WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the availability of new guidance and resources to support the rapid retrofitting and weatherization of America’s affordable housing stock.
HUD launched a new technical assistance guide to leveraging federal funds to retrofit affordable homes and updated its funding navigator tool to improve the user experience by showcasing how communities can utilize federal investments to make critical climate and resiliency upgrades.
This announcement underscores HUD’s commitment to modernizing affordable homes to meet consumer demands and extending the benefits of America’s clean energy transition to all Americans. Both actions support the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative to ensure 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to underserved communities.
“Under this Administration, we have been working hard to ensure that America’s homes are not only affordable, but resilient, quality places where families can thrive into the future,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “Today, we are releasing new technical assistance, guidance, and tools to help the communities we serve adapt to the effects of climate change.”
HUD’s new Build for the Future Retrofit Guide will leverage funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to preserve affordable housing, protect residents from climate hazards, and bring down the housing and energy costs for American families. Working with interagency partners, including the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the Environmental Protection Agency, HUD has identified resources across the federal government that will allow residents of affordable housing to increase efficiency through the addition of clean energy sources and strengthen resilience to extreme weather events. The guide focuses on four opportunity categories – efficiency, renewable energy, climate resilience and transit-oriented development – and identifies tax credits and deductions, grants and loans and rebates available, and best practices for using project funding. The guide also points to available help for property owners to find and use climate resilience and clean energy funding.
HUD today launched a major update to the Funding Navigator, a dynamic web-based resource to help consumers and organizations identify, sort, and access potential funding opportunities from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build resilient housing. Key changes, based on user feedback, announced today include simplifying search fields, prioritizing funding opportunities, clarifying applicant requirements, and streamlining applications, among other updates. HUD is also revising language to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of keyword searches and focusing on equitable access and understanding of funding opportunities.
These new resources continue HUD and the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to help HUD’s approximately 4.5 million supported and assisted properties access the historic investments in decarbonization and climate resilience and ensure the communities HUD serves are resilient to the effects of climate change.