According to a report by AP, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has ended the Biden administration era $1 billion Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), a nationwide program established to fund renovation projects at affordable housing units.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reportedly was tasked will pulling the plug on the GRRP, authorized and funded by Section 30002 of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the program was intended to amplify tech advancements in utility efficiency and energy generation to bring a new focus on preparing for climate hazards by reducing residents’ and properties’ exposure to hazards, and protecting life, livability, and property when disaster strikes. GRRP grants and loans were distributed to owners of affordable housing units in need of updating their heating and cooling systems, repair leaky roofs, replace old insulation or windows, or other housing preservation measures.
HUD offered GRRP funding through three separate cohorts designed to meet the varying needs of HUD’s assisted multifamily portfolio. The three cohorts of awards will be implemented through three parallel Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs), as follows:
- The Elements NOFO provides modest awards designed to add proven and highly impactful climate resilience and carbon reduction measures to the construction scopes of in-progress recapitalization transactions.
- The Leading Edge NOFO provides funding to owners aiming to quickly meet ambitious carbon reduction, renewable energy generation, use of building materials with lower embodied carbon, and resilience goals without requiring extensive technical assistance from HUD.
- The Comprehensive NOFO provides funding to initiate recapitalization investments designed from inception around deep retrofits, focused on innovative energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions reductions, green and healthy housing measures, renewable energy generation, use of building materials with lower embodied carbon, and climate resilience investments. Comprehensive Awards are designed for the widest range of properties, including those that have not yet developed a recapitalization plan.
Primary goals of the GRRP include:
- Substantially improving energy and water efficiency and reducing emissions, including moving properties toward net zero, zero ready, or zero over time energy and emissions performance standards;
- Addressing climate resilience, including synergies that can be achieved between efficiency, emissions reduction, and resilience investments;
- Enhancing indoor air quality and resident health;
- Implementing the use of zero-emission electricity generation and energy storage;
- Minimizing embodied carbon and incorporate low-emission building materials or processes; and
- Supporting building electrification.
As we went to press with this article, links about the GRRP were no longer functioning on HUD’s website.
