HUD Adopts LEED ND to Score Grant Applications
Reminder: A LEED for Homes development located in a LEED ND project area will receive full points for the “Locations and Linkages (LL)” category (learn more). This also pertains to the new Sustainable Communities regional planning grant NOFA announced June 24.
Federal agency backs smart growth, location efficiency and green neighborhoods
The federal government moved significantly closer to its goal of advancing sustainable practices in buildings and communities when U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that LEED® for Neighborhood Development will be used to score the location efficiency of grant applications. HUD will apply this criteria to grant submissions for the upcoming Sustainable Communities Planning Grants and others, totaling $3.25 billion in available grant funds.
“Using the ‘LEED-ND’ green neighborhood rating system…it’s time that federal dollars stopped encouraging sprawl and started lowering the barriers to the kind of sustainable development our country needs and our communities want,” said Secretary Donovan.
Launched in April as the benchmark for healthy green communities, LEED for Neighborhood Development weaves green building into community development, helping to curb sprawl, expand transportation choices, cut automobile dependence, encourage healthy living and protect threatened species.
“The federal government has been a pioneer in the green building movement – not only seeking high-performance from its own buildings, but through incentives and grants that encourage environmental stewardship,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “HUD has been a powerful voice in encouraging and creating sustainable communities in which residents will have access to alternative transportation, jobs, and an increased quality of life. LEED for Neighborhood Development serves as an important tool to help evaluate and fund these new communities.”
The case for sustainable communities grows more urgent in this economy, since housing and transportation are the two largest expenses for families, making up more than 50% of the average American household budget. HUD defines green communities as “economically competitive, healthy and opportunity-rich,” and they add an important element of community development to local, state and national economies.
Secretary Donovan stated the “housing and economic crisis has reaffirmed the need for federal leadership in this area,” linking foreclosure rates to access to transportation, good schools and economic opportunity.
Created in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), LEED for Neighborhood Development recognizes the link between transit-oriented development and proximity to services, amenities and jobs, on one hand, and human health benefits and economic capital on the other — a correlation confirmed in numerous studies and championed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Connecting to neighboring communities and their amenities and services through transit corridors and a well-connected street network greatly benefits the residents, businesses and local economy of a new neighborhood development, the surrounding community, and ultimately the region.
“…We live in a changing world where cities, suburbs and the rural areas that surround them share an economic future. Metropolitan regions are the engines of our economy…people are voting with their feet more and more — in search of walkable neighborhoods with transportation options,” said Secretary Donovan.
For Secretary Donovan’s full remarks, click here, and to learn more about LEED for Neighborhood Development, visit www.usgbc.org/leed/nd.
Adapted from a USGBC Press Release.
Story Tags: affordable housing, hud, leed nd