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"Connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation and building a clean energy economy."
Secretary Shaun Donovan, February 4, 2010
During visits to the Northwest in early 2010, Housing & Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the establishment of an Office of Sustainable Housing & Communities. It would, he explained, be charged with creating "strong, sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation, and helping to build a clean energy economy".
By coordinating Federal housing, transportation and environmental policies and investments with local land use decision-making, the nation could, he said, "reduce transportation costs for families, improve housing affordability, save energy, and increase access to housing and employment opportunities." When it "comes to housing, environmental and transportation policy," he argued, "the federal government must speak with one voice."
The Secretary also announced formation of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an "unprecedented" federal collaboration. Guided by six Livability Principles the "unprecedented" new partnership between HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to "provide resources and tools to help communities realize their own visions for building more livable, walkable, environmentally sustainable regions."
Less than a year later, that partnership has been formed, hundreds of millions of dollars in Federal resources have been allocated and the work to promote sustainable, livable communities is well underway in the Northwest, thanks not just to the Federal partnership but, more importantly, to scores of local governments, nonprofit organizations and private citizens across the region.
Find out more about the work we - and our Federal, state and local partners - are doing in Washington by visiting the links below. And, once you do, we hope you will contribute your energy and expertise to building more sustainable communities and more sustainable futures in the Northwest.
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) Sustainable Communities Resource Center.
Contact HUD Northwest's Sustainability Team.
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LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMS
Washington Department of Ecology
Sustainable Washington
City of Seattle Office of Sustainability &Environment
City of Seattle Green Building
King County Sustainable Building
City of Tacoma Sustainability
City of Spokane Sustainability
Sustainable Vancouver
Sustainable Bellingham
Sustainable Seattle
Sustainable South Sound
Washington Department of Transportation
OTHER SUSTAINABILITY RESOURCES
Cascadia Green Building Council
Northwest Environmental Busubess Council
Northwest Eco Building Guild
Northwest Community Land Trust Coalition
Sustainable Northwest
Built Green Seattle
Washington State University Extension Service Energy Experts
Washington Chapter of American Planning Association
FutureWise
Transportation Choices Coalition
ENERGY EFFICIENT MORTGAGES
HUD Energy Efficient Mortgage for new homeowners
HUD PowerSaver Mortgage for existing homeowners
FHA Green Refinance Plus Mortgage for Multi-Family Properties
USDA Energy Efficient Mortgages - USDA Rural Housing guaranteed, direct and repair & rehab loans can finance energy efficiency in purchasing either new or existing homes.
VA Energy Efficient Mortgage
Washington Housing Finance Commission Energy Efficiency Financing
ENERGY EFFICIENT TAX CREDITS & REBATES
Federal Energy Efficiency Tax Credits
Washington Database of Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency
Green Building Incentives for Builders
Puget Sound Energy's Green Power Program
WEATHERIZATION & LOW-INCOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS
State of Washington Low Income Energy Assistance Program
Washington Department of Commerce Weatherization
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