Affordable housing project teams pursuing certification under Enterprise Green Communities now have a new resource to help them achieve points under the Materials Criteria: teams may select either “Enterprise Green Communities – Meets Mandatory Criteria” or “Enterprise Green Communities – Meets Mandatory & Optional Criteria” from the Alignment Tab in the Declare database. This filter provides a list of Declare products that comply with the requirements listed under Enterprise Green Communities Criterion 6.4: Healthier Material Selection. This criterion includes requirements around chemicals of concern in interior paints, coatings, primers, and wallpaper; interior adhesives and sealants; flooring; insulation; and composite wood. The specific requirements for each category can be found in the Enterprise Green Communities 2020 Criteria. 

The chemicals of concern listed in Criterion 6.4 (such as Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), phthalates/orthophthalates, and formaldehyde) largely align with the chemicals restricted by the International Living Future Institute’s (the Institute) Red List. Therefore, the online Declare database is an easy way to find products that comply with this criterion. In addition to materials, Enterprise Green Communities and the Institute’s regenerative building programs (Living Building Challenge, Core, Zero Energy, and Zero Carbon) include overlapping goals to utilize water on site responsibly, reduce energy and carbon impacts, and promote the vitality of residents and communities. The Institute recently published a crosswalk highlighting the intersections between the Core standard and Enterprise Green Communities in order to illuminate these junctions for project teams that may be interested in pursuing both standards.

The International Living Future Institute and Enterprise Community Partners share a vision of transparency and health in building materials for affordable housing. In addition to Criterion 6.4, Enterprise Green Communities also provides the opportunity for teams to achieve additional points by prioritizing products that include disclosure. Criterion 6.1: Ingredient Transparency for Material Health and Criterion 6.3: Chemical Hazard Optimization award points when projects utilize products with the Institute’s Declare labels. A product with a Declare label and a Red List Free status that is also in one of the prioritized categories for Criterion 6.4 would contribute to earning points in all three Criteria. Several of these categories, especially paints, flooring, and insulation, have also been identified by the Institute as top priorities for affordable housing. They are largely interior materials that affect indoor air quality, and are also categories that include dozens of Declare-labeled Red List Free options. Refer to the Institute’s Affordable Housing Materials List to find more Red List Free products that have been researched and used successfully in affordable housing projects. 

The Institute is thrilled to introduce this feature to Declare and to support more affordable housing teams that seek to create healthier buildings. Reach out to Enterprise Community Partners (certification@enterprisecommunity.org) for questions about Enterprise Green Communities, our Declare Team (declare@living-future.org) for inquiries about the Declare database, or to our Affordable Housing Team (affordablehousing@living-future.org) to learn more about the Institute’s affordable housing work and pilot projects.

Written By

Susan Puri

As Affordable Housing Director, Susan helps affordable housing projects achieve Living Building Certification through the Institute’s pilot program. She also helps develop resources and educational materials. Originally from the Atlanta area, Susan attended Georgia Tech where she received a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of City and Regional Planning, with a focus on Affordable Housing Development. She has worked in urban planning in Georgia and in Beijing, China. Susan also worked as a LEED Reviewer with Epsten Group for five years, reviewing LEED applications from more than 30 countries and five rating systems. Susan is very much looking forward to exploring the intersection of affordable housing and sustainability at the International Living Future Institute. When not working, Susan loves traveling and is currently learning Hindi.