Affordability and Energy-Efficiency Mark New Virginia Homes

FULL TEXT: Download complete issue (*.pdf, 673 KB) Order a printed copy of the whole text

In 2001, then-HUD Deputy Secretary Alphonso Jackson launched the Department’s 21-point Energy Action Plan (EAP), which includes the use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to promote energy-efficient housing. The plan estimates that cutting energy costs by just 5 percent a year in HUD’s housing assistance expenditures could save nearly $2 billion over 10 years.

Blacksburg, Virginia, and Community Housing Partners developed these green, affordable duplexes using CDBG entitlement funds and a small cities grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Credit: Community Housing Partners

The small town of Blacksburg, Virginia, demonstrates the EAP’s potential in the form of 14 affordable, energy-efficient homes for first-time homebuyers earning between 60 and 80 percent of the area median income. An initial CDBG small cities grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and HUD’s subsequent designation of the town as an entitlement community provided initial funding for the project. “The CDBG funds are a welcome revenue source that enabled the town to undertake a project like this,” said Matt Hanratty, Director of Housing and Neighborhood Services for Blacksburg. “We have flexibility in how we spend the money, and we want to do it in a fiscally responsible manner.”

The town purchased three lots for infill housing in the historic Roanoke-Lee Street neighborhood, an eclectic mix of homes within walking distance of many downtown civic and retail amenities. During the design phase, town officials and their nonprofit partner, Community Housing Partners (CHP), met with neighborhood residents to determine how the infill housing should look. They agreed that the new housing needed to blend in with the neighborhood. Colin Arnold, architect and director of CHP’s Community Design Studio, incorporated elements from existing neighborhood houses, such as front porches with metal roofs, into the overall design.

Energy-Efficient, Sustainable Construction

These duplexes received an ENERGY STAR Award for Excellence in Energy-Efficient Affordable Housing in March 2007. Credit: Community Housing Partners

“The duplexes are ENERGY STAR homes, not just houses with ENERGY STAR appliances,” Hanratty points out. The duplexes incorporate energy-efficient and sustainable materials such as cellulose insulation made from recycled paper, a product considered effective in reducing air infiltration, heat transfer, and sound transmission. The homes also have energy- efficient features including double-paned vinyl windows with low-e glass and ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances.

CHP worked with a mechanical engineer to properly size the HVAC units — taking into account the number of windows and the siting of each house relative to the sun’s path — and installed a high-efficiency (14 SEER) heat pump. The indoor air handler is so efficient, according to Arnold, that the energy rating is actually 15 SEER. It brings fresh air into the system and has return air grids installed in every bedroom. CHP tests found that the duplexes’ HVAC systems were up to 30 percent more energy efficient than those found in the average new home. The resulting utility cost savings will continue to make the homes more affordable to own over time.

A Partnership

The metal porch roof of this duplex mirrors similar porches and roofs found on neighboring houses. Credit: Community Housing Partners

Both the town of Blacksburg and CHP brought substantial resources to bear in completing this project. Before the groundbreaking, the town replaced water lines, sliplined sewer lines, and assembled a list of potential homebuyers selected on a first-come, first-served basis. CHP, which sold the homes, then prequalified people for homeownership. For those who did not qualify (due to poor credit or other issues), CHP offered credit counseling and homeownership classes that enabled them to improve their credit and qualify for a mortgage later. The first units were sold in late July 2006, and the last was sold in January 2007.

Behind four of the duplexes, the town is currently completing a “pocket park” with a tot lot that the town will maintain. At the neighborhood’s request, the town worked closely with Virginia Tech Electric Service (VTES), which serves the Virginia Tech campus and parts of downtown Blacksburg, to develop a plan to run utility lines underground. The town secured easements from homeowners and churches, and provided the machinery required to bury the lines. VTES is currently laying conduit throughout the neighborhood and will soon run lines for phone, electricity, and cable. The final stage of the project will be completed next spring when a continuous sidewalk is constructed along Lee Street, curbs and gutters are added, and the street is repaved.

Hanratty has two recommendations for other jurisdictions contemplating a similar project. First, the leaders must get citizens to buy into the project from the beginning and keep them involved throughout the process. “The town council wanted to know what the citizens thought about the project, and the citizens realized the town was listening to them,” he said. Public response to the duplexes has been positive, and people have learned firsthand what building green really means. Second, says Hanratty, project leaders must find good partners. “CHP understands working with neighborhoods, and sustainability is part of their mission. We can do public works, but we don’t build houses, so developing the partnership was important.”

In March 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency awarded CHP an ENERGY STAR Award for Excellence in Energy-Efficient Affordable Housing, one of only seven such awards nationwide, for the Roanoke-Lee Street duplexes. Read more about Blacksburg Housing and Neighborhood Services at http://www.blacksburg.gov/index.aspx?page=291 and Community Housing Partners at www. communityhousingpartners.org, and find information on HUD’s entitlement community program at www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/entitlement.