’re wondering, the states are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Site selection continues to be a favorite area to add points, but given that almost all of my developments or properties are in urbanized areas, a project is right for LIHTC or not and a ‘sustainable’ site shouldn’t be the determining factor. This is particularly true in states where there are already incentives for smart growth, TOD, or brownfield locations.

Motel 6 goes CFL nationwide

As part of Accor North America’s Earth Guest program, Motel 6 has completed a CFL and battery recycling initiative at all of its 900 properties.

In partnership with Facility Solutions Group and Veolia Environmental Services, all Motel 6′s have an O & M plan in place to recycle these materials in accordance with local regulations.

“In January of 2006, Motel 6 began its extensive retrofitting of fluorescent lighting at its corporate-owned properties, which consumes 75% less energy than conventional bulbs. The brand’s retrofitting of fluorescent light bulbs and the Motel 6 Battery and Fluorescent Light Bulb Recycling Program complement the efforts of Motel 6’s parent company, Accor North America, to reduce energy consumption in all its properties. In late 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency honored Accor North America as an Energy Star Leader for significantly increasing energy efficiency in its economy hotel properties.”

Accor Press Release

http://www.motel6.com/about/press_room/release.aspx?Document=355

Facility Solutions Group

http://www.fsgconnect.com/index.htm

Veolia Environmental Services

http://veoliaes.com/Home