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HUD SECRETARY DONOVAN ANNOUNCES THAT OVER 8,000 AFFORDABLE HOMES WILL BECOME MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT AS A RESULT OF THE FIRST 100 RECOVERY ACT GREEN RETROFIT AWARDS
Awards will create green jobs and reduce energy costs
WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today a major Recovery Act milestone: 100 affordable housing developments, including 8,112 homes, around the country have been awarded more than $100 million to complete energy efficient renovations with Recovery Act funds. These renovations will not only generate many necessary upgrades to thousands of affordable apartments, but they will also create jobs and save money for thousands of residents. A complete list of Recovery Act Green Retrofit Program awards being issued today can be viewed in full here.
The awards are part of HUD’s Green Retrofit Program for Multifamily Housing, created for the first time through the Recovery Act. The Green Retrofit Program is providing $250 million nationally to reduce energy costs, cut water consumption, and improve indoor air quality. The awards announced today represent the first 100 grants and loans awarded through the program. The remaining awards will be made on a rolling basis from now through September 30, 2010.
The 100 awards announced today will create an average energy savings of $33,000 per property, or $3.3 million annually and, on average, tenants will save over $250 each on utility bills annually.
“I am proud to announce this significant Recovery Act milestone because it is an example of HUD’s ongoing commitment to creating jobs while also building sustainable homes and communities,” said Secretary Donovan. “The Green Retrofit Program is just one example of how the Recovery Act is making a long-term impact on American families and communities by reducing energy costs, creating quality green jobs and improving the quality of life for people across the country.”
The Green Retrofit Program is designed to create thousands of green jobs as workers retrofit older federally assisted multi-family apartment developments with the next generation of energy efficient technologies. Grants and loans provided through this program help private landlords and property management companies to cut heating and air conditioning costs such as by installing more efficient heating and cooling systems, and to reduce water use such as by replacing faucets and toilets. These Recovery Act funds also produce other environmental benefits by encouraging the use of recycled building materials, reflective roofing, and non-toxic products to reduce ‘off-gassing’ of potentially harmful fumes. Funds are awarded to owners of HUD-assisted housing projects and can be used for a wide range of retrofit activities, ranging from windows/doors to solar panels and geothermal installation.
The Recovery Act included $13.61 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD, nearly 75 percent of which was allocated to state and local recipients only eight days after President Obama signed the Act into law. The remaining 25 percent is being awarded through competitive grant programs, including the Green Retrofit Program. To date, over 99 percent of HUD’s Recovery Act funds are in the hands of local communities, being used to improve housing and neighborhoods, while creating jobs. HUD is committed to implementing Recovery Act investments swiftly and effectively as they generate tens of thousands of jobs, modernize homes to make them energy efficient, and help the families and communities hardest hit by the economic crisis.
In addition, Secretary Donovan and the Department are committed to providing the highest level of transparency possible as Recovery Act funds are administered. It is vitally important that the American people are fully aware of how their tax dollars are being spent and can hold their federal leaders accountable. Every dollar of Recovery Act funds HUD spends can be reviewed and tracked at HUD’s Recovery Act website. The full text of HUD’s funding notices and tracking of future performance of these grants is also available at HUD’s Recovery Act website.
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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers
A little advanced planning can help both the environment and your pocketbook. Here are a few tips from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that can point you in the right direction.
– Buying a new computer, printer, cell phone, or other electronic device? Always look for the Energy Star logo, which indicates that your new computer or other electronic gadget meets strict energy-efficiency guidelines set by EPA. If you are buying a new printer, purchase one that prints double-sided to reduce the use of paper.
– If you have to discard older, used electronics, do the right thing. Many retailers are partnering with EPA to recycle electronics. You may also be able to donate your old computer to a local school, library or charity for a tax deduction. If you discard the older unit, always check with your local municipality, county, state environmental agency or EPA for the proper way to dispose of electronics safely. E-cycling conserves precious natural resources and reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills.
– Before you shop, see what you already have at home. Many supplies can be reused or recycled. Backpacks, notebooks, folders, and binders can all be reused.
– When you’re out shopping, choose products made from recycled materials such as pencils made from old blue jeans, binders made from old shipping boxes, and of course recycled paper products.
– Buy supplies wrapped with minimal packaging; or buy products that come in bulk sizes. Packaging accounts for more than 30 percent of all the waste generated each year.
– Are there clothes that your child has outgrown that are still in good shape? Donate usable items you don’t need to a local charity or shelter so someone else can put them to use, and earn yourself a possible tax deduction at the same time.
– Share used books with friends, relatives, or younger schoolchildren. Many schools reuse textbooks to save money and reduce waste.
– For college textbooks there is a large secondary market for used books. Search the internet for resale sites. Also check with the campus and nearby bookstores.
– If you bring your lunch to school, package it in reusable containers instead of disposable ones. Bring drinks in an insulated bottle instead of disposable bottles or cartons. This saves money and reduces waste.
– Encourage your school to organize a recycling program if they don’t already have one.
– If you drive to school, try carpooling, public transportation, walking or biking instead. By changing your transportation routine, you can save money on fuel costs, lower air pollution levels, and decrease traffic in your community.
A great way to reduce pollution is not to create it in the first place. Prevent pollution by reducing waste, reusing or recycling more. Work with your child’s teachers and friends to find ways to encourage everyone in your community to make reducing waste a part of every day life
From EPA.Gov
I had fun at the Blues Festival yesterday, at the Frontier Culture Museum. Great venue, local beer and wine, breezy weather and of course lots of good music, now I don’t feel so deprived. This area is offering more culture and entertainment than when I moved here 17 years ago. Now all I need is a beach.
The Shenandoah Valley is certainly a beautiful place to live ,however I love going to Warm Springs, Va. Only one and a half hour trip from where I live. Literally, tucked away in the Allegheny Mountains, it is an enchanting area. Thomas Jefferson traveled there to continue the European tradition of” taking the waters”. I take the waters at least twice a year. The water temperature is 96 degrees, clear and bubbly!
For several weeks now, we Americans have watched the news of the Gulf oil spill in horror. As we see watermen depressed, almost in shock, oil-covered birds gasping for their last breath, restaurant owners with no business, the prospect of damage that will not heal in our lifetime. We are quick to blame BP or the federal government.
We are all, however, complicit in the Gulf oil hemorrhage. All of us who drive cars, eat cheap food, use plastic containers, use non organic fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides, buy petroleum-based cosmetic products, heat our homes, you name it, we have contributed. Petroleum and its by-products are ubiquitous. The law of supply and demand is hard at work.
I believe that we Americans are especially guilty, because we are a nation that feels ENTITLED to certain things that make our lifestyle so sweet and so enviable.
We feel entitled to cheap fuel, which is destroying our environment and our health. And please help us if the local government wants to put a penny tax on a gallon of gas, because we are also entitled to a cheap tax base.
We feel entitled to eating cheap food, which is destroying our soil, our health, our productivity, and our watersheds. Because agribusiness is more about overproduction, which among other things, is deleting our topsoil and polluting our food and land with toxic chemicals.
We love cheap electricity, but are saddened when coal miners are killed in an explosion. Do we give it a second thought when we forget to turn off the TV or crank up the AC. And how many of us know that since the deadly explosion of the Massey coal mine that 150 workers have died of black lung disease? How many of us really care?
We love our jobs, but most of the products we buy are from China, because it is cheap,. It is not surprising that China’s economy is growing and ours is still in a slow recovery stage.
Perhaps, we as a nation should take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for our consumption-based lifestyles and educate ourselves in how we can mitigate ongoing assault on our world. After all, we are generally concerned about the
national debt that we are leaving our children. What, about the world that we are leaving them?
Do we really have to sacrifice our comfy lifestyles to lessen our demand on fossil fuels? Well, it doesn’t necessarily mean going back to the dark ages. First, we need to understand that cheap ain’t so cheap. For example, eating cheap food is not cheap when you factor in the high cost of health care. It is now 20% of our GDP. When we shove a pizza and fries down our throats, maybe we should consider the future cost to us as individuals and as a society as a whole. We need to know that our current industrial agricultural practices are totally dependent upon petroleum. Maybe when the next flood destroys a city rather than building more dykes and levees, we should consider replanting the banks of our brooks, streams and rivers with indigenous plants and grass to absorb the water.
Maybe we need to rethink what we are entitled to and start with little baby steps like turning off our vehicles when we are idling…25% of the pollutants that we spew comes from idling!
If we were all to weatherize our homes, walk more often, ride a bike, be more respectful and mindful of the people and world around us, we could lessen our need for fossil fuel and leave a better world for future generations. It matters.
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Hiking in Shenandoah
