This article originally appeared in the Saporta Report Thought Leaders section in March, 2016.
The subject of green building leads people to think of drowning in guidelines, checklists and expensive upgrades. The subject of affordable housing conjures thoughts of code compliant, cost conscious construction that allows for minimal enhancements of any kind. At face value, the two are seemingly incompatible ideas. Southface’s Alex Trachtenberg and Sarah Hill, along with the Virginia Center for Housing and Research at Virginia Tech, are aiming to upend the notion that green building can’t also be affordable, especially for those who need it most.
Southface and the Virginia Center for Housing and Research produced a report entitled “The Impact of Green Affordable Housing” in 2016. Trachtenberg then led a session on the results of the report at Southface’s annual sustainability conference, Greenprints. The session, “The Dollars and Sense of Green Affordable Housing,” was attended by architects, builders, designers, city planners, government representatives and nonprofit executives.
Many construction companies assume green building practices are prohibitively expensive in all but the most luxurious developments. However, this new report shows that even for affordable housing developments, the numbers tell a different story…
Read the full story on The Saporta Report Thought Leaders section.
