Energy Efficiency
Retrofitting Old Cities for Sustainability
Explore strategies for retrofitting old cities to enhance sustainability while preserving historical integrity and managing logistical challenges.
Housing as a Climate Resilience Strategy
Ensuring that housing, including in informal settlements, is safe and healthy for its residents is a key tool in the fight to build more sustainable and equitable communities in the face of climate migration.
Colorado Launches New Efficiency and Weatherization Rebate Program
The state is using federal funds to assist homeowners in replacing inefficient appliances and making their homes more climate-friendly and resilient.
Future of Justice40 Initiative Hinges on Election
The program requires that 40 percent of some federal funds be used to benefit historically disadvantaged communities.
House Poor: Low-Income Homeowners Struggle in the Shadows
While renters and homebuyers’ challenges dominate the headlines, they aren't the only ones wrestling with maintaining decent housing.
Seattle Expands Heat Pump Rebates
Moderate-income households can access up to $8,000 in incentives to switch from oil heating systems to more efficient electric heat pumps.
Study: Retrofitting Old Buildings Has Lower Total Carbon Footprint Than New Construction
A study of over a million Chicago buildings assessed their ‘embodied carbon’ footprint over their lifetimes, showing that demolishing an old building in favor of a new one almost always produced more emissions.
What Makes Affordable Housing Green?
There's no one way to determine what makes “green” housing. Here's a breakdown of the standards and considerations used by the affordable housing industry.
Using Machine Learning to Optimize Utility Management
Discover how machine learning optimizes city utility management for enhanced efficiency and reduced operational costs.
Michigan Proposal to Attract Data Centers Garners Criticism
The state legislature is poised to pass a law that would bring more data centers to the state, but critics say the move would threaten the state’s climate goals.
Ten Trends Shaping Affordable Housing
From Passive House design to a broader range of amenities, affordable housing developers are finding new ways to make housing more efficient, comfortable, and flexible for residents.
Feds Issue New Energy Efficiency Standards for Affordable Housing
The new standards are expected to lower energy costs for low-income households.
How To Reduce Energy Use in Buildings
The cheapest energy is energy not used.
Berkeley Natural Gas Ban Remains Reversed
A court declined to revisit its decision to invalidate a city ban on natural gas hookups.
HUD Resiliency Awards Target Affordable Multifamily Housing
The Green and Resilient Retrofit program aims to reduce vulnerability to climate challenges and improve energy efficiency in multifamily buildings.
Massachusetts Moves Toward Decarbonization
The state developed a framework for planning to phase out natural gas, denying industry calls to allow hydrogen and renewable natural gas.
NYC Approves Carbon Neutrality Plan
The zoning amendment, part of the ‘City of Yes’ plan, will make it easier and more affordable to make efficiency retrofits and reduce emissions.
US Building Emissions are Growing
Green building standards and efficiency retrofits are not keeping up with energy demand, resulting in a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.
Utilities Spending Less on Energy Efficiency Despite Higher Fuel Prices
A survey of major utilities reveals a link between states with strict efficiency standards and incentive programs and efforts to improve efficiency on the part of utilities.
Geothermal Pilot Program Breaks Ground in Massachusetts
A first-of-its-kind’ program will connect roughly 40 residential and commercial buildings to an underground geothermal network that will replace fossil fuel-powered furnaces.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
