benefits of going green for residents

Housing conditions are important factors influencing health. Green design and building practices can create healthier home environments through better indoor air quality and healthier building materials.

While researchers remain cautious, many public health professionals, and a growing number of affordable housing developers believe sufficient evidence exists to justify adoption of basic “healthy homes” practices to keep homes dry, clean, well ventilated and free of pests, combustion products and toxic materials. Such practices are integral to Green Communities and other green residential programs.

Benefit #1: Healthier Indoor Environments

Building practices and materials that minimize moisture, provide proper ventilation, prevent pest infestation and avoid chemical and biological contaminants protect parents and children against asthma, toxic poisoning, cancer and many other conditions caused or affected by housing construction.

Benefit #2: Energy Savings

High utility costs often impose a substantial financial hardship on low-income households, forcing many to make tradeoffs between heat or electricity and other basic necessities. A recent national study documented the brutal choices that poor families make when faced with unaffordable home energy bills. The study found that during the prior five years, due to their energy bills:

• 57 percent of non-elderly owners and 36 percent of non-elderly renters went without medical or dental care;
• 25 percent made a partial payment or missed a whole rent or mortgage payment; and
• 20 percent went without food for at least one day.

In addition, energy costs have increased much faster than incomes for low-income households in recent years. Today a family earning minimum wage pays more than four times as much a share of their income for energy as a median income household.

Benefit #3: Reduced Transportation Costs

Transportation costs consume a large share of low-income family incomes. A study of 28 metropolitan areas found that families with incomes between $20,000 and $50,000 spend an average of 40 percent of their income on transportation and an average of 28 percent on housing. More broadly, poorly planned development can isolate low-income people in distressed areas and make it harder to get to better schools and job opportunities.

Benefit #4: More Active Living

Oftentimes, the steps for healthier communities are very simple. Smarter site planning and development creates a sense of community, encouraging walking and providing access to parks and mass transit. Research suggests that people who live in sprawling areas walk less, weigh more and are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure.

Benefit #5: Wider Opportunities

Residents of green communities often have greater community interaction through walking access to mass transit, jobs, schools and local services. Green communities also can enhance low-income families exposure to natural environments.