Boston – The Baker-Polito Administration announced $1.73 million in awards to support energy efficient new construction for affordable housing developments in six cities and towns built to Passive House standards.
The grants, awarded to eight affordable housing developments in Cambridge, Gloucester, Hanson, Northampton, Holbrook and Boston totaling 540 high-efficiency units, provide energy savings and improved indoor air quality for low-income households. The announcement was made by state and local officials at the Old Colony Housing Development in South Boston.
The funding was awarded through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Passive House Design Challenge program, part of the Baker-Polito Administration’s $15 million Affordable Access for Clean and Efficient Energy (AACEE) initiative. The program seeks to demonstrate that multi-family affordable housing can be built to high efficiency Passive House standards in Massachusetts at a low-to-no cost premium.
Earlier this year, Massachusetts was named the most energy efficient state in the nation by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy for the ninth consecutive year.
The eight developments, four of which have secured low income tax credit financing and three which are applying to the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for affordable housing tax credits, are:
- Finch Cambridge – Cambridge ($147,000)
- Preservation for Affordable Housing Mattapan Station – Mattapan ($540,000)
- Beacon Communities Old Colony Phase Three C – South Boston ($120,000)
- NorthShore Community Development Corporation’s Harbor Village – Gloucester ($120,000)
- Dakota Partners – Hanson ($192,000)
- Community Builders North Commons – Northampton ($212,000)
- Preservation of Affordable Housing Bartlett Station Lot D – Roxbury ($168,000)
- NeighborWorks Southern Mass’s Holbrook Center Senior Housing – Holbrook ($131,200)
The Passive House Design Challenge awards are complemented by the recent addition of MassSave Passive House incentives for multi-family buildings. Multi-family new construction buildings above four stories, both market rate and affordable, may be eligible for Passive House energy modeling funding and up to $3,000 per unit if they certify to the high-efficiency Passive House standard.
