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Investments In Greener Housing
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 Home : About Us : Green Initiatives : Investments in Greener Housing
MaineHousing is leading the way to a greener Maine by investing in more energy efficient, environmentally friendly housing that is less expensive to operate and maintain.
| MaineHousing is the first state housing finance agency in the country to adopt Green Building Standards for rental housing developments that the agency finances. By requiring the use of energy efficient, durable, sustainable, or locally produced products, the housing is better for the environment, healthier for the occupants, and more affordable to operate and maintain. Global Green USA, an organization dedicated to advancing green affordable housing, recognized MaineHousing’s efforts by ranking the green building measures used in scoring competitive funding applications as the sixth best in the country.
A modified version of the standards also applies to new single-family homes built with financing help from MaineHousing’s Affordable Subdivision Program
MaineHousing’s Green Building Standards require multifamily Owner/Managers to provide tenants and facility managers with educational materials about green design, building operations, recycling, and building maintenance.
MaineHousing has developed templates for both the Green Operations and Maintenance Manual and the Healthy Home Guide, designed to assist Owner/Managers in meeting the educational requirements outlined in the Green Building Standards. Owner/Managers have used these templates successfully as a starting point to develop property specific educational materials. |
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Estimated savings: reduces energy costs by as much as 30%. |
| MaineHousing is encouraging the use of renewable energy to make rental housing more affordable to operate by funding solar panels on two new affordable rental housing developments. The solar panels supply electricity for the community buildings, which include laundry facilities, as well as additional common lighting. |
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Estimated savings: each solar panel generates 12,600-kilowatt hours of power annually, and reduces carbon emissions by more than 13,000 pounds. |
| MaineHousing is testing new, energy efficient, and renewable technologies in 200 low-income households. With funding from a $1.1 million federal Residential Energy Assistance Challenge (REACH) grant, MaineHousing is testing wind power at two homes and one rental housing development, solar energy in 16 homes, cold climate heat pumps at approximately 20 homes for all heating, and 120 homes for hot water generation only. MaineHousing will report results in 2008-09. |
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Estimated savings: estimated to cut household electrical energy purchased by up to 60%. |
| The Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) provides low interest rate loans for moderate income homeowners for energy efficiency improvements. A HELP loan can be used to finance a variety of improvements that will cut the typical borrower’s energy bills. |
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Estimated savings: reduces energy costs by 20% or more. |
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| MaineHousing is working with the Energy Programs Consortium (EPC) and Maine lenders to promote and support ENERGY STAR® mortgages in Maine. ENERGY STAR mortgages are mortgages on homes that achieve 20% energy savings and provide financial incentive to the borrower. |
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Estimated savings: reduces energy costs by as much as 20%. |
| The Multifamily Home Energy Loan Program (MHELP) provides low interest loans for multifamily housing improvements that increase energy efficiency and conservation of resources, thereby preserving the quality of housing for Maine residents and reducing property operating expenses. |
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Estimated savings: Property owners who make improvements identified in an energy audit may reduce energy consumption by 15% to 20% annually. |
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This program can also be used to fund solar thermal systems, provide up to 80% of a building’s hot water needs. Since hot water typically accounts for about 15
to 20% of the energy usage in multifamily properties, it has a big impact on operating costs. For more information see the Solar Advantage PDF. |
| MaineHousing’s Weatherization Program provides grants to make homes of low-income Maine residents more energy efficient. Weatherization improvements may include insulation, weatherstripping, caulking, and some safety-related repairs. The program includes grant funds to repair or replace central heating systems through the Central Heating Improvement Program (CHIP). In 2006, this program financed energy improvements in more than 1,700 homes. |
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Estimated savings: reduces energy costs by 20%, on average. |
| The Appliance Replacement Program provides grants to replace old, inefficient appliances with new, energy efficient ones in homes of Maine low-income residents. This program is linked to the Weatherization Program. |
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Estimated savings: average 17% reduction in electric bills.Savings from replacing inefficient refrigerators alone averages over $100 a year. Replacing four light bulbs with CFL bulbs could save nearly $350 over the life of the bulbs |
| The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides heating assistance to low-income Maine households each year. Dealers who voluntarily participate agree to provide the oil to LIHEAP households at a discount, which stretches the benefit. MaineHousing also plans a pilot program that will clean, tune, and evaluate furnaces for some LIHEAP households when funding permits. |
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Estimated savings: tuning and cleaning furnaces saves an estimated $124 in energy per household. |
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