by Brianna Crandall — February 19, 2014—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Energy Star program and the public, government-sponsored Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, have signed an agreement that will help to cut carbon pollution while increasing the affordability of multifamily housing properties. The agreement outlines strategies to save water, energy and money for multifamily property owners and residents, and makes it easier to secure financing for energy efficiency investments and providing data about energy use and efficiency opportunities.
Roughly one-third of Americans live in apartments within multifamily buildings, spending approximately $22 billion on energy every year, notes the EPA. Rising energy costs are contributing to the decline in affordability for many of these Americans. Housing industry studies have projected that multifamily properties can become 30 percent more efficient by 2020, unlocking $9 billion in energy savings and preventing more than 35 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, says the EPA.
This memorandum of understanding outlines key strategies to make multifamily housing more affordable by encouraging building owners and tenants to benchmark their energy and water performance and take steps to improve efficiency. Among those strategies:
- Freddie Mac will explore the collection of energy and water performance data from property owners during the loan underwriting and asset management processes.
- By demonstrating the financial value of energy and water efficiency to lenders and borrowers, Freddie Mac hopes to be able to influence lending practices in ways that encourage investments in energy efficiency and make multifamily housing units more affordable. Freddie Mac is one of the largest commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issuers in the country.
- EPA will assist Freddie Mac with these and other goals by providing technical and educational support in the use of the Energy Star Portfolio Manager energy management and tracking tool as well as other Energy Star resources.
The President’s Climate Action Plan calls for helping multifamily buildings cut waste and becoming at least 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020. The EPA has already been working with Fannie Mae and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; together with Freddie Mac, these three organizations influence the largest sources of residential and multifamily lending in the country.
For more information on the EPA’s Energy Star for Buildings program, visit the Web site.
