Energy-efficient affordable housing projects get $500K
PROVIDENCE − Four housing projects, two of them in Providence, are splitting $500,000 to help defray the costs of building energy-efficient and income-restricted housing.
In Providence, two projects totaling 242 units received funding, while another project in Tiverton will receive funding for two units. In Hopkinton, seven units will be funded, Gov. Dan McKee’s spokesperson Olivia DaRocha wrote in a news release. The $500,000 for the Zero Energy for the Ocean State Demonstration Program came from RIHousing, which put up $250,000, and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, which contributed another $250,000.
Which buildings qualified for the program?
RIHousing put out a request for proposals in March 2023 and seven projects applied, although only four were selected, DaRocha wrote. The grant was limited to $17,000 per unit for developments of one to four units, and $7,000 per unit for larger projects, with a cap set at $250,000. The buildings had to be “aesthetically attractive, affordable, replicable” and able to meet the energy and efficiency requirements. Buildings also had to qualify as “zero energy buildings,” a standard set by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Crossroads Rhode Island’s Summer Street apartments get $250,000
Two projects in Providence will be funded: Crossroads Rhode Island’s 176unit apartment complex and Pennrose LLC’s 66-unit apartment building in the I-195 Redevelopment District.
Crossroads’ project, consisting of an apartment building with 176 one-bedroom units on Summer Street, recently broke ground after soil contamination on the site was remediated.
Residents who currently live at 160 Broad St., across the street, will move into the Summer Street building. The Broad Street building will then be rehabilitated and converted from rooms into apartments.
All of the Summer Street apartments will be income-restricted to people making 30% or less of the area median income, or AMI, which comes out to a maximum of $21,500 for one person or $24,600 for two people.
The building will have solar panels on the roof and heat pumps, which use electricity to heat the building, and energy recovery ventilators. In all, the project is set to receive $250,000, as Crossroads Rhode Island continues fundraising efforts for the Summer Street apartments, the Tower and another housing project on Pine Street, DaRocha wrote.
I-195 district project gets $97,000
The second project is on “parcel 9” of the I-195 Redevelopment District. It is slated to be a 66-unit apartment building with studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, income-restricted to people making 30% to 120% of the area median income: $21,500 to $86,040 for a single person or $24,600 to $98,400 for a couple. The project received $97,000. It will have solar panels, heat pumps and energy recovery ventilators, DaRocha wrote.
Affordable-housing projects in Tiverton and Hopkinton also funded
In Tiverton, the Church Community Housing Corporation is building five “net-zero homes,” two of which received a total of $34,000 in funding. The group has already completed two houses. The project is receiving $34,000, the maximum allowed for the two units. The houses will have solar panels and heat pumps, DaRocha wrote. The houses will be income-restricted to people making 80% of the area median income: $57,350 for a single person, $65,550 for two people and $81,900 for a family of four. Habitat for Humanity South County is building seven single-family houses in Hopkinton, income restricted to 80% of the area median income, which for Hopkinton is $62,200 for a single person, $71,100 for two people and $88,850 for a family of four. Hopkinton, Block Island and Westerly have their own area median income brackets.
The houses will have solar panels and heat pumps, and in all, the project is receiving $119,000, or the maximum of $17,000 per house.
What is a zero energy building, or ZEB?
Zero energy buildings are those in which the “annual delivered energy is less than or equal to the on-site renewable exported energy,” according to the Department of Energy definition. In other words, the building generates as much energy as it consumes.
Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com.