ICAST (International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology), a national 501c3 nonprofit, has spearheaded a transformative initiative to empower Multifamily Affordable Housing (MFAH) communities to take advantage of the windfall created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). With support from experts across the housing, energy, and financing fields, ICAST has crafted three comprehensive Resource Guides that provide invaluable assistance to MFAH stakeholders in accessing green upgrades.
IRA and BIL have made the business case for implementing solar, weatherization, beneficial electrification, and health and safety measures in MFAH the best it’s ever been. ICAST has seized this opportunity, leveraging every avenue to move federal funding toward the chronically underserved MFAH market.
In October, ICAST reached a significant milestone, consolidating extensive research, analysis, and insights from key stakeholders into a Resource Guide tailored for the MFAH community. This document empowers the MFAH market with the tools they need to make the best decisions for their properties and tenants. It contains summaries of the various financial resources, examples of how to braid funds for projects, answers to frequently asked questions on green technologies, and much more.
This Guide stands alongside two additional Guides meticulously crafted by ICAST, all aimed at dismantling the barriers hindering the adoption of high-value green technologies in the MFAH sector:
- Increasing Access to Solar for Low-Income Households in MFAH. This Guide includes feasibility studies and market analysis on existing approaches to solar and storage in MFAH, case studies, best practices from industry leaders, and new methods of cost-effectively deploying solar-plus-storage in this segment.
- Very High-Efficiency (VHE) Heat Pumps for Multifamily. This Guide includes fact sheets on VHE technologies; research on the market, policy, and regulatory barriers to VHE deployment in MF and recommendations for overcoming those barriers; white papers on industry best practices on deploying VHE solutions for the MF sector and policy guidelines for promoting VHE deployment; case studies that showcase VHE system deployments; and other information on programs to train individuals on the design and installation of these VHE technologies.
“These guides are designed to do more than enhance property values and increase net operating income,” said Ravi Malhotra, President and Founder of ICAST. “They serve as catalysts for positive change, significantly reducing operations and maintenance costs while elevating the quality of life for low-income tenants.”
The innovative solutions outlined in these guides have historically struggled to gain traction, making ICAST’s contribution even more vital. With these Guides in hand, the path to a greener, more sustainable future for MFAH is clearer than ever before.