Welcome!
Amy Hook and Peter Yost Team Up on Green Affordable Housing
Posted on Jan 14 2010 by Amy Hook
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Amy and colleague clearly on a project they really like!
Amy:
Welcome to the Enterprise Green Communities NSP blog. Our hope is that this becomes an open forum for NSP recipients, sub-recipients, and project teams to discuss some of the challenges and successes you are experiencing as it relates to your green initiatives across the country. With the newness of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, we are all in the same place – learning lots of new regulations, interpretations, and minute details. Enterprise Green Communities is hoping that the existence and continual use of this blog will help you through every step of the green initiative you are building into your Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Peter Yost, with GreenBuildingAdvisor.com, will be co-authoring this blog with me, teaching us all about the science behind green building. I will be co-authoring and consistently checking in, answering questions, and joining the discussions in the hopes of learning from you and hopefully, helping a little.
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This is "glamour green"--crawling around in really short basements!
Peter:
Hello, everyone. I am really looking forward to this forum with all of you out in the field and with the stellar staff at Enterprise, most particularly Amy. Between the two of us (check out our backgrounds upper right on this page), we will be covering all sorts of green building issues and opportunities, sharing our unique perspectives and hopefully adding yours to the mix by way of comments as well. We know our stuff, but so do you! Join in with questions or expertise as often as you like.
We thought we would start off this blog with a sampling of topics we have in mind, but sure hope that you will pipe up with topics you would like to see covered!
- What is Green Building? Getting everyone on the same green page.
- Building Assessment: Is this where green rehabs start?
- Homeowner Education: How is a green HO manual different than a conventional one?
- RadonColorless, odorless, short-lived radioactive gas that can seep into homes and result in lung cancer risk. Radon and its decay products emit cancer-causing alpha, beta, and gamma particles. Mitigation: Dealing with the invisible...
- High Performance Scopes of Work: Greening your trade contracts.
- Web-based project management software: What makes this green?
Tags: NSP
Image Credits:
- Amy Hook
- Dan Morrison
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1.
Wed, 03/24/2010 - 13:00
Wed, 03/24/2010 - 13:00
ROI studies
by Anonymous
Are there Cost Benefit Analyses or ROI breakdowns available for the various strategies and specifications that would be implemented in an NSP green retrofit? We need to make the case to our program implementation agency and elected Commissioners that the cost is worth it. I need quantified numbers on a line item basis, not anectdotal or averages. Thanks.
2.
Thu, 03/25/2010 - 07:57
Thu, 03/25/2010 - 07:57
Response to "ROI studies" by Anonymous
by Amy Hook
I have complete respect for the situation in which you find yourself, as I have been in a similar situation before. I would like to point you to a resource that you'll find helpful. On our website (greencommunitiesonline.org), we offer a document called "Incremental Costs, Measurable Savings: Enterprise Green Communities Criteria". This document has some of those quantified numbers that you'll find helpful. While these numbers are not based specifically on the Neighborhood Stabilization Programs throughout the country, the numbers are partially based on moderate and substantial rehabilitation. If you like data, you will really get into the last portion of the document entitled "Technical Report." Check it out!
As some of the NSP's around the country move forward with the construction phase of their programs, we will be more likely to provide you with that type of exact data. As I was wrapping this comment up, a cohort of mine came in my office and suggested that I mention a tool we are currently developing (in the testing stage). It is an ROI calculator that should be available for use in a month, or so, as a part of our Asset Management Toolkit.
Thanks for your comment and request…
Amy
Peter Yost is the Director of Residential Services for BuildingGreen, LLC in Brattleboro, Vermont. He has been building, researching, teaching, writing, and consulting on high-performance homes for more than 20 years. His expertise stretches from construction waste management and 
Amy Hook is a Program Director in the Green Communities Initiative for Enterprise Community Partners in Columbia, Maryland. Amy is an experienced residential and commercial real estate developer, as well as a 
Carl Seville is a green builder, educator, and 
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