Six PHAs and Site Owners Join BBC Program

February 13, 2015

Six new multifamily housing authorities and owners recently joined President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge (BBC). In 2013, the Department of Energy (DOE) and HUD partnered to expand the Better Buildings Challenge to the multifamily sector. This expansion is part of the president’s Climate Action Plan, announced on June 25, 2013, which recognizes the role that increased efficiency can play in reducing energy use and carbon pollution from this sector.

Six new multifamily housing authorities and owners recently joined President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge (BBC). In 2013, the Department of Energy (DOE) and HUD partnered to expand the Better Buildings Challenge to the multifamily sector. This expansion is part of the president’s Climate Action Plan, announced on June 25, 2013, which recognizes the role that increased efficiency can play in reducing energy use and carbon pollution from this sector. Multifamily residential buildings and operations can be made much more efficient using a variety of cost-effective energy improvements, while simultaneously creating jobs and building a stronger economy.

The following six new multifamily housing authorities and owners constitute more than 5.5 million square feet of additional floor space, an area the size of more than 115 football fields, and they have committed to improve their energy efficiency by at least 20 percent in the next decade:

  • AHEAD, Inc., Littleton, N.H.
  • Gragg Cardona Partners, Washington, D.C.
  • Housing Authority of the Birmingham District, Birmingham, Ala.
  • Newark Housing Authority, Newark, N.J.
  • The DeBruler Co., Libertyville, Ill.
  • Windsor Locks Housing Authority, Windsor Locks, Conn.

The Obama administration is also calling on Section 202 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC) properties serving elderly and disabled Californians to take advantage of the PRAC Shared Savings incentive HUD released in September 2014. The incentive allows owners to utilize realized utility bill savings to make needed energy and water improvements at their sites as part of the Better Buildings Challenge.

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