Building Healthy Communities

The Foundation staff convened a group of experts in green building, sustainability and community development for two days last week to review applications and help select the recipients of our annual Awards of Excellence in Affordable Housing Built Responsibly.   (We selected the finalists, are conducting site visits, and the winners will be announced in November at Greenbuild - sorry no previews!)  This recognition program was created five years ago to answer the question “Can non-profit organizations build houses that are green while they are affordable?”  We knew that the answer was “yes,” and we wanted to showcase examples of organizations not only doing it, but doing it exceptionally well.  We believed this would inspire others to strive to complete similar projects.

I was struck during the discussion how the world has changed during these five years - and how much it hasn’t.  In 2004, we were scrutinizing data about the type of lightbulbs and windows selected, the efficiency of the faucets and whether low-VOC paint was used, even though it was more expensive and difficult to find.  Last week, we were comparing projects that have achieved platinum LEED certification (if you aren’t familiar, take that as shorthand for a very green, very efficient building), considering how accessible transportation is to the residents, and debating whether the density of the buildings had too great of an impact on the natural surroundings.  This was essentially because today only CFLs are used; typical low-flow fixtures reduce water consumption by 30%; and no-VOC paint costs the same as the smelly stuff.

And while I was struck by how our discussion of the projects had evolved to take certain basic sustainable building items as givens and moved on to consider broader community issues as well, I also realized how competitive the 2004 winners would have been in the discussion to select 2009’s recipients.  (See case studies of all of our awards of excellence recipients.)   In fact, this was a reminder of how far ahead mission-based organizations have been when thinking about the practical, pocketbook and health issues of green homes.   Early on, they saw the importance of bringing the benefits of green building to the families they helped and who are now paying less for their utilities every month, having fewer asthma attacks and enjoying the other economic and social benefits stable housing brings.

This also made me think about who was catching up with whom. While the Foundation was only thinking about the four walls of the building and from the lot line in, the nonprofit builders were certainly thinking more broadly about the community-wide issues. They were considering whether their residents would be able to travel easily to jobs, stores and services, whether they were providing assets for the community at large, such as green areas and community centers, and whether they were hiring and training people from the neighborhood. So while I think back over the organizations we have recognized, I want to add an additional note of thanks for the education they have provided us along the way.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Healthy, Affordable Housing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.