Introduction

This brief provides guidance and resources on the interrelated issues of green building, resilience, and health in the preservation of small to medium multifamily (“SMMF”) properties. While each of these terms does have a distinct meaning, in the context of housing development and preservation, they are inextricably linked concerns - focusing on one will inevitably lead to consideration for the other two. It is therefore prudent for owners and developers to consider these three ideas in tandem when considering the preservation and operation of SMMF properties.

Resilience means “the capacity of individuals, communities, housing, infrastructure, institutions and businesses within a community to survive, adapt and grow as they confront a variety of extreme and chronic stresses.”We know that the frequency and severity of natural disaster events have already increased across the United States and are expected to continue increasing as our climate changes. Resilience is therefore not only key to maintaining the fabric of our communities but is also a smart financial investment which can potentially save property owners money by promoting efficiencies, eliminating physical deficiencies and potentially reducing insurance premiums.

The term green building is commonly associated with efforts to improve energy, water and building material efficiency. But green building actually encompasses a more comprehensive set of sustainable building standards and practices that include an explicit focus on health, conservation, land use and resilience to natural disasters. Further, through improving resource efficiency and land use, adopting green building practices also means contributing to our collective resilience.

Finally, health represents a state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing and can be heavily influenced by the built environment. Housing can directly impact a person's exposure to toxins or carcinogens, safety and ability to get around, chronic disease development and management, respiratory health, and mental health. These factors are often closely tied to green and resilience-related practices. This includes both the impacts housing design, materials and programming can have on health directly (e.g., exposure to lead or particulates from gas-burning appliances, location of more affordable housing options near higher pollution areas), as well as the health implications of mitigating the risks posed by natural disasters.

Enterprise Community Partners (“Enterprise”) is an established leader in green building, health and resilience practices for affordable housing development and preservation, including SMMF properties. In 2004, Enterprise launched the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, a green building certification and support program specifically targeted to affordable housing development that includes a focus on both health and disaster resilience. Starting in 2020, as a result of this dedication to health within the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, all affordable housing developments certified to the 2020 Enterprise Green Communities Criteria will also be certified to the WELL Building Standard through the International WELL Building Institute. In addition, Enterprise’s Resilience program has developed a suite of tools and resources to help multifamily building owners and developers understand risks and how to mitigate them.

The Case for Integrating Green Building, Resilience, and Health Practices

There are many compelling reasons owners and developers choose to integrate green building, resilience and health-oriented practices into their preservation activities.

First, these practices can carry substantial economic benefits. Many who are new to these practices expect them to be too costly or infeasible to implement in preserving SMMF properties. However, most green building practices are simple, practical and cost effective. Some are cost neutral. Others may have larger upfront costs but are offset by long-term cost savings and gains through improved operating efficiency. This includes the potential for cost savings through lower electricity and water usage, lower insurance costs, lower maintenance costs, and longer material lifespans that reduce long-term replacement costs.^,, Reducing these operating and utility costs can improve the operating efficiency of the property, particularly for older buildings, which is a clear benefit to the owner/operator. That said, even with these long-term benefits, high upfront costs and deferred maintenance needs of the property can still be major barriers for some owners to realize these financial benefits. Residents also directly benefit from lower utility bills and reduced utility cost burdens, which creates housing that is more affordable.^,

The mitigation of economic risks created by disasters for both owners and residents is yet another type of economic benefit, however this involves a different type of cost/benefit tradeoff to the type of operational efficiency discussed above. Improvements designed to increase building resilience, such as retrofitting for seismic resilience in an area at risk of earthquakes, may indeed increase upfront costs substantially without offsetting reductions in operating costs. In these cases, the owner or developer must weigh the cost of the resilience intervention against the risk of damage to the property and the negative impacts on the residents living there. They may also be required by updated building or zoning codes and, therefore, mandatory. Research suggests that risk mitigation improvements can be a good use of resources, resulting in an average of a 4-fold return on investment when taking avoided damages into account. Assessing and mitigating disaster risk is discussed in more detail in the final section of this brief.

Similarly, healthy building practices can decrease emergency room use and improve chronic disease management, for example. The high cost of health care and time spent managing health conditions can create financial instability in a household. For example, respiratory issues are a leading cause of emergency room use among children and can be mitigated through healthy homes strategies like integrated pest management or removing carpeting. Similarly, falls are a major risk for costly hospital stays for older adults and can be mitigated through a variety of low-cost Aging-in-Place features. Many healthy homes strategies are low or no cost and just require upfront planning and integration into the rehabilitation scope. Providing your residents with a healthy and safe home to live in can improve their financial stability through decreased medical costs and a decrease in days of work or school missed due to health needs.

Green building and resilience practices also carry significant and important environmental benefits that contribute to the sustainability of our planet, our way of life and that of future generations. This includes reducing CO₂ emissions that contribute to climate change and therefore the frequency of natural disasters; conserving important water, land and other natural resources; improving stormwater management; and reducing material waste and the use of hazardous materials that can cause environmental harm.

As noted in the introduction to this brief, green building and resilience can also carry positive health benefits in providing an environment that mitigates direct risks to health, such as those posed by natural disasters or toxins, or promotes health, such as active design. Residents and other community members from children through older adults can experience benefits related to mental health, safety, accessibility, cardiovascular and respiratory health, a healthier lifestyle, reduced exposure to toxins, and reduced susceptibility to natural disasters.^,,,

Green, resilience, and healthy building practices can also help owners and developers improve racial and economic equity through their activities. Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) are more likely to live in unhealthy homes that lack access to transit and other resources. BIPOC communities also face a greater risk of living near brownfields and other toxic spaces and industries. Healthy, resilient, green affordable homes are key to advancing racial equity and to achieving economic and environmental justice. The next sections present guidance on how to go about integrating these important components of SMMF property preservation.

Finally, these practices can have substantial organizational and reputational benefits. Given the widespread public awareness of the need for higher quality housing, reducing our collective environmental impact, and improving racial and economic equity, owners and developers who adopt green building practices can more easily demonstrate the alignment of their activities with the community’s goals. This can assist with public approval processes and help to garner community support for preservation activities. Similarly, developers who prioritize health have seen increased interest from healthcare organizations to support their efforts through funding or partnership.

Where to Start: Understanding your risk

It is important to understand the local hazards surrounding your preservation project, because different communities, and even different areas within the same community are vulnerable to different types of disasters. A range of climate- and location-related hazards may pose risks to your structure, which in turn impact your residents, business continuity and your community. These include, for example, earthquakes, flooding, landslides, sea level rise, extreme heat, tornado, tsunami, hurricanes, and wildfires.

These hazards in turn can pose a range of risks to your residents, property, business and the broader community. For example, a risk to property could be related to the building envelope; mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems (MEP), communications infrastructure, units, roofs, and foundations, among other things.

The nature of the property, the nature of the risks, and your preservation goals and scope will all affect how you incorporate resilience into your rehabilitation efforts, which disaster-related requirements apply to your project, and which resources are available. Enterprise has created the Enterprise Portfolio Protect Tool to help you assess the specific exposure and rating of your building. Based on your inputs, it will create a risk score based on social vulnerability and climate risk. The tool covers those hazards most common to the United States and territories. Community Powered Resilience also offers tools and case studies to help understand risk and undertake your own risk assessment.

Zones, Regulations and Incentives for Resilience

In addition to these decisions, you will need to make regarding risks, there may be special zones, regulations or incentives designated by state and local entities that require or encourage the adoption of specific resilience measures. While existing properties are sometimes exempt from requirements created after they were built, rehabilitation or other activities may trigger the need to become compliant with the requirements. Some requirements may only apply to buildings of particular types, sizes, heights, or construction materials. Thus, in preserving your property, you will need to work with your local building or planning department to determine which, if any, state and local resilience-related requirements you will need to comply with in preserving your property, along with what public incentives your property may qualify for.

The following examples of resilience-related zones and regulations provide an illustration of the types of requirements you may encounter, but the specific requirements will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and in some cases even between properties within a jurisdiction.

• Properties located in floodplains may be required to comply with building elevation or other flood mitigation requirements. Coastal properties may be further subject to requirements related to storm surge.

• In areas such as southern Florida that experience regular hurricanes, there are specific building code standards for hurricane protection (see the Florida Building Code for more details).

• California’s state building code includes measures that improve resilience from earthquakes. Local jurisdictions may have additional related programs and requirements. For example, Los Angeles created the Soft-Story Retrofit Program to improve the resilience of certain types of particularly vulnerable structures. San Francisco's Preservation and Seismic Safety Program combines preservation and seismic retrofits in one program.