Over the past decade, Global Green USA has established itself as a national leader in promoting green building practices in the affordable housing community. Through our Greening of Affordable Housing Initiative (GAHI), we work extensively with non-profit community development corporations, architects, financial institutions, and government agencies at the local, state, and national level.

Green affordable housing directly benefits individuals and families in need by reducing energy bills and creating healthier living environments. Affordable housing developers and operators gain through higher quality, more efficient, and more durable buildings. Through the Greening Affordable Housing Initiative, Global Green works to encourage the adoption of green building strategies and materials in affordable housing. Working with green building and affordable housing organizations, Global Green provides information and education on the practices and components of green affordable housing, cost issues and financial strategies, and relevant policy initiatives. Global Green has conducted over 30 workshops on greening affordable housing; facilitated over 25 green building charrettes; and authored publications and case studies.

Global Green has provided technical assistance to nearly two dozen affordable housing developers nationwide, including for the Nueva Vista Family Housing project in Santa Cruz, CA and the recently completed Plaza Apartments in San Francisco. Currently Global Green is also collaborating with the Habitat for Humanity New York City affiliate’s Atlantic Avenue project in Brooklyn, a LEED-Home pilot project.

GAHI is engaged in a range of endeavors locally and nationally to encourage the development of green affordable housing, including:

• Consulting with Habitat for Humanity on their Operation Home Delivery program which will rebuild over 3,000 homes in the hurricane devastated Gulfcoast region.
• Conducting design charrettes for affordable housing developers across the country.
• Providing technical assistance to non-profit developers on utilizing green building strategies.
• Developing and advocating for the inclusion of green building criteria in affordable housing funding mechanisms, such as the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and the Los Angeles Housing Trust Fund.
• Participating as a national partner in the Enterprise Community Partners’ Green Communities Initiative, a five-year $555 million initiative to build more than 8,500 environmentally healthy homes for low-income families.
• Authoring the “Making Affordable Housing Truly Affordable” report, which provides an analysis of green building criteria in state qualified allocation plans (each state’s guidelines for allocating low-income housing tax credits) nationally.

For more information on scheduling a workshop or presentation, please contact the RESCUE program.

RESCUE Program:
Global Green USA
2218 Main Street, 2nd Floor
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Phone: 310.581.2700 | Fax: 310.581.2702
Walker Wells, AICP, LEED AP
Ted Bardacke, LEEP AP