A Chicago-based community development financial institution (CDFI) and efficiency group help apartment building owners tame high utility costs, preserve affordable housing, and cut global warming emissions.
"About 40 percent of Cook County’s residential stock is multiunit property. A significant part of that is renter occupied," writes Susie An. "It’s that population that CNT Energy and Community Investment Corporation is targeting with the Energy Savers program."
“Multifamily building owners have been harder to reach by efficiency programs. And that’s because they’re kind of stuck between a residential program and a commercial program. And typically the programs that are out there don’t meet their needs,” said Anne Evens, CNT Energy's CEO.
"The program gives owners a free evaluation of their property, listing how much savings they’d get with recommended upgrades. It also offers various rebates and financial options."
"Daniel Olson is the senior energy efficiency planner with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The agency’s mapped out a regional plan that identifies energy efficiency as one of the easier measures that can move the area toward sustainability. That includes things like upgrading to a high efficiency hot water heater, insulating buildings and simply changing light bulbs to compact fluorescent lights."
FULL STORY: Getting Landlords to Make Energy Efficiency Improvements
Future of Justice40 Initiative Hinges on Election
The program requires that 40 percent of some federal funds be used to benefit historically disadvantaged communities.
House Poor: Low-Income Homeowners Struggle in the Shadows
While renters and homebuyers’ challenges dominate the headlines, they aren't the only ones wrestling with maintaining decent housing.
Study: Retrofitting Old Buildings Has Lower Total Carbon Footprint Than New Construction
A study of over a million Chicago buildings assessed their ‘embodied carbon’ footprint over their lifetimes, showing that demolishing an old building in favor of a new one almost always produced more emissions.
Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
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Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.
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