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Sustainable Real Estate pp 331–346Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

A Case for Sustainable Affordable Housing in the United States

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Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of current challenges and opportunities in the U.S. housing market to advocate for sustainable affordable housing in America. It begins by describing the failure of sprawled residential developments and consumption patterns to provide adequate and affordable housing to many Americans. It transitions to discuss how sustainability and affordable housing frameworks share compatible and overlapping goals. Finally, this paper surveys the existing policies and organizations working to promote development in this field, and asks what might happen to them in the future.

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Notes

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  6. 6.

    Ibid.

  7. 7.

    Wilson, Bev, and Arnab Chakraborty. “The Environmental Impacts of Sprawl: Emergent Themes from the Past Decade of Planning Research.” Sustainability, August 5, 2013. MDPI.

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    Ibid.

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    Freilich, Robert H., and Neil M. Popowitz. “The Umbrella of Sustainability: Smart Growth, New Urbanism, Renewable Energy and Green Development in the 21st Century.” The Urban Lawyer 42, no. 1 (2010): 1–39. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27895766.

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    “Housing and Homelessness in the United States of America.” National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, Chair, US Human Rights Network UPR Housing Working Group to Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of United States of America. September 15, 2014.

  17. 17.

    Ibid.

  18. 18.

    Desmond, Matthew. “Eviction and the Reproduction of Urban Poverty.” American Journal of Sociology 118, no. 1 (2012): 88–133. doi:10.1086/666082.

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    Leopold, Josh, Getsinger, Lisa, Blumenthal, Pamela, Abazajian, Katya, Jordan, Reed. Housing Affordability Gap for Extremely Low-Income Renters in 2013. Washington, D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 2015. Accessed December 11, 2016. http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000260-The-Housing-Affordability-Gap-for-Extremely-Low-Income-Renters-2013.pdf.

  20. 20.

    “Glossary of HUD Terms.” HUD USER. Accessed December 23, 2016. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/glossary/glossary_a.html.

  21. 21.

    Boehland, Jessica. “Greening Affordable Housing.” Race, Poverty & the Environment 13, no. 1 (2006): 59–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41495691.

  22. 22.

    “Top 5 Reasons to be Energy Efficient.” Alliance to Save Energy. November 13, 2013. Accessed August 10, 2017. http://www.ase.org/resources/top-5-reasons-be-energy-efficient.

  23. 23.

    Gorman-Murray, Andrew. Material Geographies of Household Sustainability. Farnham: Taylor and Francis, 2011. Accessed August 10, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central.

  24. 24.

    Burlinghouse, Gerald N., ed. Green Affordable Housing. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2009. Accessed August 10, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central.

  25. 25.

    Ibid.

  26. 26.

    “Buildings: Sustainable Strategies.” Sustainable Cities Institute. 2013. Accessed August 10, 2017. http://www.sustainablecitiesinstitute.org/topics/buildings-and-energy/green-building-101/buildings-sustainable-strategies.

  27. 27.

    “Checklist: LEED v4 for Building Design and Construction.” Usgbc.org. April 5, 2016. Accessed August 10, 2017. https://www.usgbc.org/resources/leed-v4-building-design-and-construction-checklist.

  28. 28.

    Kats, Gregory, Jon Braman, and Michael James. Greening our Built World: Costs, Benefits, and Strategies. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010.

  29. 29.

    Ibid.

  30. 30.

    Breysse, Jill, David E. Jacobs, William Weber, Sherry Dixon, Carol Kawecki, Susan Aceti, and Jorge Lopez. “Health Outcomes and Green Renovation of Affordable Housing.” Public Health Reports (1974–) 126 (2011): 64–75. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41639267.

  31. 31.

    Vittori, Gail D.A. “Affordable Housing: Greening Affordable Housing.” Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law 13, no. 4 (2004): 458–62. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25782712.

  32. 32.

    United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Federal Healthy Homes Work Group. Executive Summary Advancing Healthy Housing: A Strategy for Action. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2013.

  33. 33.

    Ibid, Vittori.

  34. 34.

    Ibid, Kats.

  35. 35.

    “Checklist: LEED v4 for Building Design and Construction.” Usgbc.org. April 5, 2016. Accessed August 10, 2017. https://www.usgbc.org/resources/leed-v4-building-design-and-construction-checklist.

  36. 36.

    Connected Communities: Linking Affordable Housing and Transportation | HUD USER. Accessed August 10, 2017. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_research_071414.html.

  37. 37.

    “Location Affordability Index.” Location Affordability Portal. Accessed August 10, 2017. http://www.locationaffordability.info/.

  38. 38.

    Weiss, Jonathan D. “Preface: Smart Growth and Affordable Housing.” Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law 12, no. 2 (2003): 165–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25782595.

  39. 39.

    Ibid, Kats.

  40. 40.

    Gomez, Sarah. “The Case for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): Successfully Shifting the Status Quo While Managing Risk.” Innovation and Sustainability (2016).

  41. 41.

    Shear, William B. Green Affordable Housing: HUD Has Made Progress in Promoting Green Building, but Expanding Efforts Could Help Reduce Energy Costs and Benefit Tenants. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Accountability Office, Diane Publishing Co., 2008.

  42. 42.

    United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Office of Policy Development and Research, Office of Community Planning and Development. HUD’S ENERGY ACTION PLAN. By Michael Freedberg and Robert Groberg. Washington, D.C.: HUD.

  43. 43.

    Ibid.

  44. 44.

    “Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program Guidance.” Energy.gov. Accessed December 23, 2016. https://energy.gov/eere/wipo/energy-efficiency-and-conservation-block-grant-program-guidance.

  45. 45.

    “Office of Sustainable Communities_SCI.” Office of Sustainable Communities_SCI. Accessed December 23, 2016. https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=%2Fhudprograms%2Fsci.

  46. 46.

    “Docket No. FR-5396-N-01: Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program Advance Notice and Request for Comment.” Enterprise Community Partners and Adrienne E. Quinn to Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities; US Department of Housing and Urban Development. March 10, 2010.

  47. 47.

    Ibid, Shear.

  48. 48.

    United States. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Community Affairs Department. Low-Income Housing Tax Credits: Affordable Housing Investment Opportunities for Banks. By David Black and Sherrie L.W. Rhine. Washington, DC: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 2014.

  49. 49.

    “About LIHTC.” About the Low Income Housing Tax Credit | National Equity Fund, Inc. Accessed December 23, 2016. http://www.nefinc.org/whoweare/aboutlihtc.html.

  50. 50.

    Ibid.

  51. 51.

    Abair, Jesse W. “Green Buildings: What It Means To Be “Green” and the Evolution of Green Building Laws.” The Urban Lawyer 40, no. 3 (2008): 623–32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23801459.

  52. 52.

    Ibid.

  53. 53.

    Ibid.

  54. 54.

    “Planning and Sustainability.” The City of Portland Oregon. Accessed December 23, 2016. https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/.

  55. 55.

    United States. Office of Housing. SeaGreen: Greening Seattle’s Affordable Housing. By Katie Hong and Greg Nickels. Seattle, WA: City of Seattle, 2002.

  56. 56.

    Ibid.

  57. 57.

    Ibid, Abair. City of Gainesville, Fla., Code of Ordinances art. 1.5, § 6–12. D.C. Code §6-1451.06(a) (2007).

  58. 58.

    Ibid, Abair.

  59. 59.

    Vancouver, City Of. “Sustainable Zoning.” City of Vancouver. May 16, 2012. Accessed August 11, 2017. http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/sustainable-zoning-landing.aspx.

  60. 60.

    United States. General Assembly of North Carolina. Senate. An Act to Allow Counties and Cities to Provide Building Permit Fee Reductions or Partial Rebates to Encourage Construction of Buildings Using Sustainable Design Principles to Achieve Energy Efficiency. Senate Bill 581 ed. Session Law 2007-381. General Assembly of North Carolina, 2007.

  61. 61.

    Ibid, Shear.

  62. 62.

    Ibid, Freilich.

  63. 63.

    Mann, Bonnie, and Tim Davis. Municipal Action Guide: Creating Green Affordable Housing. Washington, DC: National League of Cities, 2009.

  64. 64.

    “Green Building Standards and Certification Systems” Green Building Standards and Certification Systems | WBDG Whole Building Design Guide. Accessed December 23, 2016. https://www.wbdg.org/resources/green-building-standards-and-certification-systems.

  65. 65.

    “2015 Criteria.” Enterprise Community Partners. Accessed December 23, 2016. http://www.enterprisecommunity.org/solutions-and-innovation/green-communities/criteria.

  66. 66.

    “Via Verde.” ULI Case Studies. 2016. Accessed December 23, 2016. http://casestudies.uli.org/via-verde/.

  67. 67.

    Ibid.

  68. 68.

    “Governor Cuomo Announces Nearly $100 Million in New Green Bonds for Affordable Housing.” Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. 2016. Accessed December 23, 2016. https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-nearly-100-million-new-green-bonds-affordable-housing.

  69. 69.

    Shear, Michael D. “Trump will Withdraw U.S. From Paris Climate Agreement (New York, NY), June. 1, 2017.

  70. 70.

    “Graphic: The relentless rise of carbon dioxide.” NASA. Accessed December 23, 2016. http://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/.

  71. 71.

    Tachuchi, Hiroko and Fountain, Henry. “Bucking Trump, These Cities, States and Companies Commit to Paris Accord.” New York Times (New York, NY), June. 1, 2017.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Sarah Gomez

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  1. Sarah Gomez
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. David O’Brien Centre for Sustainable Enterprise, John Molson School of Business Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Thomas Walker  & Lisa N. Hasan  & 

  2. Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Cary Krosinsky

  3. Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Cary Krosinsky

  4. John Molson School of Business Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Stéfanie D. Kibsey

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Gomez, S. (2019). A Case for Sustainable Affordable Housing in the United States. In: Walker, T., Krosinsky, C., Hasan, L.N., Kibsey, S.D. (eds) Sustainable Real Estate. Palgrave Studies in Sustainable Business In Association with Future Earth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94565-1_13

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