Part of President Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act, the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program will provide funding to enhance energy efficiency and climate resiliency in HUD Multifamily assisted housing properties.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released a Request for Information in public inspection form in the Federal Register to obtain public input regarding the development of its Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP). President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act provided $1 billion in funding to HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs to implement the GRRP, as well as to support benchmarking of water and energy use in Multifamily assisted housing properties.
When implemented, the GRRP will provide grant and loan funding to facilitate retrofits of properties participating in its Multifamily assisted housing programs to make them more energy efficient, healthier, and resilient in the face of natural disasters and climate change. Eligible properties will include those participating in the Section 8 Project-based Rental Assistance, Section 202 Supportive Housing for Low-Income Elderly, and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Low-Income Persons with Disabilities programs.
“Implementing the GRRP will provide much-needed funding to reduce water and utility costs and keep the homes of the nation’s low-income individuals and families safe in the face of climate change,” said Assistant Secretary for Housing Julia Gordon. “But GRRP also provides a means of addressing issues of housing equity and environmental justice and reducing these properties’ climate impact.”
The water and energy use benchmarking component of the program will enable Multifamily property owners and HUD to better understand current water and energy usage to inform future policy and program development efforts.
Through the Request for Information, HUD seeks input on GRRP program design features, energy-saving measures, low-emission technology, and resilience design measures that have proven effective in affordable multifamily buildings. In addition, HUD is seeking input on the ways in which it can best implement and incentivize benchmarking of energy and water consumption of assisted multifamily properties.
“The unprecedented funding we have received for GRRP underscores the Biden-Harris Administration’s deep commitment to addressing climate change and energy efficiency,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Ethan Handelman, “it also reinforces our commitment to investing in high-quality, safe, resilient, and affordable rental housing for the approximately 1.4 million households of limited means who live in HUD Multifamily assisted housing properties.”