Better Climate Challenge Overview

CHP provides affordable and sustainable housing for 6,100 households in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. For 30 years, CHP has designed and built multifamily projects to meet strict green building standards with an emphasis on energy-efficient design, sustainable building practices, and reduced utility costs for residents. CHP’s Green Team hopes to build on this success by setting an organizational vision to be a sustainable net-zero company by 2050.

In 2013, CHP joined the Multifamily BBC to improve the energy efficiency of its multifamily portfolio by at least 20 percent over 10 years.

Foundation Communities is an Austin-based nonprofit that has committed to a 50 percent reduction in GHG emissions across their 3,200-unit, 2.9 million-square-foot portfolio over 10 years. The organization employs deep green building strategies and sustainable operations and maintenance policies that focus on energy and water conservation, healthy indoor air, and waste reduction. Many of Foundation Communities' properties are LEED certified and hold Austin Energy Green Building 5-star ratings.

HRI is a 501(c)3 nonprofit housing developer focused on developing and preserving affordable housing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. HRI believes that it is the responsibility of affordable housing developers to reduce their carbon footprint.

HRI works to address this issue throughout the construction and renovation process as well as building operations so that families can enjoy healthy, energy-efficient homes that help preserve the local environment and the planet.

HACP's purpose is to develop and make available affordable, safe housing and to help families achieve the independence they strive for. A brighter future is always within reach thanks to the commitment of HACP. HACP currently houses more than 18,000 Pittsburghers, manages more than 2,500 public housing units, and provides oversight of an additional 600+ mixed-finance units. HACP’s portfolio consists of family communities with a mix of high rises, low rises, and row houses. HACP’s previous GHG emission reduction approaches and successes include the completion of an energy performance contract that reduced energy and water usage across HACP’s portfolio.

KCHA provides rental housing and rental assistance to more than 18,000 individuals and families in King County, Washington. KCHA has committed to further reducing its energy use by committing to at least 50 percent emissions reduction through deep energy-saving retrofits, electrification, heating efficiency upgrades, and use of clean electricity sources.

In addition to their BCC commitment, KCHA has also established an internal 5-year goal to reduce the portfolio’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI) by 10 percent through continuous energy-saving building upgrades, resident engagement initiatives, and direct installs of energy saving products across their housing portfolio.

The Schochet Companies is a real estate development and management company that owns and/or manages more than 5,300 apartments and 50,000 square feet of affordable, market-rate, and commercial mixed-use housing throughout New England. Headquartered in Braintree, MA, the company has developed, owned, and/or managed in excess of 7,000 apartments and 600,000 square feet of retail and commercial space throughout New England and on the West Coast since its formation by Jay R. Schochet in 1973.

SHA has a long history of investing in energy efficiency, water conservation, and construction of some of green affordable housing. In 2019, SHA committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil gases in existing buildings by 15, reduce fleet vehicle idling by 50 percent, electrify 100 percent of its passenger vehicle fleet, and double on-site solar energy generation - all by 2025. These commitments have spurred new investments in lighting replacements, energy recovery ventilation, high efficiency condensing boilers, solar power, and CO2 heat pump water heaters.

Standard Communities is one of the 50 largest affordable housing owners in the nation, including the largest tax-exempt bond and LIHTC financed affordable housing transactions in Illinois, California, and Washington DC. Previous sustainability successes include the largest rooftop community solar system in D.C. at Fort Chaplin Park Apartments. This project spans 45 buildings, will generate more than 1.5 million kWh of energy annually – saving low-income residents up to $500 per year on their electric bills. Standard will benchmark all properties and monitor energy use, implement financially feasible energy reduction measures, improve operations and maintenance, conduct resident engagement, and utilize renewable energy to meet both BBC and BCC goals.

TNDC serves 4,100 low-income tenants in San Francisco across 44 buildings with 14 additional buildings under development. They are currently members of the Better Buildings Low Carbon Pilot and Water Savings Network. By 2031, TNDC seeks to cut its environmental footprint in half through the BCC. Currently, 52 percent of their buildings have rooftop Solar PV or Solar Thermal systems and all of their building’s common areas operate on 100 percent renewable energy through CleanPowerSF.

Veris Residential, Inc., is an environmentally and socially conscious publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily owns, operates, acquires, and develops holistically inspired Class A multifamily properties that meet the sustainability-conscious lifestyle needs of today's residents. The company's ongoing investments in smart building technologies support projects like submetering, off-site renewable energy, smart irrigation, and leak detection.

Veris Residential is committed to reducing its Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50 percent (2019 baseline) by 2030, and this goal has been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company's like-for-like Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 34 percent below 2019 in 2021, and the company procured 100 percent of operationally controlled electricity within its multifamily portfolio in 2021 from renewable sources.

WinnCompanies is a fifty-year-old mixed income multifamily housing developer, owner, and manager. Headquartered in Boston, WinnCompanies owns approximately 14,000 apartments across 100 properties in twelve states. Winn has a decade’s long track record in reducing GHG emissions from buildings through deep energy retrofits, energy efficiency improvements, and the development of 3 megawatts of solar PV.