Housing Authority of City of Freeport, IL

The Housing Authority of the City of Freeport (HACF)owns and manages 446 public housing units (from efficiency to 5 bedrooms), as well as 73 family site buildings (including 4 office buildings, 3 community buildings, 66 family site buildings), and two highrises. HACF is committed to building strong communities by providing quality housing and empowerment opportunities to families, in partnership with community resource providers.

HACF has implemented energy efficiency measures totaling more than $800,000 in the past three years from a state Public Housing Authority (PHA) Efficient Living Grant, in partnership with the University of Illinois and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. HACF will achieve the goals of the Better Buildings Challenge by continuing to work with the University of Illinois Building Research Council in a HUD Energy Performance Contract–EZ Demonstration Project, and will seek additional PHA Efficient Living Grants in the coming years. This project will demonstrate the feasibility of self-managed energy performance contracting for smaller PHAs and multifamily properties across the country to access the energy efficiency retrofit market. It will also explore various financing methods, determine cost-effective utility retrofits, and conduct quarterly analysis of utility bills, resident satisfaction surveys and training to facilitate proper utilization and tenant acceptance of installed retrofits. Among HACF's properties, replacement measures have included installing packaged terminal heat pumps, residential and commercial lighting, refrigerators, exhaust fans, furnaces, toilets, showerheads, and aerators.