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environmental impacts on building construction
the environmental impact of eco friendly construction
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Overview
Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) projects are the primary catalysts for community improvement in many under-privileged areas within the State of Texas. These developments of affordable rental housing provide the major impetus for urban core revitalization and attempt the critical task of re-shaping the design of under-served communities and the lives of many low-income families. While these important endeavors are being undertaken, community concerns about the long-term impact of optional environmental, sustainable housing designs are anxieties that the current LIHTC program doesn’t fully address. These public concerns about green sustainable building practices speak to how higher-performing developments with energy-efficiency schemes, lower utility costs, healthier living environments, and site locations near public transportation/public services should be a mandatory inclusion in the award of all LIHTC funds.
Without state “required” measures of green, sustainable standards in the awarding and allocation of LIHTC funds and in the absence of review sanctions (e.g., deduction of application review points) for non-adherence to existing sustainable development specifications, the LIHTC program falls considerably short of addressing the overwhelming need to develop “green” in many of our state-subsidized low-income multi-family developments. The purpose of this policy brief is to show and recommend that 1). TDHCA needs to formally adopt mandatory green or sustainable standards to which all applicants seeking funding must adhere to; and 2). With the adoption of these mandatory green, sustainable standards, all LIHTC funded projects will reap the lifelong benefits that energy-efficient and environmentally, susta...
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Lawrence, P. (July 2011). Greening Affordable Housing:Moving from Niche to Industry Standard. Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, 2-4.
MortgageLoan.com. (2013, April 23). Green Mortgages - Energy Efficient Mortgage Guide. Retrieved april 3, 2014, from Mortgage Loan.com: http://www.mortgageloan.com/environment/
Murray R. (2008). McGraw-Hill Construction’s Green OUtlook 2009: Trends Driving Change Report. McGraw-Hill.
Novogradac & Company, L. (2014). Low-Income Housing Tax Credit:Federal LIHTCs . Retrieved April 15, 2014, from Novogradac Federal Housing Resource Center: http://www.novoco.com/low_income_housing/lihtc/federal_lihtc.php
Partners, E. C. (2009). Enterprise Calls on Congress to Strengthen the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. Washington: Enterprise Community Partners.
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization dedicate to building homes for low-income individuals. This organization requires that potential homeowners assist in the building of their home or others to reduce the financing cost of homeownership. This paper focuses on the percentage of property tax revenue, two arguments in favor, and two arguments property tax breaks for Habitat of Humanity homeowner, and case resolution.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a certification program for green buildings with stringent requirements for building energy efficient and environmentally responsible structures. Some requirements of this program include specific building materials, smart grid capable, gray water reclamation systems, green space minimums, high levels of insulation and low thermal transfer glass (US Green Building Council). Green buildings are a must if we are to sustain our current level of growth. Despite the higher initial cost of these buildings, the long term energy savings make these buildings a smarter choice for
New York City is not only a tourist attraction, but considered one of the most expensive cities in the world to fund because of its superb security, overall popularity, and partly its dependence on Wall Street to pay high income taxes to fund social programs, such as those who help homeless individuals and low-income residents. Ever since Bloomberg's re-election in 2005 he warned New Yorker's that because of a gaping budget deficit the city may have to raise property tax and state tax. The only people who struggle the most from increasing taxes are those who are barely able to pay rent and other expenses, such as utilities bills. One of the reasons why increasing taxes affect individuals is because as property taxes rise the property owner has to spend more, which means his/her profits may be affected, thus increasing the rent of tenants (the most current increase was 4% in one-year leases and 7.25% in two-year leases). In the other hand residents that currently live in homeless shelters have fewer chances of finding an affordable apartment even if he/she obtains a job (Most of the jobs homeless shelters refuges receive are low-paying jobs).
The U.S department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) helps Americans find affordable housing. According to the text, the nation's public housing supply had diminished, and the government has yet to fund public housing since 1994. In addition to the dwindling of funds the federal government has not even recovered demolished homes. The housing Choice Voucher also known as section 8 is now the main approach to assisting very low-income families and individuals.
Terner presents the beginning of a solution to the affordable housing problem in his article Affordable Housing: An Impossible Dream? in The Commonwealth, published June 1994. His company founded from an anonymous $600,000 donation is a non-profit organization that builds quality, affordable housing for low-income families. Its effects, however, are limited. One project just opened in San Francisco with 3,000 applicants and 108 acceptances, which can be looked at as pretty dismal statistics. “This is just a drop in the bucket,” writes Terner, ‘the real question is how to expand and replicate.” (Terner, p. 392) It is this expansion that the bulk of the article argues for. Terner values a fair chance for all citizens at the “American Dream” and this chance involves the whole community. Terner mentions the “NIMBY” syndrome, or Not-In-My-Back-Yard Syndrome, where communities support the concept of affordable housing, but none that are to be built in their community. Ideally one could turn to the government for help with problems such as housing, but National, State, and local governments have proven themselves to be ...
According to HUD, a household should spend no more than 30% of its income on housing. This means that families earning $50,000 annually should be paying no than $1500 per month on housing. Despite earning twice the Federal Poverty Level when factoring housing, food, transportation, and medical costs many Orange County residents could find themselves living in “suburban poverty.” Findings have shown that “three-quarters of parents who pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent or mortgage have had to make major sacrifices to afford the cost. So have a large majority of African American and Hispanic
Sidney, Mara S. 2003. Unfair Housing: How National Policy Shapes Community Action. Lawrence: Univ. Press of Kansas.
Weltman, Barbara. "Tax Incentives for Going Green." NY Report. N.p., 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
Kats, G., Alevantis, L., Berman A., Perlman J., & Mills, E. (2003, October). The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings: A Report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force. Retrieved from http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/News477.pdf
Typical loans don’t cover the cost of incorporating green aspects when choosing to build eco-friendly. However, there certain companies that offers energy efficient mortgages (EEM’s). One company, My Energy Loan (www.myEnergyLoan.com) does both residential and commercial eco-friendly loans, included in there services are ideas to help improve efficiency. They do an assessment and make suggestions on some ideas of improvements including lowe...
Globally, green buildings are being recognised and accredited, leading to the introduction of various tools and indices with one common objective that is to evaluate, measure, distinguish and sets apart this uniquely designed buildings from the rest. The Diamond Building carries a Green Building Index (GBI) accreditation, a first in Malaysia. Among the achievement of the ST Diamond Building are:
Green building has come forth over the past decade as a positive movement to produce high-performance, energy-efficient structures that improve comfort and health for resident, meanwhile, minimizing environmental impacts. Nevertheless, a common sense that green features is expensive and not suitable for affordable housing. Recent studies are showed that green buildings have a modest initial cost premium, but the long-term benefits far exceed the additional capital costs. For this report, I will introduce a financial analysis -Net Present Value (NPV), and discuss the impacts of NPV analysis for green affordable housing.
"A Renewed Commitment to Buildings and Their Social Benefits." U.S. Green Building Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. .
The beginnings of today's green revolution can be traced back to the environmental awareness of the 1960s and European design. New construction techniques have lead to the development of innovative materials and design concepts. Green buildings are designed, constructed and commissioned to ensure they are healthy for their occupants. Successfully designed green projects can involve an extensive array of factors, ranging from the resourceful use of materials, to careful consideration of function, climate, and location.
... known as HUD. This program allows for people who cannot afford normal rent to live in certain homes approved by the program. This program is also income based. The applicant must fit in the regulations to be approved for HUD housing. The landlord or owner of the property also has hoops to jump through as well to get their residencies approved. The houses and apartments must go through an inspection to be approved.