Green buildings have emerged over the past decade as a robust movement to create high-performance, energy-efficient structures that improve occupant comfort and well-being while minimizing environmental impacts. Supported by organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council and its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, both public and private entities are increasingly pursuing green buildings in the institutional, commercial, and residential sectors. While this progress is impressive, for a number of reasons it has not included significant numbers of affordable housing projects. These reasons, several of which are unique to affordable housing, include an almost exclusive focus on “first costs,” the existence of per-unit cost caps, regulatory rigidity that limits green innovation,
and a finance system that fails to recognize the long-term value of green investments. A common perception has been that green costs more and is, therefore, not suitable for affordable housing. Recent studies have documented the costs and benefits of green building in the commercial and institutional sectors, reporting that green buildings have a modest initial cost premium, but that long-term benefits far exceed the incremental capital costs. These findings have bolstered green building activity in these sectors, but their applicability to affordable housing development has been viewed with considerable skepticism.