When I first encountered green affordable housing in Chicago, it was in an unexpected neighborhood at an inopportune time for the American housing market.
It was in 2007, when the U.S. housing bubble was about to burst. The place was South Chicago, a once-thriving community anchored by steel mills, which were close to closing.
Angela Hurlock, chief executive of the nonprofit Claretian Associates, showed me the possibilities of green housing for a book I was writing on the future of U.S. housing titled “The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome.”
The following year, the U.S. housing bubble imploded, and millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes. It was also a lousy year to publish a book on green housing in the U.S.
Since the meltdown though, Claretian Associates successfully rehabilitated more than 100 units of affordable green housing with features like renewable energy systems and structural insulated panels.
Nearly two decades on, I’m heartened to see robust progress in the green building space.
Hurlock says, “We just broke ground on an 81-unit multifamily, mixed-used development that includes many energy-efficient features.”
Claretian offers a number of buildings that have photovoltaic or solar thermal systems.
“Overall, more than 60 families enjoy the use of these integrated renewable energy systems,” Hurlock says.
Now, there’s even more focus on green homes that are affordably priced throughout the city and Cook County. With a housing shortage and the median sales price of city homes hovering around $400,000, the City Council is eyeing an array of lower-cost housing options.
One alternative is the legalization of granny flats, or efficient accessory dwelling units, that can be built above garages on alleys.
Cook County government also is taking the lead with its $12 million Modular Homes Pilot Program. The county has teamed with the Cook County Land Bank Authority to build 12 homes initially on vacant lots in Humboldt Park, Chicago Heights and Proviso Township.
The initiative is targeting “disproportionately impacted” neighborhoods and provides accessible financing.
“Our hope is this program will make home ownership more accessible for individuals and families and break down financial barriers that have historically kept many families from owning a home,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said when the program was announced in early July.
The initial homes — just over 1,400 square feet each — will have a price tag of $357,000, with down-payment assistance provided by another county agency. The median sale price for homes in the area is more than $470,000, according to Realtor.com.
What makes the pilot homes green is that they are fabricated in a controlled environment in a factory run by Inherent L3C, a company based not far from the original Sears Craftsman home kit plant. Unlike “stick-built” homes that are inefficiently constructed from scratch on site, the pilot homes will be assembled in modular sections in a factory, then erected on site.
They should be far more energy-efficient with lower utility bills. Combined with a lower upfront purchase price, they are one approach to a national housing crunch, particularly in areas of persistent poverty.
Yet to make housing more attainable throughout the city and suburbs, it will take a multi-layered coalition consisting of government, nonprofits, private developers and manufacturers. A few weeks ago, the Chicago City Council jump-started this idea by approving a “green social housing plan.”
If successful, such partnerships can create thousands of living-wage jobs in underserved communities and ship attainable housing units anywhere on the continent through the Chicago area’s extensive multi-modal transportation network.
Since housing is such a complex enterprise, it will take an array of ideas to uproot old, expensive ways of building and financing homes.
Earlier this summer, I was excited to see three student teams from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy present ideas on attainable housing at the Kreisman Initiative Housing Challenge Symposium. The winning team of Adam Jensen, Kelli Lynch and Elayna Whiteman proposed a suite of initiatives that ranged from taxing vacant land to creating “anchor zones” to revitalize neighborhoods.
Chicago still hosts a dynamic community for architecture, diverse manufacturing and urban planning. Now, it can be a hub for attainable, green housing that most families can afford.
Not only can the Chicago metropolis be more affordable for millions seeking decent homes, but it also can become more sustainable in an age of climate change.
In addition to “Windy City,” think “solar city.”
