On Earth Day (April 22), the House Financial Services Committee passed bipartisan legislation supported by NAA/NMHC that promotes sustainability and energy-efficiency practices in HUD- assisted multifamily housing. The GREEN Act (Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods, H.R. 2336) provides incentives for new and existing structures financed by HUD that meet or exceed minimum energy-efficiency standards established in the bill.
It also authorizes (but doesn’t fund) a four-year, 50,000-unit demonstration program of building rehabilitation strategies and energy-efficient technologies.
NAA/NMHC staff worked closely with the sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), to tailor language regarding green appraisals. As a result of NAA/NMHC’s efforts, a future rulemaking on how appraisals will value energy efficiency and other green features will permit stakeholders to offer suggestions on how such features should be evaluated.
HR 2336 also directs the Comptroller General to conduct an analysis of whether certain provisions of the current building energy code pose an obstacle to deploying distributive energy generation technology and water efficiency measures in federally assisted multifamily housing.
An earlier version of the bill passed the full House in 2008 and again in 2009 as part of climate change legislation (HR 2454) and is expected to pass again. Senate consideration is unclear at this time.