The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has announced $19 million in new grant and loan awards to 32 properties under its Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP). These grants and loans will support significant energy efficiency and climate resilience renovations in more than 4,260 homes occupied by low-income individuals, families, and seniors. The awards bring the total funding awarded under this program to more than $773 million, serving 20,752 homes.
GRRP provides funding for direct loans and grants to fund projects that improve energy or water efficiency, enhance indoor air quality or sustainability, implement the use of zero-emission electricity generation, low-emission building materials or processes, energy storage, or building electrification strategies, or address climate resilience, of eligible HUD-assisted multifamily properties. GRRP also provides funding to support benchmarking at assisted properties.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is ensuring that our country’s housing stock is not only affordable, but also resilient and energy-efficient,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “Today, we are awarding crucial funds to renovate thousands of homes, making enhancements such as improved indoor air quality and integrating renewable energy sources. These changes are not trivial–they will reduce costs and increase the quality of life of the people we house.”
All of the investments seek to advance environmental justice in line with President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Retrofitting these homes will reduce their emissions, make them more resilient to extreme weather events, cut energy costs, and advance the President’s housing and clean energy agenda, ensuring affordable housing stays affordable for residents and building owners across the nation.
GRRP investments making a difference
“These awards once again demonstrate the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to affordable housing preservation and climate resilience,” said Assistant Secretary for Housing Julia Gordon. “We’re investing funds that will improve the homes and lives of thousands of lower income individuals and families and make a real difference in areas where investment has lagged for far too long.”
HUD’s latest round of GRRP funding includes awards for properties in 18 states, including the first award in Vermont. The funding announced will increase energy and water efficiency, reduce climate pollution, generate renewable energy and reduce emissions, promote the use of low embodied carbon materials, and improve the quality of life for residents by making their homes more resilient to climate risks and by improving indoor air quality.
The grants and loans awarded are the third set of awards made under the GRRP’s Elements category, which provides funding to properties for proven and meaningful climate resilience and utility efficiency measures in projects that are already in the process of being recapitalized. Of the 32 properties receiving Elements awards, 29 are properties that participate in the HUD Section 8 project-based rental assistance program for low-income individuals and families and three properties participate in HUD’s Section 202 project-based rental assistance program for low-income seniors. Six properties have more than 200 units, 22 properties have between 51-200 units, and four properties have 50 or fewer units.
GRRP progress
GRRP is the first HUD program to simultaneously invest in energy efficiency, renewable energy generation, climate resilience, and low-embodied-carbon materials in HUD-assisted multifamily housing. All of the investments under the GRRP will be made in affordable housing communities serving low-income families, directly benefiting HUD-assisted housing, in alignment with the Justice40 Initiative.
As of July 23, 2024, GRRP funding has been awarded to 171 properties and more than 20,700 rental homes, to make them greener, healthier, and safer for low-income households, seniors, and persons with disabilities. The projects span the range from targeted upgrades to major net-zero renovation for properties in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
As of July 23, 2024, HUD has awarded more than $773.4 million in grants and surplus cash loans under the GRRP; $393.6 million in grants and $379.7 million in surplus cash loans.
Of the awardees receiving grants and loans in eight rounds of funding, 143 are properties receiving Multifamily Section 8 project-based rental assistance, 27 properties are receiving Section 202 project-based rental assistance for low-income seniors, and one is receiving Section 811 project-based rental assistance for low-income persons with disabilities.
GRRP funding is being used for insulation, energy efficient windows and doors, heat-resistant roofs, energy efficient heating and cooling, resiliency measures and other improvements.
GRRP is designed to work for properties of all sizes, and with a range of energy efficiency and climate resilience needs. 34 properties receiving grant and loan awards have 50 or fewer units, some 113 properties have between 51 and 200 units, while 24 have more than 200 units.
Approximately 900 properties have also signed up for HUD’s free energy and water benchmarking service, funded with more than $40 million from the President’s Inflation Reduction Act, so that HUD-assisted housing property owners can better understand the energy and water consumption at their properties in relation to other similar properties. This benchmarking information can in turn be used to assess energy efficiency and water conservation upgrades that can be funded under the GRRP.
