Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, School of Planning

Our homes are major greenhouse gas producers, resulting in climate change. In 2017, buildings in the residential sector alone consumed 20% of total energy production in the US, and 89% of the total energy consumed by all sectors was produced using non-renewable energy sources, including petroleum, natural gas, coal (all fossil fuels) and nuclear power (a nonrenewable fuel) (Yeganeh, McCoy, and Hankey 2019).

At the same time, according to the American Housing Survey, about 47% of renter households were rent-burdened, meaning they spent more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Since 1981, Congress capped rents in public housing at 30% of resident income so that the poor who get housing through various public programs can afford other necessities such as clothing, food, and medical bills, making it the standard by which housing affordability is measured (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), n.d.).

When energy consumption in housing is taken together with data about rent burdens, these numbers suggest a need to address housing affordability while also focusing on environmental sustainability in the residential sector (Yeganeh, McCoy, and Hankey 2019).

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program led the residential construction sector in developing green technologies for United States (US) housing. In the early 1990s, green building practices became increasingly integrated into LIHTC project design and implementation (Wells and Vermeer 2020).