(F09) Beyond the Numbers Game – New Models to Scale Affordable, Healthy, and Green Housing

Poor housing conditions are linked to poor health conditions, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have forced more people into such precarious housing conditions. One of the leading health issues in substandard housing is poor air quality, which is associated with exacerbated asthma burden in low-income, Black, and Brown communities. Even before the pandemic, asthma-related absenteeism, medical expenses, and mortality cost the US a total of over $82 billion, with numbers having been estimated to substantially increased during the pandemic. As cities across the country strive to achieve housing targets, primarily focusing on creating and preserving a target number of affordable housing units, housing quality and sustainability are not always prioritized. This is often due to lack of scalable programs, initiatives, and tools. In response, this session will focus on providing resources to address this issue, highlighting the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, WELL v2 Certification, and the Fannie Mae Healthy Housing Rewards program. A deep dive on a case study with Jonathan Rose Companies will feature an urban rehabilitation project in the Bronx, New York.

Enterprise Community Partners and the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) have partnered to advance affordable, healthy, and green housing development through Enterprise’s Green Communities 2020 Criteria. By integrating Enterprise’s green building program with the research-backed WELL Certification, Enterprise and IWBI have developed a roadmap for developing integrous affordable housing that can achieve both goals. The first housing development in the country jointly certified under the Green Communities 2020 Criteria and WELL, Thessalonica Court, was rehabilitated by Jonathan Rose Companies. The development provided retrofitting for improved air quality and energy efficiency in every unit, while also modernizing the building to meet climate resiliency standards and ensure the longevity of the affordable units.

Furthermore, new financial incentives, such as Fannie Mae’s Healthy Housing Rewards, signal industry recognition of the economic and societal value of creating healthy, sustainable, affordable housing. This program builds off the Green Financing program which has widespread national adoption based on backing of properties with Green Building Certifications and existing US rental housing stock that has been retrofit to become more energy-efficient.

Using Thessalonica Court as a case study, this session will bring together expert speakers to discuss the future of healthy, sustainable, equitable housing for all, with a focus on scalable programs, initiatives, and tools to operationalize project success.