Enterprise: Today in Housing: Enterprise Launches the 2020 Green Communities Criteria

NEWS, RESEARCH AND POLICY UPDATES ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

JANUARY 22, 2020

For inquiries, please reach out to Today in Housing Managing Editor Ahmad Abu-Khalaf, senior research analyst at Enterprise.

Enterprise Community Partners today launched the 2020 Enterprise Green Communities Criteria (Criteria), which set the standard for green affordable housing construction nationwide. The Criteria, first launched in 2005 in consultation with leading environmental, public health and green building experts, were the first national green building guidelines specifically for affordable housing. For the first time, the Criteria will offer two levels of certification; Enterprise Green Communities Certification Plus will recognize the most exemplary green developments making the greatest strides along the “Path to Zero.” In addition to the Path to Zero, other major updates to the 2020 Criteria include new Project Priorities Survey to shape project goals with resident input, new approach to healthy and environmentally friendly building materials and amplified approach to stormwater management. Enterprise Green Communities is one of several initiatives under Building Resilient Futures, Enterprise's core strategy working to expand climate resilience nationwide. Learn more about the 2020 Criteria on the Enterprise website.

The Boston University Initiative on Cities has released its 2019 Menino Survey of Mayors, which explores the views of 119 sitting mayors on issues ranging from infrastructure to climate change. The survey findings show that 30 percent of interviewed mayors cited infrastructure as the issue they would like addressed in the upcoming presidential election, followed by housing affordability (15 percent) and climate change (11 percent). Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of mayors see affordable housing as part of the city's infrastructure and 27 percent of mayors believe that high housing costs are one of the top two obstacles to achieving social mobility for residents. While mayors want to increase the amount of housing in their cities, their desired increases are relatively modest - half of the mayors indicate that they want less than a 10 percent increase in the number of housing units in their cities over the next 10 years.

Courtesy of Enterprise