From heatwaves to wildfires to floods, climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent and more intense. With recovery costs reaching $25 billion in 2023 — hitting Americans with the lowest incomes the hardest — the need for resilient and sustainable affordable housing has never been greater.

More than 20 years ago, we launched the nation’s only green building program created with and for the affordable housing sector. Since then, we’ve transformed decades of best practices into actionable strategies that communities across the country are using to withstand and recover from natural disasters. We are continuing to lead, spearheading a first-of-its-kind collaboration across the climate and affordable housing sectors to establish a playbook for decarbonization.

26K tons of CO2
emissions prevented by Enterprise Green Communities-certified homes
$300K
In passthrough funding for climate risk reduction programs

Building Resilient Futures

Our Building Resilient Futures team has a comprehensive approach that tackles the root causes of climate change while helping communities respond to the challenges they face today. As the only national nonprofit that does it all — solutions, capital, and community development — under one roof, we are uniquely positioned to address all aspects of this challenge from green building to climate risk reduction and equitable decarbonization.

We are also committed to racial equity, and consider the legacy of systemic racism in housing, the growing racial wealth gap, and racial health disparities with every solution. All of our capital tools, technical assistance, programs, and policy solutions prioritize protecting residents while avoiding the perpetuation of our longstanding inequities.

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Aerial view of a rooftop garden

Green Communities

Our green building criteria are the most widely adopted in LIHTC programs across the country. With over 187,000 certified units nationwide, 32 states — along with the District of Columbia and cities like New York City — now require or incentivize developers seeking funding to meet our standards.

Learn more about our green building criteria and how to advance green affordable housing development in your area.

 

Through our partnership with Enterprise, affordable housing developments all across the country can attain dual certification under Green Communities Criteria and WELL, which helps ensure this critical sector has the opportunity to take the lead on both sustainability and health.
Rachel Hodgdon, President & CEO, IWBI 
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A person cleaning up from a storm

Reduce Risk

We’ve transformed decades of best practices into actionable strategies that communities across the country are using to prepare for, withstand, and recover from natural disasters.

Join the more than 150 multifamily affordable housing professionals who have participated in our Resilience Academies. These regional cohorts are tailored to the unique hazards faced by different communities across the country.

You can also explore our Climate Risk Reduction Resource Hub, which provides a collection of climate risk reduction tools that are helping affordable housing developers, owners, and operators make their properties more resilient.

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Climate Resilience Academies
Our cohort-based training academies offer tools and strategies to owners and operators who want to make their properties more resilient to environmental risks.

Equitable Decarbonization

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) directs nearly $400 billion in federal funding to lowering the nation’s carbon emissions by the end of this decade. A total reduction of emissions is a relatively new focus for construction that goes beyond electrification or energy efficiency — and there is no playbook.

Leveraging more than 20 years of experience in equitable decarbonization, green building, and climate resilience, we are leading a collaboration between the climate and affordable housing sectors to create programs that will decarbonize 1.25 million housing units by 2030.

We've also partnered with RMI and Housing Partnership Network to launch the Affordable Housing Decarbonization Hub. This industry-leading resource is designed to support an equitable transition to more efficient, climate-ready multifamily homes. The hub has everything you need all in one place, from a comprehensive knowledge library to real-time updates, and even access to a decarbonization expert who can answer your questions.

Learn more about our decarbonization efforts.

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Join us!
We have been leading the field in resilient solutions for affordable housing for more than two decades. Together, we can continue to push for solutions that meet the challenges of our changing climate.

Meet Our Team