Two Shades of Green:
Making Housing Green and Healthy
Presenters: Colleen Flynn, Deborah Nagin,
Sean Robin & Sarah Wolf
Moderator: Ellen Tohn
What We Will Cover Today
■ Housing quality and health in NYC
■ Cost issues challenging affordability
■ Innovative strategy to address these
problems, focusing on affordable housing
to promote green and healthy property
management
Housing Quality and Health
■ Asthma is the most common childhood illness in NYC

Worsened by housing-related allergens
•
•
•
Pests
Moisture/Mold
Secondhand smoke
■ Heart disease is the leading cause of death among New
Yorkers

Tobacco use, physical inactivity, and obesity are some of the
modifiable risk factors targeted by DOH
•
•
Promoting more active living in homes and communities through
active design
Promoting smoking-cessation and smoke-free housing
Housing Disrepair, Allergens, and Poor Health
Outcomes Increase with Neighborhood Poverty
Challenges to Housing Affordability in NYC
Operating Expense Trends
200%
180%
160%
W&S
140%
Electric
120%
Heating Fuel
100%
Non-Utility
Expense
80%
60%
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Source: NEF NYC
We Need New Solutions

Need for strategies that:
 Target housing of most at-risk individuals
 Are cost effective and scalable to high-risk
communities
 Incentivize good housing maintenance
 Incentivize active living and injury prevention
in homes and communities
Two Shades of Green (TSG)
■ Collaboration Effort
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
 NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene
 NYC Coalition for a Smoke Free City

■ Goals
Promotes green and healthy property
maintenance in existing affordable housing
using cost effective measures
 Building wide approach

TSG History
■ In 2012, LISC NYC and Enterprise
completed energy and water retrofits in
2,226 affordable housing units through a
$15 M Weatherization Assistance Program
(WAP) contract and $3,800,000 in city and
private funds leveraged
■ Weatherization Plus Health Conference in
2012
■ Two Shades of Green pilot in 2013
TSG Priority Areas
■ Water Conservation
■ Green Cleaning
■ Integrated Pest Management
■ Smoke-Free Housing
■ Active Design
The Role of the TSG Team
For Each Priority Area
■ Work with Community Development Corporations
(CDCs) to assess current practices and experience,
including costs
■ Support implementation through technical assistance,
training and resource identification
■ Evaluate intervention success


Establish baseline measures, perform tenant/staff pre-survey
and agree to performance targets
Assess change over time – costs, complaints, other markers,
post tenant/staff survey
Controlling Moisture &
Conserving Water
11
Living in Damp Homes Increases Health Risks
Health Problem
Upper respiratory tract
symptoms
Estimated % Increase Risk of
Health Problem in Damp
Homes
52%
Cough
50%
Wheeze
44%
Current asthma
50%
Ever-diagnosed asthma
33%
Source: National Academy of Sciences (2004)
12
Water Conservation
■ How TSG Helps


Gather water bills and input
into electronic system
Compare to expected
■ Measures of Success


• Savings can be substantial –
40% reduction in water usage
and $50K in water bills over
one year
• Payback within months
• Identify spikes
• Check for leaks

Implement conservation
measures
• Train staff and tenants

Assess change over time
Lower water usage
Reduced water bills

Moisture control
• Identify and fix leaks
– Running toilets
– Unreported plumbing
leaks
Water Saving Opportunities
Leaks: Fix problems that are wasting significant water. Check usage data for
spikes. Check meters at 3 am, when usage is low to identify leaks.
Low Cost Upgrades: Effective actions in most properties: repair toilet flappers;
install low flow showerheads and aerators.
Rehab Opportunities: Replace toilets (especially 3gpf) with EPA WaterSense,
upgrade clothes washers with WaterSense equipment.
Green Cleaning
15
Traditional Cleaning – A Significant Asthma Risk
Health Effects:
Breathing issues;
allergic reactions;
eye, nose, and throat
irritation; headaches,
loss of coordination,
nausea; damage to
liver, kidney, and
central nervous
system.
16
Green Cleaning Reduces Worker Health Risks
■ Custodial staff at risk - 6 out of 100 professional janitors
are injured by chemicals, particularly disinfectants
 Headaches
 Breathing toxic fumes, asthma
 Burns
 Eye and organ damage
 Cancer
■ Workers report reduce symptoms after switching to
green products
■ Green does not need to cost more
17
Green Cleaning
■ How TSG Helps




Assess current costs and
experience
Make transition to new
green cleaning supplies,
including walk-through with
green cleaning vendor
Train building staff and
tenants
Assess change over time
■ Measuring Success

Safer cleaning supplies
• Fewer worker and tenant
complaints about odors
• Fewer worker safety
issues – less irritating
products to respiratory
and skin irritation

Better for the environment
• Low VOC, biodegradable,
less packaging
• Reduced costs
• 25% reduction in
cleaning cost
Integrated Pest Management
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Integrated Pest Management
■ Traditional pest control relies on the
scheduled application of pesticides
■ IPM eliminates pests by fixing housing
conditions (cracks, holes, leaks) conducive to
pests; while pesticides are used - safer
pesticides and more targeted application
Benefits
■ Fix unhealthy housing conditions
Reduces asthma triggers (pests, moisture, mold)
 Reduces food/water contamination
 Promotes safer use of pesticides

■ Improve housing/structural conditions through
regular maintenance and housekeeping
■ Money for pest control better spent
Longer lasting impact
 Pest control integrated into strong property
management

■ Avoid housing code violations
Two Shades of Green: IPM Process
■ Assessing current pest control practices

Key pest problems
• Discussion/walk through

Current pest control service agreement/make recommendations
•
Scope of services in your contract? How does it compare to model IPM services?
•
Are you getting the services and are they working?
•
Are there less pest problems? Are they staying the same? Or getting worse?
•
Reviewing costs
■ Implementing IPM measures

Provide staff and tenant training, as needed
■ Assess change over time
Measuring Success
■ Reduce the presence of pests

Fewer tenant complaints and sightings by staff
■ Reduce pesticide use
■ Improved property maintenance

Sealing cracks, fixing leaks, better garbage
management
■ Pest control costs

Slight increase initially, but leveling off
Smoke-Free Housing
24
Smoke-Free Housing
■
■
■
■
Prohibits smoking in all indoor areas, including inside residential units
Legal and non-discriminatory
Reduces exposure to secondhand smoke, and associated health risks
Saves money on unit turnover cost by preventing property damage
■ Reduce cigarette fire risk, which is leading cause of residential fires
Costs of Rehabilitating a Residential Unit
25
Floor Baseboards Have Gaps
Corroded Bathroom Fan
Tracer gas released in one unit…
Other Openings
Are Hidden
…seeps into another unit
Children’s exposure to secondhand smoke
is highest in multi-unit housing
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke
Mean Cotinine Levels (mg/nL)
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
Single House
Attached house
Apartment
Housing Type
Source: Wilson, K. M., J. D. Klein, et al. Tobacco-Smoke Exposure in Children Who Live in Multiunit Housing. Pediatrics. 2010;2010-2046.
Smoke-Free Housing
Suggested process to go Smoke-Free:
Step 1: Education and Outreach: “We share the air” discussions; Surveys of
Residents and Staff
Step 2: Develop the Policy: Establish the parameters and consequences
Step 3: Implementation: Notify residents of the new policy in writing, and include a
smoke-free rider to all leases at renewal; Install signage; Support smoking
cessation
Step 4: Enforcement & Compliance: Respond to complaints of violations promptly,
according to the terms of the new lease; Continue to support smoking cessation
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Smoke-Free Housing
Two Shades of Green Smoke-Free Case Study:
■ “More than 50% of tenants in NY multi family buildings prefer smoke-free
housing.” NY Adult Tobacco Survey 2007-09
■ Growing Support for Smoke-Free Housing: Housing and Urban Development
(over 300 public housing authorities in US now smoke-free), NYC Housing
Preservation & Development, Related Realty (40,000 units)
■
Two Shades groups working on smoke-free housing:



Bridge Street Development Corporation, a brand new three-story, 23 unit affordable housing development
Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Inc. an eight story, 65-unit building, and Harlem's
first LEED-Silver-designed building for seniors
Cypress Hill Local Development Corporation committed to implement a smoke-free program in its 31
buildings and 257 units
29
Active Design
30
Overview: Active Design
Active Transportation
Active Recreation
Active Buildings
Active Nutrition
Motivation
■ Health Equity - Chronic diseases connected to built environment
disproportionately impact low income residents such as those
residing in affordable housing
■ Need to address existing housing
■ Potential to impact environments and systems, a key public health
strategy
■ Benefits of Active Design
 More active residents
 Many strategies are low cost
■ Broad Active Design Implementation
 LEED point for Active Occupants
 Mayoral Executive Order/ Creation of Center for Active Design
 Publication Affordable Designs for Affordable Housing
Milestones
■ Site walk-through to inventory opportunities
■ Assess interest from residents with idea boards, surveys,
focus groups or workshops
■ Identify project
■ Implement project
■ “Opening Day” with education, outreach, celebration
■ Maintenance, tracking, sharing success stories
Case Study: The Melody, Bronx
Less than 1/2 % of total development budget
Case Study: Los Sures, Senior Building
■ Issues:



Lack of direct access to side yard
Community room in cellar under-utilized
Building entrance and lobby are poorly organized
■ Solutions:





Create access to side yard from building
Raised beds in side yard
Re-organize lobby
Mural in stairway
Enhancements to community room
■ Evaluation ongoing


Pre/Post Survey
Focus Groups
TSG Evaluation
■ Goal

To assess whether TSG is a viable model for
affordable housing that saves money and results
in greener and healthier housing.
■ Primary Questions:



Are there changes in building management practices and staff/tenant
behaviors?
Are there cost savings? Are cost savings reinvested into building?
Is the support provided by TSG, such as training sessions, webinars,
materials and tools, useful for the CDCs? Is this model replicable and
sustainable?
TSG Evaluation- Data Collection
■ Building assessment to guide CDC in selection of the priority
intervention areas and for baseline data
■ Property management record review (complaints, work orders,
costs)
■ Building Staff and Tenant pre and post surveys to assess
satisfaction, attitudes, behaviors and experiences
■ Surveys with CDC staff to assess perceived usefulness and
satisfaction with tools
■ Exit Focus Groups and/or In-depth interviews with CDC staff
upon end of intervention to assess overall satisfaction and capture
lessons learned
Overcoming TSG Challenges
■ Time

CDCs are busy managing buildings; hard to
prioritize new project when many competing
priorities
■ Money
Limited financial incentives for strong property
maintenance
 Making housing green, healthy and affordable

TSG Successes
■ Commitment and excitement from CDCs and partner groups
■ State Farm Grant
 To support implementation and evaluation
 Capacity building – value of bringing CDCs together, info sharing,
problem solving
■ Finance Roundtable
 Looking at financing opportunities to leverage green and healthy
property management
■ Ultimate TSG Measure of Success
 Water/energy conservation performed routinely and reinvest some
savings into building to make them healthier and safer
 Policy change to incentivize best practices
Question & Answer
40
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
Making Housing, Health and
Affordable: A Case Study
41