What is Eco-affordable Housing?

Defining Eco-Affordable Housing
Eco-affordable housing combines design strategies for affordability with sustainability. This may include the integration of ecological strategies for site design, water and energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, healthy and resource efficient materials, and waste reduction. These sustainability issues impact affordable housing design from the scales of building components to the design of the room, house, site, neighborhood, and city. The goal of eco-affordable housing is to synthesize and optimize environmental, economic, and social concerns. In many cases, design goals and strategies for affordable housing are consistent with sustainable design. Sustainable design strategies for energy efficiency, waste reduction, durability, and ease of maintenance and building operations also support affordable housing priorities to reduce first and long-term operating costs while maintaining design excellence. The integration of affordability and sustainability enable designers, contractors, and homeowners to reduce costs while realizing environmental and health benefits.

Benefits of Eco-affordable Housing
The benefits of integrating sustainability and affordability include opportunities to evaluate and implement design features, building practices, and operational strategies that reduce consumption of natural resources, energy, and waste, while providing healthy, durable, and high quality homes. This design tool provides comparisons of costs, energy, and environmental impacts to help housing agencies, designers, and builders to evaluate and better integrate sustainable design strategies in affordable housing. The increasing application of sustainable design in affordable housing can provide regional and even global environmental and economic benefits.

Local Efforts in Eco-affordable Housing
In the Twin Cities region, the recent Second Mayors' Regional Housing Task Force (October 2002) includes "sustainability issues" in their recommendations, including the use of: 1) land trusts, 2) second mortgages, 3) sustainable construction (emphasis on durable, low-maintenance, and energy efficient materials to reduce operating costs); 4) cooperative housing; 5) mortgage foreclosure prevention programs; and 6) preservation programs. The Task Force recommendations suggest that there are opportunities to bring together affordable housing and sustainable design at different scales and through different vehicles such as government policies, zoning, housing regulations and codes, design and construction, as well as building operations.

While there are state and local affordable housing policies that support sustainable design efforts (e.g. the Smart Growth Twin Cities, Blueprint 2030, Mayors' Task Force on Housing, and Housing 5000), the emphasis is generally placed on regional planning and development. Sustainable design at the site and building scales are rarely considered in the policies. There is a great opportunity to affect the sustainability and affordability of housing if the two issues are addressed at both the planning and building scales. Affordable housing advocates and sustainable development advocates would benefit if they worked together. Information sharing, consensus building, and financial incentives are strategies for accomplishing this goal. This design tool is intended to provide needed resources at the scales of the building and site design, which can in turn be combined with larger sustainable planning and land use efforts.

Affordable Housing in Minnesota
One of the greatest challenges facing the state of Minnesota is to address the current affordable housing crisis. According to the Metropolitan Council, Minnesota has one of the tightest affordable housing markets in the country. With current trends in population growth, existing housing supply, wages, and escalating housing costs, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF) estimates that at least 3,500-4,000 new affordable units are needed each year in greater Minnesota (in addition to those produced annually). Within the metro area, the Metropolitan Council estimates that 17,500 units will be needed annually from 2000-2030.

While there are many definitions of "affordable housing," the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) describes it as housing that can be purchased or rented for 30% or less of an individual or family's annual income. As a result, the real cost of affordable housing varies by median income levels and market forces for a given locale. In contrast, the recent Report of the Second Mayors' Regional Housing Task Force defines affordable housing as: "...the availability of quality housing and dignified living conditions for people of all incomes and at all stages of life. Affordable housing is not a separate class or type of housing that makes it different from ordinary housing. In defining affordable housing, it is useful to consider both HUD's economic parameters as well as the Mayors' Task Force emphasis on the importance of the human qualitative factors.

The cost of housing in Minnesota continues to increase, creating financial stress for individuals and families throughout the state. According to the Metropolitan Council, the median sales price of housing in the Twin Cities Metropolitan region is $190,000; this represents a 31 percent increase in over two years." The U.S. Census 2000 found that over 350,000 (or one in five) Minnesotan's pay greater than 30% of their income for housing. Affordable housing has become a priority for government and housing agencies throughout Minnesota. Despite the current housing problems, there is every indication from state and local efforts that there will be a significant amount of affordable housing constructed in Minnesota during the coming decade.

References

Housing Minnesota, Housing in Minnesota: A Primer, June 2002.
Metropolitan Council, Blueprint 2030, 2002.
The Mayors' Second Regional Housing Task Force, Affordable Housing: Making it a Reality, St Paul: Metropolitan Council, 2002.