Affordable housing is not only good for the community, but it’s also good for the environment. For instance, multifamily affordable housing often creates homes near jobs and major transit centers, reducing green house gas emissions and maintaining the environmental benefits associated with mass transit.

As a proud partner to California’s cities and neighborhoods, Mercy Housing believes that affordable housing can drive innovation and lead to healthier, more sustainable communities. Our green homes mitigate the environmental impact often associated with development and provide a higher standard of living.

For instance, our 7th & H Apartments in Sacramento have been built to LEED standards and exceed California building energy requirements with a number of green strategies and innovative climate control with an emphasis on natural ventilation. The development features rooftop electric and hot water solar panels that supply over half of the building’s common area energy needs and much of the energy for the residential heating system.

In a focused effort to enhance Mercy Housing’s sustainability, we are engaging our development, construction, and property and asset management teams to implement an Environmental Stewardship Initiative to gather benchmarking data for utility usage; energy audits; use of federal weatherization and green retrofit funding; and sustainable development standards for all new construction.

Sustainable development provides tremendous benefits to residents through reduced energy costs and healthier indoor environments. Our state-of-the-art, attractive properties and cost efficient green features—including solar panels and energy efficient appliances often exceed LEED certification, Green Point Rating, or the Enterprise Foundation Green Communities standards.