WASHINGTON, DC-The US Department of Housing and Urban Development will be using the recently released LEED for Neighborhood green standard to help score the location efficiency of applications to the upcoming Sustainable Communities Planning grants, which awards $3.25 billion in funds.
USGBC introduced its registration system for its Neighborhood Development LEED certification program recently, after the pilot for the program concluded last September. Since then, more than 20 projects in the DC area have been certified to the pilot project’s standards, with several achieving Gold certification.
One of these is StonebridgeCarras’ Constitution Square, in the District, which recently announced it received Gold ND certification for Phase 1 of its mixed-use development. Other Gold ND certified projects in the DC area include JBG Cos.’ Twinbrook Station in Rockville, MD and Founders Square in Arlington, VA.
A collaboration among USGBC, Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council, LEED for ND integrates smart growth, urbanism and green building for neighborhood design. Green communities, as defined by HUD, are "economically competitive, healthy and opportunity-rich" and provide an important component of community development to local, state and national economies.
One reason why HUD has opted to include this criteria in its grants award is the correlation between foreclosure rates and access to transportation, good schools and economic opportunity, Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a statement.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
