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Feds launch green retrofit program for multifamily housing

Feds launch green retrofit program for multifamily housing


Drew Ballensky | June 8, 2011
The Obama Administration last week launched Green Refinance Plus, a new program sprung from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that encourages energy-efficient retrofits of thousands of affordable homes. A joint effort between the Federal Housing Administration and Fannie Mae, Green Refinance Plus will help owners of older affordable multifamily properties to go green while refinancing their mortgages at today’s historically low interest rates, according to Shaun Donovan, Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shaun-donovan/greener-homes-means-a-str_b_871126.html?ir=Yahoo) Nearly a third of HUD’s Recovery Act funds can be used for making America’s affordable housing stock more efficient, Donovan says. “With these funds, we are on track to provide 245,000 affordable homes with a range of energy improvements, while another 55,000 receive green retrofits that will save up to 40 percent in energy costs.” While FHA provides additional insurance coverage for the program, Fannie Mae will provide loan underwriting that will generate additional loan proceeds to make green improvements. A typical development will be able to access a loan with what amounts to a 5 percent premium to use for efficiency improvements. For a $5 million loan, that means an additional $250,000 will be available to support green systems and appliances, Donovan says.

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Drew Ballensky | Jan 14, 2014

D.C. Navy Yard building, site of mass shooting, will be renovated

A remembrance area and a new visitor's entrance will be among the changes when the Navy rebuilds Building 197 of the Washington Navy Yard, where a gunman killed 12 people and then was killed in a shooting spree in September 2013.

Drew Ballensky | Jan 6, 2014

Energy-efficiency retrofits can help reduce healthcare costs

Reducing energy consumption through energy-efficiency retrofits represents an underappreciated way to cut healthcare costs, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Drew Ballensky | Jan 2, 2014

West Hollywood drug den to be remade into boutique hotel

San Vicente Inn, a cluster of century-old historic bungalows, known as a haven for nudists and drug users, in West Hollywood, Calif., will be converted into a boutique hotel.

Drew Ballensky | Dec 27, 2013

U.S. Capitol dome’s cracks to be repaired during $60 million renovation

Rings of scaffolding will start to rise this spring around the cast-iron dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington as part of a $60 million renovation project to repair more than 1,300 cracks.

Drew Ballensky | Dec 16, 2013

Major renovation for historic Northwestern Building in Minneapolis

Minneapolis’s Northwestern Building, originally built in 1914 as a glass factory, is undergoing a major renovation. The 85,000-sf, four-story building is now serves as office space for multiple tenants in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood.

Drew Ballensky | Dec 9, 2013

Bethlehem, Pa., receives preservation award for Bethlehem Steel building renovation

Bethlehem, Pa., is a recipient of a 2013 award by Preservation Pennsylvania for a renovation of the oldest building on the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. site.

Drew Ballensky | Dec 2, 2013

Army Corps of Engineers workers displaced during renovation of federal building in Huntington, W. Va.

A $47.6 million overhaul of the Huntington Federal Building in Huntington, West Virginia, includes altered traffic lanes on adjoining streets and the displacement of some of the more than 500 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees who work in the building.

Drew Ballensky | Nov 25, 2013

Plans for massive redevelopment of Ft. Monmouth in New Jersey likely to be revised

The redevelopment of Fort Monmouth, a former New Jersey army base, is likely to be revised on a building-by-building and parcel-by-parcel basis, officials say.

Drew Ballensky | Nov 18, 2013

Office design trends spurring office building renovations in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Key office design trends such as downsizing of overall space, more open floor plans, and the inclusion of more collaborative workspaces are prompting property owners in Grand Rapids, Mich., to renovate thousands of square feet of office space.

Drew Ballensky | Nov 11, 2013

Reconstruction of historic Salzburg, Austria railroad station took complex planning

Salzburg, Austria’s Central Station remained in operation during reconstruction, a feat that required complex planning.

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