Organizations like the Healthy Building Network (HBN), Housing Partnership Network (HPN), and the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) share a vision for safer and healthier housing and have each developed a set of resources that can be used to educate and to facilitate the selection of safer products. Though there are some differences in terminology and approach among these organizations and others that are seeking transparent and healthy ingredients, there is much alignment around the urgency of transparency and healthier options in the built environment. The prevalence of resources available providing information on healthier products means that the process of transforming product libraries and typical project specifications, while far from easy, is much more straightforward than in previous years. Leveraging the strength of each of the resources discussed below will further streamline the process. Each project and team that prioritizes the health and well-being of building occupants (along with factory workers and fenceline communities) increases the momentum of this movement and makes it easier for the next project to also integrate healthy materials. 

A few years ago, Julie de Jesus, Former Director of Interiors at David Baker Architects, began learning about phthalates when she discovered that they were being banned from children’s toys. She wondered why, if these chemicals are too dangerous for toys,  would they still be so prevalent in the flooring products she was specifying? While toys are certainly one exposure route, babies and toddlers also crawl and put their hands on floors all day. She began asking all the flooring product representatives they worked with about phthalates until she had removed all products with these chemicals from David Baker’s product library. She then moved on to other product categories, prioritizing those with the highest volume and the largest amount of touch surfaces in their projects, slowly transforming the product library, and by extension the affordable homes they design, to be healthier and greener. 

For Julie and her clients, creating healthier materials specifications starts with education. The foundation for this work is a shared understanding among team members about goals and rationale. Spending the time to educate their teams internally, particularly by bringing it back to the residents and potential health impacts, helped create buy-in and scale the effort to more projects. 

One of Julie’s clients, the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC), has been on a parallel journey to remove harmful categories from their typical project specifications. Early in 2021, TNDC registered four projects with ILFI’s Affordable Housing Program. Each is pursuing either Core, Zero Carbon, or Materials Petal certifications. Implementing healthier materials is a natural extension of TNDC’s organizational values to promote health and wellness among residents. David Baker Architects is also part of ILFI’s Affordable Housing Program and is now working on their third Pilot Project pursuing an ILFI certification. Julie and TNDC used resources from HBN, ILFI, and HPN to educate their teams and find products to specify. 

A summary of some of the resources available from each of the three organizations is below. 

Resources

• HomeFree (Healthy Building Network)
  • A national initiative to support leaders in affordable housing who are improving human health by using less toxic building materials.
  • A set of resources that provide education and insights on the relative safety of ten different product categories, including flooring, cabinetry, and doors. 
  • The Hazard Spectrum provides health information for each product category using a red (most hazardous)-to-green (least hazardous) ranking system.
  • Specification guidance, case studies, and a transparency guide are also available

• Declare + ILFI’s Materials List for Affordable Housing (ILFI)
  • Declare is a transparency database and ingredient label for products providing information on where a product is assembled, what it is made of, and end of life options.
  • Declare specifically highlights any chemicals on the LBC Red List or LBC Watch List and identifies whether the product is Red List Free, Red List Approved, or Declared.
  • ILFI’s Materials List for Affordable Housing is a downloadable spreadsheet listing products by CSI Division that are Red List free, making it easier for affordable housing teams to locate healthy materials to use in their projects. The list also includes applicability to the Living Building Challenge and other ILFI certifications, as well as to Enterprise Green Communities.

The Red List includes the worst-in-class materials, chemicals, and elements pervasive in the built environment that are known to cause serious health risks to individuals and the greater ecosystem. 

• HPN Select and EcoGuide  (Housing Partnership Network, HPN Select now owned by Buyer’s Access)
  • HPN Select is a procurement platform which leverages collective buying power of affordable housing developers by aggregating purchase orders in order to arrange preferred pricing of materials.
  • The EcoGuide provides the status of each product related to a wide range of third-party certifications, such as Declare, Cradle to Cradle, FloorScore, and Greenguard.
  • The EcoGuide also provides information on energy and water efficiency (and related cost savings), as well as maintenance costs for some product categories.

Other organizations like Mindful Materials and the BlueGreen Alliance also include databases of healthier products that can be used when searching for options. 

The resources above can work in harmony to help project teams work through the difficult pinch points in materials vetting, selection, specification, and procurement. For example, imagine an architect is looking for a healthier flooring product to specify on her current project. She knows that vinyl flooring isn’t the best option, but she isn’t quite sure of the best alternative. She knows of a few resources with information on healthy materials, but often ends up searching Google to find a quick answer. She visits HomeFree and learns that fluorinated stain repellents in carpets and products marketed as “anti-microbial” and having a health benefit should be avoided as well. She sees that linoleum is considered one of the healthier flooring options. She then goes to the  Declare database to search for specific Red-List Free product options. She finds several options available by Forbo and Tarkett and begins looking into how the products would fit into her project’s aesthetic and functional needs. Since her project is an affordable housing development, she reaches out to Housing Partnership Select once she decides on a product and they assist with finding sourcing at an affordable price.

This example shows how using all three resources streamlined the entire process from education to procurement. When writing the project specifications, the project team can also turns to sample specifications from HBN and ILFI that provide sample language for avoiding certain problematic ingredients and ensuring that any products used on site are not on ILFI’s Red List, and do not jeopardize any Living Building Challenge and/or other certification goals of the project. 

HBN and ILFI also strongly encourage all project team members to take an active role in advocating for healthier products. Thanks to advocacy from Julie and other conscientious designers, architects, and contractors, as well as organizations like ILFI and HBN, phthalates have now mostly been eliminated in flooring products.

Using the ILFI framework, the architect on the example project may decide to reach out to flooring manufacturers without a Declare label and request ingredient disclosure and the elimination of Red List ingredients so that their products may be used on future projects without fear of compromising the health and safety of residents. HBN also encourages project team members to push for ingredient disclosure (such as a health product declaration or Declare label) from manufacturers. In the case of flooring, HBN notes that topcoats are a pervasive source of hazardous exposures and are a high priority for disclosure.

All of these resources and databases of products, such as Declare, have grown exponentially in the past several years, highlighting the increasing awareness that is taking place in the industry. Architects and developers advocating directly to manufacturers have been a big part of the shift. Manufacturers that have responded to this call for action by providing ingredient information, HPDs and Declare labels as well as reformulating their products to eliminate toxic chemicals. These manufacturers request that designers ensure that this progress is not lost by consistently specifying and promoting the use of these healthier products in their buildings and advocating to clients to prioritize sustainability and transparency. 

The more designers participate in the process of educating themselves about healthier products and advocating for transparency (and eventually specifying transparent, safer products, speeds up the movement towards healthier buildings, especially for those most vulnerable who often have the least choices about their exposure level.  

Cover image: The Coliseum Place project in Oakland, CA, an ILFI affordable housing pilot project. Courtesy of David Baker Architects

Triple Bottom Line Benefits for Residents

Zero Energy homes are not only environmentally sustainable, they also cost less to operate, and are healthier to live in. Low-income families have a far higher cost burden for utilities, spending, on average, 17% of their income on utility bills, compared to 2-3% for other households.^[1] Affordable housing units tend to be older and less energy efficient, meaning that low-income households also pay more for utilities on a square foot basis—up to twice as much as median-income households and three times as much as high-income households.^[2] Within the Gila River Indian Community in the Sonoran Desert south of Phoenix (the location of the Gila River Indian Community Sustainable Housing), nearly 50% of the community lives below the federal poverty line ($12,490 for an individual per year), while these same residents face utility bills of up to $600 per month in the summer.

In addition to these profound economic impacts, energy inefficient homes also pose health risks to low-income residents. The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2004 issued findings that households receiving Low-Income Home Energy Assistance benefits showed lower rates of malnutrition and lower incidences of acute emergency room visits among children than similar households, suggesting that access to affordable energy is also a public safety benefit.^[3] Numerous studies have also confirmed the indoor air quality issues related to gas appliances, which can exacerbate asthma, heart conditions, and other chronic illnesses that are more prevalent in low-income communities. The California Air Resources Board voted last November to support all-electric buildings after research linking health impacts, including an increased vulnerability to symptoms of COVID-19,, to emissions from natural gas appliances 

As we continue to deplete our store of fossil fuel resources, energy prices will rise, while prices for renewable energy systems, especially solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and energy storage systems, will continue to decline .^[4] The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reports that the cost of PV electricity in the United States has fallen 72% since 2011. Globally, the price of electricity generated from wind and solar is now on par with fossil fuels.^[5] The cost of utility-scale solar in the United States is now an average of 0$0.07/kWh (with onshore wind coming in at around $0.05/kWh), as compared to $0.05 to $0.17/kWh for fossil-fuel-derived power.

Zero Energy Solutions

Affordable housing tenants and owners of affordable housing buildings will find significant relief from the financial instability that comes with rising energy bills through Zero Energy strategies. On-site energy generation through photovoltaic panels paired with storage capacity increases a community’s resilience during times of disaster or price spikes in grid-provided, non-renewable energy. Solar energy and other renewable energy options also provide local jobs through on-site installation and maintenance, while creating the potential for regional manufacturing. Low-income residents deserve freedom from energy bills. In cases where residents do not directly pay utility bills, zero-energy buildings allow for the Affordable Housing Developer to build more units of housing or provide other amenities, rather than spending money on energy bills.

Many of ILFI’s Affordable Housing Pilot Projects are in the process of designing and building Zero Energy housing. Among these projects, a few steps and strategies have emerged as key.

Passive Strategies

The first step is to look at all energy use reduction strategies that are cost neutral. These include architectural design strategies related to building massing, building orientation, and daylighting. Maximizing the potential to use the building itself as a passive conditioning system through solar gains, preconditioning of air or water, convection, evacuation, air separation, and other methods means that the loads on mechanical systems will naturally be lower, requiring less elaborate or expensive systems

Likewise, initial design moves related to building orientation and massing can also play a big role in a project’s ability to maximize the use of daylighting throughout the day and can greatly minimize the use of electric lights.

Common Spaces and Corridors

Common spaces within multifamily buildings account for a large portion of the energy consumption—based on project team reports. Often 20–30% of the energy use of the entire building is associated with these areas. Ventilation and lighting systems within corridors are sometimes over-designed or not thoroughly commissioned. The energy demands of corridors and vertical circulation, such as stairwells, can be reduced drastically for zero or less cost through a detailed evaluation of service levels and conditioning expectations in each space. For example, moving a corridor to the exterior of the conditioned envelope may permit the downsizing or removal of lighting and conditioning loads associated with these spaces. This has the additional benefit of giving units direct access to outside air for cross-ventilation, which is otherwise not possible in an interior layout, particularly in a double-loaded corridor. Exterior corridors also allow residents to feel more connected to the natural world as they circulate throughout the building, because they experience the time of day, weather, and lighting levels that are occurring naturally outside.

Similarly, creating attractive and pleasant stairwells that are open to the air and which provide views helps decrease the energy associated with the elevator, which often runs throughout the day and can be difficult to model accurately prior to construction. Such stairwells also have the added benefit of promoting a healthy and active lifestyle. Ensuring that the stairwell is featured prominently in relation to the front entrance of the building is critical and also does not represent any added cost.

Envelope and Systems

Domestic hot water systems have been shown, through a number of affordable housing pilot projects, to represent a disproportionately high relative percentage of energy consumption in housing, particularly in milder climates. Focusing on reducing energy costs associated with domestic hot water use—by choosing more water-efficient fixtures, shorter distribution runs, and the inclusion of electric heat-pump-based water heating units—should be considered by all project teams.Simple investments in additional continuous insulation and best-practice detailing to yield a tighter envelope can make a long-lasting reduction in the building’s energy demands, as well as an increase in comfort. These investments in the envelope help reduce the amount of heating and cooling energy that is required. While tenant energy use behavior can be variable, affordable housing developers can set residents up for success by providing efficient appliances or equipment. For example, installing and providing LED light bulbs, ENERGY STAR appliances, and high-efficiency rated laundry systems can significantly reduce the plug loads associated with each unit. Some developers have found it prudent to even purchase consumer appliances such as televisions for each unit to ensure older energy-draining appliances are not used, particularly when energy costs are not directly paid by tenants.

Learning from Tradition

The original inhabitants of a place can often provide simple, time-tested, and climate-appropriate solutions. For example, the indigenous tribes in Alaska traditionally used thermal mass, sod roofs, arctic entries (a kind of vestibule that isolates the cold and particulates from entering the rest of the house), and local building materials (which also decreases the embodied carbon of the building). Muldoon Gardens, located in Anchorage, Alaska, utilized some of these native Alaskan design principles to drive their EUI down from 120-160 kBTU/sf (the typical range in Anchorage) to 33 kBTU/sf. 

Step by Step to Zero-Energy 

In order to evaluate and implement the strategies outlined above, and ultimately achieve Zero Energy, project teams should leverage tools and integrated processes at each phase of development. Recommended processes steps  that should be explored by projects during each phase of a project include:

Pre-design

·   Conduct a detailed analysis of the local climate and project site conditions, including any solar and wind resources available, adjacent daylighting obstructions, or sources of noise and pollution that should be accounted for during the design phase.

·   Set an energy use target based on an evaluation of comparable buildings of the same size, type, and use in the area (refer to building energy database tools such as Zero Tool).

·   Evaluate the service levels and conditioning required in each space type specified in the building program. Make a formal record of the spaces that receive first priority access to daylight or natural ventilation in a document such as an Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR).

·   Specify system-level performance targets (e.g., lighting levels, comfort levels, controls, etc.) in the OPR document.

Design

·   Conduct a preliminary energy assessment (via calculations or an energy model) to identify the major energy end uses and the highest potential impact areas for reductions.

·   Conduct a feasibility study of renewables (e.g., solar potential) to identify the approximate quantity of energy that can be generated on site, and which surfaces or areas of the site are highest priority for these systems. Compare this energy generation estimate with the energy target and preliminary energy assessment.

·   Develop a Basis of Design (BOD) document that summarizes the primary strategies and packages of systems (passive and active elements) that together will achieve the energy target. Example design considerations include:

·   Maximize daylighting through the optimization of building form, orientation, and interior layouts to place high-priority spaces adjacent to the exterior.

·   Design the program and building layout to promote occupant health and energy conservation, such as the design of attractive and easily accessible stairways that reduce the use of elevators for those who are able.

·   Minimize heat loss from thermal bridging and air infiltration through reduction of exterior wall penetrations and envelope detailing that maintains continuous layers of insulation and air barriers.

·   Minimize unwanted heat loss/gain through passive solar heating, effective solar shading, increased wall and roof insulation, and high-performance glazing.

·   Incorporate operable openings (windows, louvers, etc.) and fans to permit the use of mixed mode conditioning or passive natural ventilation to eliminate air conditioning.

·   Utilize high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, such as hydronic systems and dedicated outside air systems that separate heating and cooling from ventilation.

·   Capture and reuse heat through systems like energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) or ground-source heat pumps.

·   Utilize high-efficiency (e.g., ENERGY STAR) and combustion-free appliances such as induction cooktops.

·   Design solar energy systems for power and water heating.

Construction

·   Ensure that any substitutions of materials or systems are evaluated for their impact on building energy performance prior to approval.

·   Ensure that metering systems are installed that permit the future assessment and troubleshooting of energy end uses.

·   Incorporate educational elements in the building to engage tenants in understanding and improving energy performance; these may include dashboards, signals, or signage that visually explain how systems work or are operated.

Occupancy

·   Allocate project team scope and time to conduct building operator training, including development of a self-guided systems manual and performing a physical walk-through of building systems.

·   Plan building tours and/or tenant engagement programs to foster pride and excitement for the project’s Zero Energy target.

·   Develop tenant guidelines with simple, accessible resources for users that help them support the project’s energy goals, operate the building and appliances, and make other energy-smart lifestyle choices.

 Conclusion

Along with the rapidly declining cost of solar, there are now also more resources than ever to help project teams reach Zero Energy. Energy-efficiency tax credits and incentives can be found at the federal level and in many states and municipalities. Resources like the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) and Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) can help connect project teams to funding opportunities related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and zero energy. Pursuing ILFI’s Zero Energy Certification will also qualify projects for lower-interest rate financing through Fannie Mae’s Green Building Certifications program. This intersection of financial incentives for energy efficiency, lower-cost solar, rising utility bills, and an increasing urgency towards fuel-switching makes this an exciting moment for Zero Energy affordable housing. ILFI has been working with dozens of affordable housing project teams that are incorporating the strategies and incentives above to successfully create Zero Energy, Net Positive Energy, and Net Positive Carbon housing, bringing financial and health benefits to residents and affordable housing developers.

Read about a few of ILFI’s affordable housing project teams pursuing Energy Petal, Zero Energy, and Zero Carbon Certification:

Hopeworks Station Phase II

Lakeline Learning Center

Hunter’s View Phase III

Gila River Indian Community Sustainable Housing

Broadway Lofts

Alder Place

E+Highland

31 Tufts Street

And many more here! 

Cover photo: Lakeline Learning Center in Austin, TX, a certified Zero Energy project which was also an ILFI Affordable Housing Pilot Project. 

^[1] Walsh, Bryan. “Building Green Houses for the Poor.”

^[2]http://energyefficiencyforall.org/sites/default/files/Lifting%20the%20High%20Energy%20Burden_0.pdf

^[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17079530

^[4] Rocky Mountain Institute. https://rmi.org/insight/economics-grid-defection

^[5] https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2018/01/13/renewable-energy-cost-effective-fossil-fuels-2020/#181c7308

Cover image: Pacific Point Affordable Family Housing. Image: Bruce Damonte

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is proud to announce the launch of its new Living Building Challenge Framework for Affordable Housing. This second edition has been fully revised and expanded to include updated findings, inspiring and detailed case studies, and new strategies and approaches to financing, designing, building, and operating Living Affordable Housing. Now more than ever, our society needs inspiring examples and practical guidance for creating healthy, sustainable, and affordable housing for all. This document delivers just that!

When the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) published the first Living Building Challenge Framework for Affordable Housing in 2014, the idea of Living Affordable Housing was introduced to the affordable housing sector and the broader sustainable design community. At the time, ILFI had been working with a small group of innovative affordable housing developers and design professionals, along with three pilot projects, to test out the Living Building Challenge (LBC) within the affordable housing context. Since then, ILFI has worked closely with 27 affordable housing projects in our Affordable Housing Pilot Program and even more affordable housing projects and professionals through education, events, and general project support. The 27 pilot projects represent nearly 800 units of housing in 13 states (in addition to the District of Columbia and Canada), serving thousands of individuals and families with incomes varying from less than 30% of the area median income (AMI) to 80% AMI. The populations, contexts, climates, and densities of these projects vary significantly – from individuals just leaving homelessness to seniors and families, from urban to rural, from hot, humid to sub-arctic, and from 125 SF accessory dwelling units (designed as a prototype for future projects) to a 23-story high-rise in the heart of Chicago.

Coinciding with this expansion in the Affordable Housing Pilot Program is the evolution of the Living Building Challenge. LBC 4.0 was introduced just this past May at the Living Future Unconference in Seattle, WA. The revised Standard includes a number of updates to ensure that the program is streamlined and focused on areas of greatest impact, many of these based on feedback from our affordable housing pilot projects.

From the growth of ILFI’s Affordable Housing Pilot Program and the launch of LBC 4.0, comes the new Living Building Challenge Framework for Affordable Housing. This revised and expanded edition focuses on each Petal and Imperative offering specific guidance for achieving LBC 4.0 on affordable housing projects, as well as in-depth case studies from our current and past cohorts of pilot projects. The guidance is borne from specific research and the experiences of the ILFI pilot projects and the dedicated teams working on them. Strategies, data, successes, and lessons learned are shared in order to inspire and equip other project teams and the affordable housing sector as a whole to create more Living Affordable Housing. The Framework shares and celebrates the progress made to date – highlighting a number of synergies in the goals between the LBC and affordable housing and new tools and resources to streamline the process and reduce costs. The Framework also identifies specific areas for additional research and next steps for market transformation. A few of the most substantial findings are summarized in the graphic below.

Broadly, this Framework underscores that while development of affordable housing, LBC or not, routinely faces significant hurdles due to tight budgets, compressed timelines, and shifting regulatory requirements, the affordable housing sector has the opportunity and ability to lead the way towards a more equitable, healthy, and regenerative built environment. Affordable housing developers have a people-first ethic that inspires them to seek the best possible results for their residents and the community often resulting in the best possible results for the environment as well. The affordable housing sector has the demonstrated ability to constantly innovate based on changing conditions while centering the holistic needs of people and community at the core of all decisions. The Living Building Challenge can and is serving as an effective framework for affordable housing developers to accomplish their mission and ensure that everyone, regardless of economic status or location, has the opportunity to have a truly healthy and sustainable home.

The progress highlighted in this new Living Building Challenge Framework for Affordable Housing represents rapid and meaningful change. The impact of each groundbreaking pilot project extends well beyond the boundaries of any one project and is impacting the entire affordable housing community. These projects are demonstrating that it is possible to create a more socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative built environment for all – including residents of affordable housing. Our next task is to build off these successes, the momentum of the movement, and the need for change to create:

Living Affordable Housing for Everyone in Every Community.

ILFI invites everyone – developers, designers, manufacturers, policymakers, foundations, and residents – to help turn this vision into reality.

DOWNLOAD the Living Building Challenge Framework for Affordable Housing,

LEARN about the strategies, successes, and challenges,

and

JOIN THE MOVEMENT to create housing that is Net Positive for residents, the environment, the community, and society as a whole.

Editor’s Note: The Affordable Housing Pilot Program at the International Living Future Institute, made possible with initial funding by the Kresge Foundation and current and ongoing funding by the JPB Foundation, includes the development of industry-specific resources, such as The Living Building Challenge Framework for Affordable Housing, as well as working with pilot projects that are registered under the Living Building Challenge. Because the affordable housing industry faces unique challenges and offers the opportunity to significantly address equity and quality of life issues, ILFI is actively working to help facilitate a pathway to living affordable housing. See our newly updated webpage to find all the current resources and information on each pilot project. We will follow this article with a 5-part blog series throughout 2019 that will highlight issues and strategies in affordable housing and sustainability.

Why we need affordable housing

After this year of bleak climate reports and unprecedented wildfires, the need for a regenerative built environment has never been clearer. The need for affordable housing is similarly clear and dire. At least ten cities and the entire state of Hawaii have for years been in a formally declared State of Emergency over homelessness and affordable housing, yet rates of homelessness continue to trend upward in many cities. For example, Seattle saw a 15% increase in unsheltered individuals in 2018, while overall homelessness in California increased 14%.

Compounding the issue of affordability, low-income households routinely have far higher utility cost burdens than moderate and high-income households. The issue is not only a matter of income; affordable units tend to be older and less energy-efficient, meaning that low-income households pay more for utilities on a square foot basis – up to twice as much as median-income households and three times as much as high-income households. One of ILFI’s new affordable housing pilot projects is located in the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, where nearly 50% of the community lives below the federal poverty line and residents face utility bills of up to $600 per month. Nationwide one in five families miss utility payments each year, 70% of which have their utilities shut off. Researchers in Milwaukee even found that eviction rates tracked seasonally with utility bills.

While water costs are relatively low in most cities, they are steadily rising, with one study indicating that water costs are projected to increase by 41% over the next few years, largely due to deferred maintenance needed on centralized water systems throughout the country. A preview of this has played out in Detroit where more than 100,000 homes since 2014 (10-20% of all residences each year) have had their water shut off, a practice which the UN has called an “international human rights violation.” Local researchers have linked the shut-offs with an increased incidence of skin and soft tissue diseases. The shut-offs have resulted in additional turmoil in communities as Child Protective Services has removed children from homes when the resident was unable to restore running water within 72 hours.

As we spend more than 90% of our time indoors, the built environment has a significant impact on our health and wellness. Neighborhood and built environment are one of five social determinants of health defined by the CDC (along with education, health care, economic stability, and community), which together account for 80-90% of modifiable contributing factors to health outcomes. (Medical interventions are responsible for just 10-20%.) For the 43 million people living below the poverty line in the United States, the built environment has for too long had a deleterious effect on health. Low-income households are more likely to live near freeways and industrial sites and less likely to live near a recreational area or healthy food options. They are also more likely to have been exposed to mold, mildew, pest infestations, and lead-based paint in their homes. The CDC has estimated that 1.1 million low-income homes with children under age six (the age most sensitive to the effects of lead poisoning) have significant lead-based paint hazards. As a result of all of these factors, low-income families have substantially higher rates compared to families at other income levels of diseases such as asthma, allergies, and obesity, as well as significantly lower life spans.

History of ILFI’s Affordable Housing Pilot Program

The mission of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is to create a future that is ecologically restorative, socially just, and culturally rich. One key aspect to achieving this mission is ensuring that everyone benefits from and can live, work, learn, and play in Living Buildings and Communities. With this in mind and heart, in 2013 ILFI initiated an Affordable Housing Pilot Program. Over the last five years, there have been three major phases to the program. Phase One, funded by the Kresge Foundation, included collaboration with three affordable housing projects (The Rose in Minneapolis, MN; South Second Street Studios in San Jose, CA; and Capital Studios in Austin, TX) and the formation of The Innovator’s Network, a diverse group of sustainability-minded professionals engaged in affordable housing. The lessons learned from this work were published in 2014 in “The Framework for Affordable Housing.”

In 2015, with funding from the JPB Foundation, ILFI launched Phase Two of the program by expanding the pilot program to eight more affordable housing teams working on ten Living Building Challenge projects across the country. These projects are showing that Living Affordable Housing is possible and produces critical benefits to residents, communities, and the environment. One of these projects, Lakeline Learning Center in Austin, Texas, became Zero Energy Certified in October. Not just focused on energy performance, Lakeline Learning Center is designed so that 95% of water needs are met with harvested rainwater and HVAC condensate. The project also utilized salvaged wood and a “structure as finish” design aesthetic to pare down the materials palette in order to install a nearly 100% Red-List Free interior.

Three other projects from this group are occupied and in a performance period: Cedar Springs in La Verne, California; Silver Star in Los Angeles; and Muldoon Gardens in Anchorage. In addition to targeting the Energy Petal, Cedar Springs and Silver Star both installed greywater reuse systems that save an aggregated 1.5 million gallons of water per year. Muldoon Gardens also pursued a pared-down materials palette and is anticipating achieving Materials Petal Certification. Using indigenous Alaskan design principles, the project reduced the Energy Use Intensity (EUI) from the Anchorage average of 115 kbtu/sf/yr to 30 kbtu/sf/yr. The project was also completed under budget and at a lower price per square foot than a conventional affordable housing project across the street built on a similar timeline. Work with these and other projects involved in Phase Two of ILFI’s Affordable Housing Pilot Program has resulted in resources and education available to the affordable housing industry at large.

With continued funding from the JPB Foundation, Phase Three of this work began in Summer 2017. This phase includes an expansion of the number of pilot projects, as well as work to develop a buyer’s club, handprinting program, materials vetting tools to make healthy materials more readily available to all affordable housing projects, and work with state QAP programs to incorporate sustainability requirements. Twelve new pilot projects were brought on this past summer. See sidebar for list. The goal of all of this work is to broadly share the best practices, tools, and resources for achieving the Living Building Challenge in affordable housing with the entire industry; to help make incorporation of healthy materials mainstream practice in affordable housing; and collaborate with groups like National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Fannie Mae, and Enterprise Community Partners to develop policies, programs, and funding mechanisms to facilitate incorporation of sustainability into affordable housing.

The twenty-five pilot projects from all three phases are located around the country in a variety of climate zones. They represent different building types from high-rise SRO apartments to townhomes, project sizes from six units to 400 units, and resident populations including multi-generational families, previously homeless, veterans with special needs, youths transitioning out of foster care, and immigrants. It should be noted that all of the projects within ILFI’s pilot program are or will be affordable as defined by Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While a handful incorporate market-rate units, the vast majority of units are restricted for rental by those making less than 60% of area median income (AMI) and ownership for those making less than 80% AMI. More information about the projects from each group can be found here. While these projects vary in scale and typology, they share a goal to create long-term stability and increased opportunities by providing housing that is affordable, healthy, and sustainable. For these compassionate and forward-thinking project teams, sustainability and affordability go hand in hand to form a more holistic approach for housing with lasting benefits for the people they serve. A glimpse into a few of these projects helps illustrate why and how these projects are creating Living Affordable Housing.

The future of affordable housing

Alder Place in East Chicago, Indiana, and Broadway Lofts in Gary, Indiana, are within seven miles of each other and 25 miles of Chicago. The siting of these projects is very deliberate, providing critically-needed healthy and safe housing in an area plagued with health and environmental concerns. The West Calumet Housing Complex that used to be located in this area was evacuated and demolished in 2017 after the EPA found significant lead and arsenic contamination in the soil and declared it a Superfund site. The 1,000 residents living in the buildings, who had been exposed to these dangerous substances for years, were then faced with the choice of leaving their community altogether or trying to find a scarce affordable unit in the area, many of which also had significant environmental toxins. The Alder Place and Broadway Lofts projects will provide approximately 80 units of critically needed housing with possible additional single-family and townhouse units dispersed throughout the community. Because these projects are a part of ILFI’s pilot program and the Moving Forward program run by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and Energy Systems Network, future residents will be provided with net-positive energy homes with diverse mobility options. These developments will also be designed with a focus on health and wellness, with the intent to increase quality of life and decrease cost of living for low and moderate income individuals and families in Indiana.

While the indigenous peoples of the Gila River Indian Community thrived in the Sonoran Desert area of what is now Arizona for much of their history, in recent decades the community has been plagued with extremely high utility bills and poverty levels. Housing built for tribal members by HUD ignored practical, contextual design solutions the tribes had developed to live in harmony with their harsh climate for thousands of years. Using the Living Building Challenge as a framework, the Gila River Indian Community Sustainable Housing Project is a collaboration between the tribal members and Arizona State University students. This collaborative design process is part of a nationwide movement to reestablish tribal sovereignty by enabling members to reclaim ownership over the design and construction processes within their own communities. The Gila River project is exploring Living Certification using indigenous building materials and methods suited to the climate and culture, such as adobe. Intended for multi-generational housing, as is the traditional living arrangement in the community, the project will result in four to six prototypes for future housing to be built in the community.

At five stories, Othello Square is located in an urban context in Seattle and is denser than the other projects mentioned above. The Developer, Homesight, has a mission to provide low-income homeownership opportunities in a city where housing costs are 8 times the national average and that has led the nation in home price increases for nearly two years. The Othello Square project is prioritizing healthy building materials. Along with Muldoon Gardens from the second phase of the pilot program, they are helping to push the industry forward and demonstrate that Red-List Free affordable housing is financially feasible. To cut down on materials research time, the project team has been able to utilize the Red2Green tool developed by Integrated EcoStrategies (IES). IES has allowed this team and several others in ILFI’s Affordable Housing Pilot Program to access Red2Green for free in order to help aggregate product research for affordable housing. From this research, databases and lists of cost-comparable, Red-List Free materials will be available to the affordable housing industry at large.

ILFI is also developing a Handprinting in Affordable Housing Portal to facilitate collaboration between the materials manufacturing industry and affordable housing projects. The Handprinting Imperative within the Living Product Challenge calls on manufacturers to not only mitigate negative impacts of their manufacturing process (i.e. the footprint), but also to leave a positive imprint on the world (i.e. the handprint). In order to become net positive, manufacturers need to create water, energy or climate savings that are greater than the annual amount needed to manufacture the product. One way this can be achieved is by donating either money or products to affordable housing projects. For example, the donation of lighting fixtures to an affordable housing project could free up funds in the budget that allows for lower-flow plumbing fixtures or photovoltaic panels. There is a natural synergy between these two different ILFI programs that we are excited to begin to explore. Manufacturers pursuing the Living Product Challenge are seeking to leave a positive impact on the world, while (mostly non-profit) affordable housing developers (particularly ILFI’s pilot projects registered under the Living Building Challenge) are aiming to construct the most durable, healthy and sustainable buildings possible, yet operating with a constrained budget. While we are pioneering the idea of handprinting in affordable housing between manufacturers and affordable housing projects right now, we are also building a portal on our website that will allow manufacturers seeking handprinting opportunities to easily search among registered affordable housing projects.

A key goal of ILFI’s Affordable Housing Pilot Program is to create resources and tools that can be used broadly by the industry in order to transform the way affordable housing is built. Healthy, sustainable, beautiful, and culturally-relevant homes with low to no utility bills, abundant access to healthy food and nature, proximity to services, and a rich community should be the norm. Through the efforts of mission-driven and innovative affordable housing project teams, as well as the dissemination of information and lessons learned through the tools, resources, and programs created in this pilot program, this vision is coming to life.