Recently, Enterprise Community Partners selected GBS as an Approved Technical Assistance Provider for its Green Communities certification program. Enterprise is a nonprofit organization that provides capital and expertise for affordable housing and community development across the nation. As a company dedicated to social equity, we are thrilled to help enhance the standard of living for people and families everywhere.
The Green Communities certification program is modeled largely after LEED for Homes and LEED for Neighborhood Development to guide affordable housing in more sustainable directions. The program reviews and accepts grant applications to fund the incremental cost associated with green design and construction. Enterprise selects projects for funding based on the ability to demonstrate a process that will clearly identify and verify the achievement of sustainable objectives. They also have grant funding available for eco-charrettes.
GBS has written grant applications on behalf of affordable housing developers and public entities and performed eco-charrettes and sustainable project consulting with the subsequent funds. Our new status as an Approved Provider means that Enterprise formally recognizes our demonstrated expertise and in-house technical capabilities. This is exciting news for us because we are always looking to expand our opportunities in promoting social equity.
One of our recent projects where GBS wrote the project scope outline to obtain funds from Enterprise was the Kaupuni development in Oahu. Covering a little more than 3-acres, this 18-unit, single-family home neighborhood is a project of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL). GBS has supported the State of Hawaii’s efforts to evolve sustainability into their affordable housing projects. Kaupuni marks a major change in the mindset of DHHL, as they are working toward net-zero energy across the overall community and will attain Green Communities certification. The intent is that this community serves as a sub-template for DHHL’s future projects, allowing the agency to evaluate which sustainable features are practical and affordable for Hawaiian projects. A known strategy that all State of Hawaii projects must incorporate now is solar hot water. We are pleased to be part of the Kaupuni team to help create new strategies and work on a community level to achieve net-zero energy.
Another new program Enterprise is piloting will assess opportunities to incorporate sustainability into existing affordable housing properties in need of renovation. The program will measure the impact of existing buildings improvement measures and create feedback based upon performance. As the program launches, GBS will be ready to provide analysis and expertise for these existing projects – both on a building and neighborhood scale.
By Terry Miller, Senior Consultant, LEED AP
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