×

Choose an issue you care about

(Learn about our policy framework)

Affirmatively furthering fair housing
Affordable homeownership
Affordable housing in opportunity or resource-rich neighborhoods
Affordable rental housing
Building coalitions
Carbon emissions
Community development
Concentrated poverty
COVID-19
Development feasibility
Displacement
Educational outcomes for children
Energy Use
Equitable resources for residents of low-income neighborhoods and communities of color
Funding for affordable housing
Gentrification
Health and housing
Homelessness
Housing cost burden

Select a policy you care about

(Learn about our policy framework)

Accessory dwelling units
Acquisition and operation of moderate-cost rental units
Below-market financing of affordable housing development
Brownfield redevelopment
Building codes: Code enforcement
Building codes: Ensuring safe and healthy homes
Capital access for owners of market affordable rental properties
Capital subsidies for affordable housing developments
Changes to increase the predictability of the regulatory process
Community land trusts
Dedicated revenue sources
Deed-restricted homeownership programs
Demolition taxes and condominium conversion fees
Density bonuses
Downpayment and closing cost assistance
Employer-assisted housing
Energy-efficiency retrofits
Energy-efficiency standards
Environmental review processes, streamlined
Eviction prevention programs
Exactions, reductions
Expedited permitting for qualifying projects
Fair housing education for real estate professionals and consumers
Fair housing laws, enforcement
Security deposit and first month’s rent assistance
Foreclosure prevention programs
General obligation bonds for affordable housing
Growth boundaries, expanding to increase the supply of buildable land
Home safety modification, assistance
Housing Choice Vouchers
Housing education and counseling
Housing finance agency reserves, activation
Housing rehabilitation codes
Housing trust funds
Impact fees: Using impact fees to fund affordable housing
Impact fees: Reducing overall impact fees
Incentives to encourage the development of lower-cost housing types
Inclusionary zoning
Joint development with transit agencies and other interagency partnerships
“Just cause” eviction policies
Land banks
Land value taxation
Landlord recruitment and retention
Lead abatement
Legal assistance for at-risk renters
Legal assistance for victims of discrimination
Limited equity cooperatives
Linkage fees
Low-income housing tax credits
Mobility counseling for Housing Choice Voucher holders
Multifamily private activity bonds
Operating subsidies for affordable housing developments
Parking requirements: Reducing parking requirements for qualifying affordable developments
Parking requirements: Reducing parking requirements for all properties
Preservation inventories
Project-basing of housing choice vouchers
Property acquisition fund
Property tax relief for income-qualified homeowners
Protection from condominium conversion
Publicly-owned property for affordable housing
Reduced or waived fees for qualifying projects
Reforms to construction standards and building codes
Regional collaboration to support the development of affordable housing in resource-rich areas
Regulatory processes, changes to increase predictability
Rehabilitation assistance for homeowners
Rent regulation
Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD)
Resource-rich areas: Targeted efforts to create and preserve dedicated affordable housing
Resource-rich areas: Targeted efforts to expand the supply of rental housing and lower-cost housing types
Resource-rich areas: Regional collaboration to support the development of affordable housing
Rights of first refusal
Security deposit assistance
Shared appreciation mortgages
Small property owners, guidance
Source of income laws
State tax credits for affordable housing
Streamlined development approvals processes
Streamlined environmental review processes
Subsidized home mortgages
Tax abatements and exemptions
Tax incentives for maintenance and rehabilitation of market affordable rental properties
Tax incentives for new construction and substantial rehabilitation
Tax increment financing
Tenant-based rental assistance: HOME program
Tenant-based rental assistance: State- or local-funded tenant-based rental assistance
Transfers of development rights
Voucher payment standards, increases in high-cost areas
Weatherization assistance
Zoning changes to allow for higher residential density
Zoning changes to facilitate the use of lower-cost housing types

Local Housing Solutions > Carbon emissions and energy use

Carbon emissions and energy use

LocalHousingSolutions.org includes descriptions of a number of policies that help to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by improving energy efficiency and siting affordable housing closer to jobs and other essential destinations.

Brief: Reducing energy use and carbon emissions

Reductions in energy use and carbon emissions can be achieved through home modifications and building techniques that improve residential energy efficiency. In addition, land use and zoning changes that enable higher-density, mixed-use development reduce the need for residents to drive to take care of daily activities and the length of necessary car trips. This brief describes how policy tools in the Housing Policy Library can be used to reduce energy use and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Read the brief

Selected local housing policies

Density bonuses
Zoning changes to allow for higher residential density
Reforms to construction standards and building codes
Housing rehabilitation codes
Energy-efficiency standards
Energy-efficiency retrofits
Housing and building codes
Weatherization assistance

Related content

Resources on expanding access to public transit
Issue brief: Encouraging walkable mixed-use development
Issue brief: Improving housing quality and safety
Housing Policy Library section: Reducing energy use and costs
Explore external resources for carbon emissions and energy use
Explore external resources for carbon emissions and energy use

Carbon emissions and energy use (smoke stack)

Send feedback about this page.