Why Green Affordable Housing?

Green Initiative

Why Green Affordable Housing?

Green building offers an integrated development approach, providing homes that are environmentally-friendly, non-toxic, and less costly for residents to own and operate. The case for utilizing green building standards in affordable housing is made by the range of benefits green design and construction provide, not only to homeowners and occupants, but also to developers and builders, to investors and financers, and to communities.

Lower Energy Costs:
As residential energy use and prices continue to rise, energy costs often comprise up to 25 percent of low- and moderate-income homeowners' monthly budgets. New Mexicans can save hundreds, even thousands, of dollars annually when they live in energy efficient homes and apartments. The average household spends between $1,300 and $1,500 annually on energy bills, roughly half of which may be attributed to heating and cooling costs. These costs can be significantly lowered by “green,” energy-saving measures performed when constructing a new home or renovating an existing home.

Lower Maintenance Costs:
Increasingly, green building programs nationwide are embracing durability as a primary principle in green building. Durable materials and construction techniques translate not only to enhanced resource-efficiency but also to reduced maintenance costs over the lifetime of the home. This is especially important for low- and moderate-income homeowners with little disposable income to spend on home repairs and for owners and occupants of income-restricted multifamily rental properties with small maintenance budgets.

Healthy Homes:
Green homes are healthy homes for those who occupy them. The use of safe, non-toxic materials creates a healthy dwelling. This is especially important for children, seniors, and residents with respiratory problems or immune deficiencies.

Lower Transportation Costs:
Green homes are often built in locations that utilize existing infrastructure, services, places of employment, schools and mass transit. Communities across the country are recognizing smart site location (on infill, greyfield or brownfield sites) as an important component of green buildings, contributing to more compact growth patterns and significantly reducing transportation costs, an increasingly significant factor for low-to-moderate income households as gas prices climb.

Sustainable Communities:
Green building aligns with growing local movements to increase environmental sustainability and community livability through GHG reduction, resource efficiency, and better land use planning.

Environmental Protection:
Green building reduces demand on scarce resources and protects the quality of our environment.

Financing Advantage:
As the housing market increasingly demands green-built, affordable homes, an expanded range of financial tools is becoming available to developers to help offset the added cost of going green. Developers of green affordable housing in New Mexico have a competitive advantage in applying for subsidies like Low Income Housing Tax Credits and other MFA financing options, and the New Mexico Sustainable Building Tax Credit: is an added incentive that can be leveraged by going green. For low- and moderate-income homebuyers, the purchase of a green home also has the potential of appreciating in value more quickly than the standard new home, due to the heightened market demand. Through the Green Initiative, MFA is working to expand financing options available for affordable housing development, home rehabilitation and home purchase in New Mexico.

Leadership and Innovation:
As leaders in affordable housing in New Mexico, MFA and its partners are positioning themselves at the forefront of the green affordable housing trend, connecting New Mexico's communities to larger national trends that address climate change and best practices in planning, design, and development.

See the Green Communities Initiative, Enterprise Community Partners, “The Benefits of Going Green”.