NEW YORK-– In its role as the national force behind comprehensive community revitalization, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) today announced the launch of its Green Development Center to support green design, construction, and management principles in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.
LISC thinks that greener buildings are key components in achieving sustainable communities of choice and opportunity -- good places to work, do business and raise children.
Madeline Fraser Cook, a national expert in providing technical assistance to community-based organization on green and sustainable design techniques, has been hired to head up the new unit.
Since 2004, LISC, through grants and technical assistance, has been encouraging its community development partners to design and build energy-efficient and resource-efficient buildings with healthier indoor air. The benefits include 1) preserving family income and wealth by lowering utility bills and increasing home values, 2) connecting neighborhoods to green-related job opportunities in the design and building trades, 3) providing schools with better learning environments, and stronger operating margins, and 4) supporting healthier lifestyles by exposing residents to fewer toxic substances, lessening respiratory problems.
With support from The Home Depot Foundation, LISC in the San Francisco Bay area launched "Green Connection," a program to educate new affordable housing developers about green building principles, and to make greener capital improvements and maintenance practices into existing properties.
LISC is supporting similar efforts in Hartford, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia, Virginia, Washington, DC and a number of rural areas. Regional partners include Earthpledge, Global Green, New Ecology, Inc., and Southface Energy Institute.
Fraser Cook is ideally suited to direct LISC's green initiative. Since 2004 she has been vice president of New Ecology, Inc., the Cambridge, Mass.-based organization that supports green technologies in underserved urban communities. She managed the greening of affordable housing developments, guiding developers through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification process. She also presented training seminars on costs and benefits of greening affordable housing.
LISC
www.lisc.org
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