LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Louisville $400,000 to help promote sustainability in affordable housing projects.
Louisville’s Office of Sustainability applied for the DOE’s Buildings Upgrade Prize earlier this year. The competitive grant is awarded to roughly 40 applicants across the country. The federal funding will go toward “supporting and scaling programs advancing energy efficiency and clean energy in affordable housing.”
“Building safe, sustainable and affordable housing for all at scale is a priority for my administration,” Mayor Craig Greenberg said on Tuesday.
On October 3, Greenberg unveiled his “My Louisville Home” plan to create and preserve 15,000 affordable housing units across the Metro. A key initiative was to promote sustainable building.
According to the mayor’s office, Louisville’s 2016 Greenhouse Gas Inventory report found residential buildings comprise over a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in Louisville.
Low-income communities, as well as those subjected to historical redlining, face higher energy burden than the average household, the mayor’s office said. Officials said some of the highest energy burden rates in the city are in west Louisville.
They hope this new grant will prioritize delivering meaningful cost savings to these communities.
The Office of Sustainability plans to work closely with housing partners to ensure future investments in housing are aligned with the city’s sustainability goals and will use the Buildings Upgrade Prize to support those efforts.
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