Better Buildings Challenge
Multifamily Sector
2020 Goal Achiever: Mercy Housing
Mercy Housing, based in Denver, Colorado, achieved 24 percent energy savings across its nationwide portfolio of 320 properties with 23,000 housing units.
2020 Goal Achiever: Preservation of Affordable Housing
Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), based in Boston, Massachusetts, achieved 20 percent energy savings across its portfolio of 84 properties with 11,000 housing.
2020 Goal Achiever: Corcoran Management
Corcoran Management, in Massachusetts, achieved 23 percent energy savings across its portfolio of 10 properties with 1,300 housing units.
2020 Goal Achiever: Trinity Housing Corporation of Greeley
Trinity Housing Corporation of Greeley, in Colorado, achieved 20% energy savings in just six years across its portfolio of 103 housing units.
COVID-19 Resources for Housing Providers
The Better Buildings Challenge Multifamily Sector has compiled a list of resources and updates on COVID-19 and housing.
The Better Buildings Challenge (BBC) is a voluntary leadership initiative that asks multifamily property owners and managers to make a commitment to improving the energy efficiency of their property portfolios by 20 percent over 10 years and to share their annual progress and lessons learned with the public. The Federal Government provides support to BBC Partners in overcoming obstacles on their journeys and highlights their good work.
Each BBC Partner commits to:
- Pledge an organization-wide energy savings goal of at least 20 percent within 10 years
- Publish 2 short case studies, showcasing an energy efficiency project and an organization-wide implementation model
- Report results annually by sharing energy performance data that demonstrates success
*Partners are strongly encouraged to consider making a pledge to reduce portfolio-wide water consumption as well.
The Better Buildings Initiative, of which the Challenge is a part, emerged out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In 2013, the BBC expanded through partnership with HUD beyond the Commercial Sector to include the Multifamily Sector.
As of October 1, 2019 more than 95 multifamily housing providers, representing over 600 million square feet of real estate and impacting roughly 634,000 households, have made energy and/or water efficiency commitments through the BBC.
The BBC Multifamily Sector is diverse, including partners that:
- Own as few as 2 properties and as many as several thousand
- Work in a single place and nationwide
- Serve rural and urban areas
- Are for-profit and nonprofit
- Offer market-rate and affordable housing
Leaders in energy and water efficiency come in all shapes and sizes and are motivated by the opportunity to:
- Reduce operations costs
- Eliminate energy and water waste
- Improve tenant health
- Promote energy independence
- Combat climate change
Visit DOE's websites to:
Learn more about the Better Buildings Challenge, in general
View the BBC Multifamily Sector subpage
Learn more about the Better Buildings Financing Navigator, a tool to explore financing options
Visit HUD's websites to:
Learn more about BBC Multifamily Sector eligibility, commitment, and benefits
Check out the current list of Multifamily Partners
Request technical assistance from HUD as a current BBC Multifamily Sector Partner
Access HUD’s Multifamily Utility Benchmarking Tools and Resources
Energy and Water Efficiency Resources
Access technical resources, policy guidance, planning tools, and other resources to improve the energy and water performance of your multifamily housing portfolio.
News and Announcements
Improving Multifamily Energy Efficiency: Better Buildings Challenge 2020 Update
Date Posted: August 10, 2020
Key Announcements, Combining Energy + Health Upgrades Webinar, and Partner Successes: BBC Multifamily July Newsletter
Date Posted: July 16, 2020
BBC MF Webinar: Strategies to Combine Energy + Health Upgrades in Multifamily Housing
Date Posted: July 8, 2020