New publication provides guidelines to help affordable housing developers make projects green and energy efficient NEW YORK, April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the national force behind community revitalization, today announced the release of Green Rehabilitation of Multifamily Rental Properties: A Resource Guide, the first publication of its kind to assist affordable housing developers in greening their existing properties. The Green Guide for Rehab, a joint project of Bay Area LISC and Build it Green, a California based non-profit organization promoting healthy and energy efficient housing, was developed to help affordable housing owners and their consultants integrate green building and energy efficiency into the upgrades of their multifamily properties. The Green Guide for Rehab explains the technologies and shows the opportunities for existing properties to 'go green.' The guide is designed to be used in tandem with an energy audit, building walkthrough, or site assessment that occurs at the outset of any rehabilitation project. Green building techniques have typically been applied to new construction projects. But the potential for creating green, healthy environments in existing low-income housing across the country is significant. "The Green Guide for Rehab will provide invaluable assistance to affordable housing providers as they embark on the green rehab process," said Madeline Fraser Cook, director of LISC's new Green Development Center. The 58-page guide contains four sections - site condition and systems, building construction, mechanical systems and interior spaces - with advice on incorporating the green building principles of energy efficiency, water conservation, resource conservation, and healthy indoor environments. It also looks at the cost and cost-effectiveness of green strategies to assist affordable housing developers in making decisions about which measures to include in their rehab projects.
