CDC Capacity Building
Building the capacity of Community Development Corporations (CDCs) to carry out greening as an integral part of their work is becoming increasingly critical to their ability to meet new regulatory requirements around green building and to take advantage of new opportunities around green jobs in the workforce development field. Currently, CDCs spend significant portions of their budgets on consultants to help them navigate the relatively new field of greening. Bringing that expertise in-house provides a cost-effective way to meet greening goals. The GDC began issuing grants for CDC capacity building in 2010. These Section 4 grants can be used to support the hire of full- or part-time green development experts, to train current staff in regionally or nationally recognized green building standards and certifications, or to contract consultants for further green development capacity for specific projects.
Deconstruction
Deconstruction is an environmentally sustainable, job-creating alternative to demolition. Rather than blasting a structure with a wrecking ball, the building is literally taken apart piece by piece in such a way that the materials can be repurposed or recycled. In addition to reducing material consumption, reducing air pollution associated with demolition, and diverting materials from landfills, deconstruction of vacant and abandoned properties improves neighborhood safety and boosts quality of life. LISC supports deconstruction pilot programs that leverage the practice as a workforce development strategy by using the projects the create transitional jobs and on-the-job training opportunities for ex-offenders and those with employment barriers. LISC’s local offices work with government, nonprofit, and private-sector partners to build local support and demand for deconstruction and launch pilots in Detroit, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee. Learn more about deconstruction.
Energy Benchmarking
Energy benchmarking is a way of monitoring the energy use and performance of a building or home, as well as for comparing consumption across a portfolio of buildings. Energy benchmarking is an important tool for property managers, tenants and homeowners to assess their energy consumption and identify potential areas for change. Learn more on energy efficiency, click here.
Food Systems and Urban Agriculture
Low-income and underprivileged communities disproportionately lack access to healthy and affordable food options. LISC and its partners are supporting the growth of farmers markets, healthy corner stores, community gardens, and other financing mechanisms that not only bring healthy food where it is needed most, but also provide educational opportunities for youth development, entrepreneurship, and environmental education. Learn more about urban agriculture.
Green Building
Used interchangeable with ‘sustainable design’, green building promotes the design and construction of buildings that have much higher performance levels than conventional buildings. Generally, green buildings are healthier, more comfortable, more durable, more energy efficient, and less consuming of natural resources. Green building presents a huge shift in how we think about development, adding a human and environmental component to how we value the built environment and the buildings in which we live, work, shop, and learn. Through financial, technical, and educational support, LISC actively supports green building of the following structures:
- Affordable Housing
- Commercial Facilities
- Community Facilities
- Mixed-Use Development
- Schools
- Neighborhoods (new!)
For more information on how green building improves health and safety, click here.
Learn more FAQs about Green Building.
To learn more about green construction, click here.
Green Business
Green businesses are enterprises that aim to lessen their negative impacts or even improve their positive impacts on the environment, community, society and economy. Green businesses conduct business according to progressive policies that make for happy and healthy employees, including sustainable purchasing policies and opportunities for professional development. Green businesses incorporate sustainability into each of its business decisions and typically supply green products or services to their sector.
Green Infrastructure
As defined by The Conservation Fund, Green infrastructure is a “strategically planned and managed networks of natural lands, working landscapes and other open spaces that conserve ecosystem values and functions and provide associated benefits to human populations.” It is an increasingly popular strategy for cities and towns to develop and update their street and water infrastructure in ways that decrease flooding, increase public safety, and support an ascetically pleasing and healthy urban ecosystem. Common practices include green roofs, bioswales, permeable paving, and rain gardens. Click here to listen into a GDC webinar entitled “Using Green Infrastructure to Build Healthy, Livable Communities”.
Green Jobs
Green jobs are a part of a vision for workforce development that aligns itself with sustainable values, processes and methods—sustainable both in terms of environmental viability and economic development. A green or “green-collar” job is not just a particular field of employment or job category. Rather, it is an approach to doing a job--often in an existing job sector that incorporates more sustainable practices. Technological innovation plays a considerable role, such as in the manufacture of solar panels and wind turbines. But green jobs can be forged within the context of existing jobs, such as carpentry. A green job can be anything that helps us get on the path to a cleaner, more energy efficient future. That means jobs in public transit, green building, or energy efficiency, which are performed in the interest of sustainability and social justice. Click here for more on green jobs.
Green Operations and Maintenance
It’s been said that a green building is only as green as its occupants. Therefore, it’s important to consider the behaviors of tenants, property managers, and maintenance staff when its working with green buildings. Green operations and management practices reduce the use of resources such as electricity, gas, and water and by using energy efficient systems and appliances; improve indoor air quality with non-toxic products, and reduce waste. Green materials are often more durable and lower a building’s burden on natural resources, making for “lean and green” buildings. Green operations and management (O&M) requires a green O&M manual, site trainings for property managers, as well as education and outreach to tenants to reduce demand on natural resources and building systems. For more on Green O&M, click here.
Green Retrofits and Rehabs
America’s existing housing stock is aging, and so is its stock of outdated and inefficient building systems. Green retrofits provide an integrated approach for fixing or upgrading these buildings synergistically by aiming for the greatest energy efficiencies and smallest carbon footprints —within a reasonable budget. Various levels of energy efficiencies can be achieved within different levels of energy retrofits, ranging from minor, moderate, to deep energy retrofits. Learn more about energy retrofits here.
Mixed-Use Development
Mixed-use development is characteristic of livable, accessible communities. Here, land uses may be integrated in one site, such as apartments over storefronts. Mixed uses can also take the form of commercial, civic, and institutional spaces being located in community centers or transit-accessible corridors, while housing is located in nearby surrounds. Mixed-use development makes it easier for communities to thrive without a car, thereby reducing its impact on the environment and making amenities more accessible for those of all incomes and abilities. For more on mixed-use development and new urbanism, click here.
Parks and Greenspace
Parks and greenspaces are vital to a community’s well-being and quality of life. Parks and greenspaces serve as gathering spaces, recreational areas, and provide important ecological services for a community (such as clean air and biodiversity). Green development seeks to preserve greenspaces by avoiding new construction on existing green spaces as well as enhancing the access, quality and viability of existing parks and greenspaces.
Transit Oriented Development
What good is (green) affordable housing if residents are forced to own cars, waste limited income on gas/car expenses, and drive anywhere and everywhere to meet basic needs? What good is green development if more land is required for parking than for housing? These are questions that good transit-oriented development seeks to answer and comprehensive community development should address. Transit-oriented development (TOD) is an increasingly recognized approach to development that places both orientation and access to quality transit systems at its core. For us at LISC, this is an important approach to integrate into our community development work, especially under the framework of the Building Sustainable Communities.
Weatherization
Weatherization is the process used to protect a home and its residents from the effects of the outdoor environment, including outside air temperature and pollutants. Weatherization focuses on household air quality, insulation, and energy conservation, using the most advanced technology and highest cost savings. Residents can see immediate reductions in their energy bills after weatherizing their homes. Weatherization also has significant benefits on residents' health over the long-term. For a primer on weatherization, click here.
