Affordable Housing Design
Affordable By Design
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Building an Eco-House on a Tight Budget is No Longer an Impossible Dream by Alice Horrigan
The principle "small is beautiful" is often held aloft by environmentalists, but it's not always practiced by Earth-conscious architects, whose tony showcase eco-homes are sometimes sprawling mansions. "Unfortunately, green building is generally accessible only to large commercial projects or affluent home owners," says Matt Petersen, executive director of Venice, California-based Global Green USA.
"We could solve an awful lot of the problems in this country if the average couple and their kids could move into a house they could afford," says George James, program manager for the Department of Energy (DOE) Building America Program, which promotes energy efficient, environmentally sound housing. But, he says, "Most architects are only interested in that one-of-a-kind castle for somebody, and that's not helping the overall situation."
A small but dedicated crop of architects and developers, however, is trying to rethink the concept of the eco-home to meet the needs of average folk who don't have a lot of green to throw around. And some designs are already on the market, bringing the dream of living closer to the Earth closer to reality for the average American.
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Affordable Housing Design Advisor
If you're part of the solution to America's critical affordable housing challenge, this site is for you. The Affordable Housing Design Advisor brings together experience and ideas from successful affordable housing projects all over the country, and the people who developed, designed and built them.
Good design can make a world of difference for the people who will live in the affordable housing you help build, and for the neighborhood surrounding it. The Affordable Housing Design Advisor is here to help you at every step.
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Green Home
GreenHOME demonstrates and promotes affordable, sustainable design, construction, and landscape practices for homes and communities throughout the Washington, DC area. Through efforts of dedicated volunteers and benefactors, we are demonstrating that "green" housing is for everyone!
GreenHOME is also committed to expanding awareness of green practices beyond its buildings, into the community of homeowners, home renters, home builders, and the general public.
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Minnesota Green Affordable Housing Guide
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The MINNESOTA GREEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING GUIDE is a web-based resource to assist designers, contractors, and housing agencies integrate sustainability, health, durability, and energy efficiency into cold climate housing. It includes design strategies, decision making tools, comparative analyses, best practices, and resources.
For a developer, community approval of affordable housing projects is a critical issue. Well designed housing meeting multiple goals of energy efficiency, health, durability and low environmental impact can increase the potential for community approval.
Green Affordable Housing has a number of financial benefits to a developer as well. Sustainable design strategies can assist developers in reducing costs for street, water and sewer infrastructure. Rental property owners who develop affordable multifamily housing, will save money on operating and maintenance costs. For both owner occupied and rental housing, lower energy and maintenance costs as well as healthier, sustainable construction can be a marketing advantage
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NRDC Green Communities Housing Initiative
Too often, affordable housing has meant living in drab, institutional buildings located far from jobs, stores and other conveniences. What if instead of using this old, institutional blueprint, affordable developments followed modern, environmentally friendly design principles? What if the homes were drenched with sunlight to reduce energy costs, and the floors and cabinets were made from recycled materials in sleek and contemporary designs? And what if homes were clustered around public transit, schools, and shops, and featured porches and community parks to make it easy for neighbors to gather together?
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