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.