On May 1, 2012 Gregory P. Russ, CHA's Executive Director, participated in the Disrupting the Poverty Cycle conference organized by Crittenton and Women's Union (CWU). The conference focused on 'Emerging Practices to Achieve Economic Mobility'. In this occassion, Mr. Russ presented some reform ideas the agency is considering as it focus efforts on offering a more comprehensive housing assistance to low-income families. Mr. Russ was joined by Ms. Ruth Liberman, Vice President of Public Policy at CWU in the panel titled 'Co-Investment for Social Change: Shifting Government from Subsidizing to Investing'.
CAMBRIDGE, MA – In an unprecedented move, a group of Housing Authorities from across the nation sent a joint letter asking HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to cut costly red tape that the Housing Authorities say are making it impossible to keep critical housing programs running. “When the federal government provides us 75 cents for every dollar it takes to administer the voucher program and cuts the funding to modernize and make repairs to public housing apartments by more than 33 percent in 2 years, we simply can't afford needless bureaucracy,” said Houston Housing Authority President and CEO Tory Gunsolley, one of eleven Housing Authority leaders requesting relief from HUD. “With so much less money, now more than ever, housing authorities need the authority from HUD to put as much as possible directly into housing services.”
The group, which provides affordable housing to over 78,000 low-income families in America, is asking the Secretary to streamline processes and make it easier for them to maintain their programs in today’s difficult funding environment without hurting the low-income people they serve. Using the proposed process, each Housing Authority will be able to ask HUD to quickly allow them to cut red tape in 3 areas - resident services, housing development and operational efficiencies - as their local needs dictate. “The proposal we submit will allow us, as well as other agencies, to streamline processes and procedures without sacrificing residents’ rights or HUD’s ability to account for how each of us is using taxpayer money,” said Keith Kinard, Executive Director of the Newark Housing Authority. “Under our proposal, we can use the diminishing support we receive from HUD much more effectively to ensure we are protecting resident rights while, at the same time, freeing up taxpayer funds for programs that would otherwise be used for processes.”
The group's proposal outlines how the HUD Secretary can use existing legal authority to streamline program operations so the can that the fewer available dollars can stretch further and better address local needs. The proposed process is similar to a Department of Education initiative that grants localities flexibility from some of the one-size-fits-all requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act." The streamlined process proposed by the group would also enable HUD to more quickly review and approve similar proposals. “Under the current system, it could take an agency as much as a year to get HUD approval to implement cost-saving measures,” said Anthony O’Leary, Executive Director of the Akron (OH) Housing Authority. “Under this proposal, agencies can take advantage of the HUD Secretary's existing legal authority to save more money faster, so that residents can be better served even in these lean times.”
The group is hopeful that given the lack of progress Congress and HUD have made on past efforts at long-overdue reform, their request will be well received by HUD officials. According to Cambridge (MA) Housing Authority Executive Director Gregory P. Russ, “Both the President and Secretary Donovan have publicly committed to eliminating senseless regulations. Cambridge already benefits from a program called Moving to Work that allows Cambridge to make our scarce federal dollars go further and focus on serving our clients. This proposal provides a way for other housing authorities to similarly benefit from cutting unnecessary red tape.” Preston Prince, Executive Director of the Housing Authorities of the City and County of Fresno (CA) adds, “This proposal is precisely what the Administration is looking for. We are providing the Department with a vehicle for cutting red tape so that we can use more of our dollars to assist low-income families that are in desperate need of our help. We are confident that HUD will seize this opportunity and run with it.”
The eleven Agencies requesting that HUD act on the proposal to cut red tape are the Akron Housing Authority (OH), the Brunswick Housing Authority (ME), the Cambridge Housing Authority (MA), the Fayette County Housing Authority (PA), the Housing Authorities of the City and County of Fresno (CA), the Houston Housing Authority (TX), the Laurinburg Housing Authority (NC), the Mississippi Regional Housing Authority VIII (MS), the Newark Housing Authority (NJ), the New Brunswick Housing & Redevelopment Authority (NJ) and the St. Paul Public Housing Agency (MN). The Agencies represent a mix of large, medium and small Housing Authorities from across the country.
Along with the proposal, the Housing Authorities have asked the Secretary for a meeting to discuss their recommendations.
Contact:
Sue Cohen
General Counsel, Cambridge Housing Authority
(617) 520-6241
scohen@cambridge-housing.org
$1.9 million project features rooftop solar PV system, pays for itself in energy savings
Framingham, MA – July 12, 2011 – Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC), a leading energy
efficiency and renewable energy company, announced today that it has completed the
construction of the second phase of an energy performance contract with the
Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA). The $1.9 million project expands on a previous
effort that is now expected to deliver approximately $300,000 a year in utility cost
savings.
The Ameresco project focuses on energy conservation measures at the 196-unit Daniel
F. Burns Apartments in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The recently completed upgrades
include water saving retrofits, lighting efficiency improvements, roof replacement, and
installation of a new, highly efficient heat and hot water plant. The project also features
a 46 kW grid-connected rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system.
“In this latest effort at Burns Apartments, we have rekindled an existing relationship with
Ameresco in order to leverage additional conservation improvements and clean,
renewable technologies,” said Greg Russ, CHA’s Executive Director. “This second
phase significantly expands our conservation efforts, provides capital improvements to
the property and also adds renewable energy technology in the rooftop solar
photovoltaics. Overall, the program pays for itself, improves the performance of the
building and creates good paying local jobs, all of which are priorities for CHA.”
Ameresco began working with CHA in 1997 to convert the building’s heat and hot water
from electricity to natural gas, and to implement basic energy efficiency needs in the
Daniel F. Burns Apartments. Together the two phases are expected to save the
equivalent of 745 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions is roughly equivalent to 1,733 barrels of oil burned or 90 households
powered for an entire year.
“Ameresco is pleased to be working with Cambridge Housing Authority to maximize the
value of its energy performance contracting program at Daniel F. Burns Apartments,”
said David J. Anderson, Executive Vice President of Ameresco. “The program’s
recently completed improvements extend the value of energy savings components that
were initiated more than a decade ago. This allows the Authority to invest in new and
improved efficiency and renewable energy technologies by leveraging energy programs
available in the Commonwealth.”
Ameresco’s Public Housing Group focuses exclusively on publicly assisted multi-family
housing facilities of 50 apartments or more, which includes more than 14 million U.S.
households. By leveraging energy performance contracting, a practice pioneered by
Ameresco staff to address what HUD spends on public housing energy bills each year,
the company has helped to reduce utility costs using a performance-oriented approach
that strategically addresses equipment and systems, energy management and resident
education.
With more than 25 years of experience, Ameresco’s affordable housing energy
specialists have executed performance contracts with project capital exceeding $450
million, more than any other North American energy services company in this sector.
As of today, Ameresco’s contracts impact over 125,000 households under performancebased
energy and water services contracts.
About Ameresco, Inc.
Ameresco, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in April 2000 and is a leading
independent provider of comprehensive energy efficiency and renewable energy
solutions for facilities throughout North America. Ameresco’s solutions include
upgrades to a facility’s energy infrastructure, and the development, construction, and
operation of renewable energy plants. With corporate headquarters located in
Framingham, MA, Ameresco has 56 offices in 29 states and five Canadian provinces.
For more information, visit
www.ameresco.com.
Download the PDF here.