Real estate financing agency Freddie Mac expanded its efforts to foster the greening up of old buildings with its new Multifamily Green Advantage suite of offerings.
The new programs are available with most Freddie Mac multifamily loan products. Borrowers can choose either Green Up or Green Up Plus to get better pricing and increase their Freddie Mac loan amounts to finance energy and water efficiency improvements.
Green Up enables borrowers with qualifying properties to increase the amount of their eligible loan by up to 50% of projected energy and water savings. Green Up Plus increases the loan up to 75%, but this option requires a more detailed analysis, based on an ASHRAE Level 2 assessment.
Freddie Mac projects that about 200 properties per year across the U.S. will be able to go under Green Up or Green Up Plus. “We’re really targeting workforce housing—ideally, assets that are 20 years older or older and may not have had improvements over the past 20 years,” said a Freddie Mac executive.
Related Stories
| Mar 15, 2012
ANSI approves new fall protection standards
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved two American Society of Safety Engineers' (ASSE) standards addressing fall protection.
| Mar 8, 2012
Engineering innovation provides new option for meeting seismic codes in skyscrapers
Two University of Toronto engineers have developed “viscoelastic-energy-dissipating dampers” to replace many of the heavy concrete beams used in tall structures.
| Mar 8, 2012
CSI webinar on building code compliance March 22
A March 22 webinar will provide an overview of a 28-step process during the design of a building to ensure compliance with building codes.
| Mar 8, 2012
Federal silica dust rule caught in bureaucratic limbo
A federal rule meant to protect the lungs of workers has been caught in bureaucratic purgatory for more than a year.
| Mar 8, 2012
New LEED-EBOM rating has requirements for specific project types
Several key changes are proposed for the LEED-EBOM Rating System in 2012.
| Mar 8, 2012
Green buildings more resilient than conventionally built structures
A new study by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning suggests that structures built to green standards can advance building resiliency.
| Mar 1, 2012
LEED Platinum standard likely to mean net-zero energy by 2018
As LEED standards continue to rise, the top level, LEED Platinum, will likely mean net-zero energy construction by 2018.
| Mar 1, 2012
EPA beefs up stormwater discharge rule from construction projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now finalized its 2012 construction general permit (CGP) that authorizes stormwater discharges from construction projects that disturb one or more acres of land in the areas where EPA is the permitting authority.