Housing

Green Values

Committed to sustainability

Foundation Communities is committed to building and managing our affordable housing sustainably. Our Green Initiatives team works in all four of our core program areas: Housing, Education, Financial Stability and Health.

Green Building

We use deep green building strategies in the development of our new housing communities. That has earned us USGBC LEED Platinum and Austin Energy Green Building 5-star designations. At Lakeline Station, our Community Learning Center meets the ultra-sustainable Living Building Challenge standards. For our older communities, we use green operations and maintenance practices at every opportunity, from energy efficiency to onsite recycling.

Since 2014, we have more than doubled our solar capacity and now have nearly 1.1 Megawatts installed across 14 properties. We have saved enough greenhouse gas emissions, it’s like removing 4,300 cars from the road for one year! We beat our goal to reach 1 Megawatt of installed solar 2 years early and are excited to see what unfolds as we continue to build beautiful, green, affordable housing.

Green Education

We teach our own nationally-recognized Saving Green curriculum as part of our adult education classes, empowering residents to conserve energy and use homemade cleaners to keep indoor air safe. At our on-site Learning Centers, children learn green habits using the EcoSmarts after-school and summer school curriculum.

Green Values and Financial Stability

Building green is good for the environment, of course. But it’s also good for our residents who can save up to 75% on their utility bills each month, in addition to saving on transportation costs since most of our communities are located near bus lines and train stations. And building green is also good for Foundation Communities. When we invest more upfront on solar screens, ENERGY STAR appliances, and ceramic tile flooring, we end up saving money ourselves far into the future.

Green and Healthy

We’ve created vegetable gardens at many of our communities. Residents work hard to maintain these gardens together and they benefit from easy access to local, nutritious produce. We also frequently initiate green capital improvements, such as fitness trails and outdoor classrooms, which create opportunities for our residents to exercise and spend time outside.