Boston – Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) has been chosen as the recipient of the Sustainability Bond of the Year – US Muni by Environmental Finance, an international online news and analysis service that reports on sustainable investment, green finance and the people and companies active in environmental markets. The 2023 Bond Awards celebrate the “leading green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bond and loans deal in 2002.”
In April 2022, POAH issued a $75 million sustainability bond representing the first time the nonprofit has accessed the public capital markets. This came after Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings assigned an A+ credit rating to POAH allowing the organization to issue General Obligation bonds to attract more investments in its low- and moderate-income housing across the U.S.
POAH’s mission is to preserve, create and sustain affordable, healthy homes that support economic security, racial equity, and access to opportunity. The nonprofit owns and operates nearly 13,000 affordable rental apartments in 11 states and the District of Columbia.
In its announcement of the awards on April 6, Environmental Finance said, “In addition to its social mission, POAH has also long been focused on ensuring its affordable housing communities are as environmentally sustainable and energy efficient as possible. Since 2010, POAH states its environmental improvements have resulted in annual energy usage reductions totaling more than 10 million pounds of CO2 avoided and more than 100 million gallons of water saved.”
Allison Adduci, POAH’s chief financial officer, said, “The bond proceeds have quickly expanded POAH’s mission impact – they represent more resources to advance our work, as well as flexibility in a challenging economic environment.”
POAH’s Design and Building Performance (D&BP) staff holistically integrate energy and water efficiency into development projects and the owned portfolio, working closely with property management staff to maintain each building’s green upgrades and monitor the effectiveness of their conservation initiatives. D&BP performs continuous monitoring of utility consumption that informs conservation investments and ensures renovations and new construction provide durable, healthy, high-quality housing. The developer performs due diligence for code compliance, HVAC systems, utility data, building envelope, hazardous materials, and soil contamination and aims to improve resident health by enhancing indoor air quality and removing volatile organic compounds.
