Minnesota Green Communities Projects
Minnesota Green Communities brings the strengths of the Minnesota-based Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and Family Housing Fund together with Enterprise’s national Green Communities Initiative. Through pilot funding of the Minnesota Green Communities program, eight demonstration projects are either built or underway totaling nearly 380 green, affordable homes, both rental and ownership throughout the state. Selected applicants demonstrated the most innovative yet cost-effective and replicable green building techniques through implementation of the Green Communities Criteria, and supported the principles of Minnesota Green Communities, including: Affordable Housing, Healthy Homes and Communities, Energy Conservation, Sustainable Building Methods and Materials, and Sustainable Land Use Planning.

In addition to the demonstration projects, there are a number of other projects under development throughout the state meeting the Green Communities Criteria. Including the demonstration projects and these projects, Minnesota Green Communities is by far the largest green building program in Minnesota, with 497 units completed, 908 under construction, and another 1,645 under development. This success is in large part due to the newly-adopted Minnesota Housing mandatory requirements that new construction projects meet the Minnesota Overlay to the Green Communities Criteria starting in the fall 2007 Super RFP funding round.

When affordable housing projects meet the Minnesota Overlay to the Green Communities criteria, the result is fewer climate change gases emitted into our atmosphere. When all the funded projects funded through 2008 are built, the reduction in emissions will be almost five million fewer pounds of CO2 released each year, the equivalent of the CO2 footprint of 90 to 100 average Minnesota households. For more details on the approach and sources for this estimate, please click here.

Click on the photos below for a project sheet that provides more detailed information on the particular development and highlights the unique green features for each project.