Notice2022-20855
Green and Resilient Retrofit Program: Request for Information
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 27, 2022
Issuing agencies
Housing and Urban Development Department
Abstract
In response to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, HUD is currently designing a new program, the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), and expects to make multiple rounds of funding available to support energy, and water efficiency retrofits and climate resilience of HUD-assisted multifamily properties. Through this Request for Information (RFI), HUD is seeking input on funding rounds as well as on utility benchmarking. Information provided in response to this RFI will inform prioritization of work, treatment of cost-benefit analyses, and key design elements that will help ensure program goals are met.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 186 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58526-58528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20855]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-6350-N-01]
Green and Resilient Retrofit Program: Request for Information
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing
Commissioner, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: In response to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of
2022, HUD is currently designing a new program, the Green and Resilient
Retrofit Program (GRRP), and expects to make multiple rounds of funding
available to support energy, and water efficiency retrofits and climate
resilience of HUD-assisted multifamily properties. Through this Request
for Information (RFI), HUD is seeking input on funding rounds as well
as on utility benchmarking. Information provided in response to this
RFI will inform prioritization of work, treatment of cost-benefit
analyses, and key design elements that will help ensure program goals
are met.
DATES: Comments are requested on or before October 27, 2022. Late-filed
comments will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments responsive
to this RFI. All submissions must refer to the docket number and title
of the RFI. Commenters are encouraged to identify the number of the
specific question or questions to which they are responding. Responses
should include the name(s) of the person(s) or organization(s) filing
the comment; however, because any responses received by HUD will be
publicly available, responses should not include any personally
identifiable information or confidential commercial information.
There are two methods for submitting public comments.
1. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
2. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by
mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 10276,
Washington, DC 20410-0500.
HUD strongly encourages commenters to submit their feedback and
recommendations electronically. Electronic submission of comments
allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a response,
ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make comments
immediately available to the public. Comments submitted electronically
through the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website can be viewed by other
commenters and interested members of the public. Commenters should
follow the instructions provided on that site to submit comments
electronically.
Note: To receive consideration as public comments, comments must
be submitted through one of the two methods specified above. Again,
all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of the
notice.
[[Page 58527]]
Public Inspection of Public Comments. All comments and
communications properly submitted to HUD will be available for public
inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the above
address. Due to security measures at the HUD Headquarters building, an
advance appointment to review the public comments must be scheduled by
calling the Regulations Division at (202) 708-3055 (this is not a toll-
free number). Individuals can dial 7-1-1 to access the
Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), which permits users to make
text-based calls, including Text Telephone (TTY) and Speech to Speech
(STS) calls. Individuals who require an alternative aid or service to
communicate effectively with HUD should email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1f584d4d4f5f776a7b31787069"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="90d7c2c2c0d0f8e5f4bef7ffe6">[email protected]</span></a> and provide
a brief description of their preferred method of communication. Copies
of all comments submitted are available for inspection and downloading
at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Ross, Senior Adviser for
Housing and Sustainability, Office of Multifamily Housing, Department
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 6106,
Washington, DC 20410-0500; telephone number 202-402-5423 (this is not a
toll-free number). Individuals can dial 7-1-1 to access the
Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), which permits users to make
text-based calls, including Text Telephone (TTY) and Speech to Speech
(STS) calls. Individuals who require an alternative aid or service to
communicate effectively with HUD should email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#296e7b7b7969415c4d074e465f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7235202022321a07165c151d04">[email protected]</span></a> and provide
a brief description of their preferred method of communication.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-169) (the Act)
makes $837.5 million available to HUD for the provision of loans and
grants to fund projects that improve energy or water efficiency,
enhance indoor air quality or sustainability, implement the use of
zero-emission electricity generation, low-emission building materials
or processes, energy storage, or building electrification strategies,
and/or address climate resilience. Eligible HUD-assisted multifamily
properties include, but are not limited to, Section 8 Project Based
Rental Assistance (PBRA), Section 811 Housing for Persons with
Disabilities, and Section 202 Housing for the Elderly. The Act also
includes $42.5 million for energy and water benchmarking of the HUD-
assisted multifamily portfolio along with associated data analysis and
evaluation at the property- and portfolio-level, and the development of
information technology systems necessary for the collection,
evaluation, and analysis of such data.
In response to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,
HUD is currently designing a new program, the Green and Resilient
Retrofit Program (GRRP), and expects to make multiple rounds of funding
available to support energy and water efficiency retrofits and climate
resilience of HUD-assisted multifamily properties. HUD is seeking input
on funding rounds as well as on benchmarking. Public input will inform
prioritization of work, treatment of cost-benefit analyses, and key
design elements that will help ensure program goals are met. Overall
goals of the GRRP for the HUD-assisted multifamily portfolio include
reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, improving indoor air
quality for residents, reducing residents' and properties' exposure to
climate hazards, and protecting life, livability, and property when
disaster strikes. Additionally, the GRRP will serve to further preserve
the long-term affordability of the assisted properties.
II. Purpose of This Request for Information
The purpose of this RFI is to solicit information regarding the
design and implementation of the GRRP to support the improvement of
energy and water efficiency retrofits, and climate resilience of HUD-
assisted multifamily properties.
III. Specific Information Requested
While HUD welcomes all comments relevant to the design and
implementation of the GRRP, HUD is particularly interested in receiving
input from interested parties on the questions outlined below.
1. HUD is seeking input on program design features, energy-saving
measures, low-emission technology, and resilience design and measures
that have proven effective in affordable multifamily buildings. How
might this program help prioritize and scale best practices for
reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, improving indoor air
quality for residents, and strengthening climate resilience among
affordable multifamily buildings? How can these measures and practices
be deployed in a way that preserves affordability of our properties?
Eligible uses for project funding and/or financing include:
a. Improve energy and/or water efficiency.
b. Enhance indoor air quality and/or sustainability.
c. Implement the use of zero-emission electricity generation, low-
emission building materials or processes, and/or energy storage, or
building electrification strategies.
d. Address climate resilience.
2. This program offers owners of HUD-assisted multifamily
properties an opportunity to plan comprehensively around energy
efficiency and climate resilience. Often, these goals can be
interrelated. Materials and technologies that enhance a building's
energy efficiency can also make the building more durable and resilient
to threats posed by extreme weather events. It is also possible that
some energy efficiency and climate resilience improvements may be in
tension. HUD would like recommendations for designing the program to
meet energy and emissions reduction goals as well as climate
resilience. HUD seeks information on how to balance multiple goals
(i.e., energy efficiency, decarbonization, and climate resilience). In
addition, given the various eligible uses of funds, cost-effectiveness
will vary greatly across projects. How might HUD factor in cost-
effectiveness when evaluating applications for energy- and/or
resilience-related projects?
3. States, localities, and utilities administer programs aimed at
delivering energy efficiency and electrification to affordable
multifamily properties. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act makes
significant funding available for home energy rebates for low- and
moderate-income households through the U.S. Department of Energy and
expands the renewable energy Investment Tax Credit. How might HUD
encourage or require applicants to leverage other funding for
projects-- such as owner equity, other federal, state, local, and/or
utility grants, loans, rebates, tax credits, and incentives?
4. HUD seeks to design this program to enable deep retrofits of
multifamily properties--retrofits that would likely not be possible
without this funding. Certain markets are more primed to deploy deep
and resilient retrofits in the multifamily sector, while others may
lack the state and local infrastructure and workforce for delivering
retrofits in this sector. While HUD seeks to maximize impact, how can
HUD best ensure that funding is distributed equitably?
5. HUD's ability to achieve its goal of benchmarking energy and
water use for the majority of HUD-assisted multifamily portfolio rests
on the availability and accessibility of whole-building aggregate
energy data. What
[[Page 58528]]
role can HUD play to support greater access to this utility data? What
opportunities exist for HUD to engage utilities and/or public utility
commissions to make this data readily available to our multifamily
building owners? What incentives, financial support, and/or technical
support would encourage owners to participate and get their properties
benchmarked?
6. What equity considerations should HUD consider when implementing
property retrofits and benchmarking? HUD-assisted properties exist
nationwide, and they disproportionately serve residents who are
otherwise underserved by housing markets, including people with
disabilities, older adults, and people from communities of color.
7. This will be the first HUD program to target multifamily
properties nationwide with property-level resilience interventions at
this scale. How can and should HUD evaluate resilience needs and the
effectiveness of these interventions, considering the variety of
natural hazards and that the effectiveness of many resilience
strategies are truly tested only when a disaster event strikes? How
should HUD balance geographic disparities in the needs for resilience
interventions (i.e., more frequent in coastal areas) and the
availability of other funds, from HUD and other agencies, for
recovering from disasters?
Jeffrey D. Little,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing.
[FR Doc. 2022-20855 Filed 9-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P
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