EEFA National Initiatives
Energy Efficiency for All’s national initiatives complement and support our state coalitions and national network. These initiatives were launched based on needs and priorities identified by our national, regional and state leaders. Their work is driven by teams of advocates and experts from across the U.S. with membership drawn from national partners staff and well as instate partners, NEWHAB members and other allies.
These are thumbnail sketches of the work of the initiatives, and details are available on each of their pages on this site:
- Network for Energy, Water, and Health in Affordable Buildings or NEWHAB brings together more than 100 members and 200 allies across the energy, affordable housing, water, health and social justice sectors to leverage and connect their collective expertise to develop strategies to make sure low-income and disadvantaged communities are seeing the benefits of energy efficiency, clean air, and clean water;
- Equity Working Group seeks to ensure that EEFA’s impact is both equitable and inclusionary by providing trainings to guide EEFA towards a shared understanding of racial equity; narrative building; and tool development;
- Sustainability in Affordable Housing Lender Learning Network (SAHLLN) convenes affordable multifamily lenders and their allies across the country to collaborate in building and implementing multifamily efficiency financing solutions;
- Federal Policy team works with EEFA coalition partners, NEWHAB members, and other allies to protect and advance federal housing and energy policies that support affordable, climate-resilient, and sustainable homes; and
- Healthy Affordable Building Materials team advances healthy building material policy goals by leading federal and state advocacy, building capacity of allied advocates and stakeholders to engage and educate builders, contractors and materials procurers, organizing low-income communities of color harmed by unhealthy building materials to hold policymakers accountable and delivering proof-of-concept in the form of pilot projects in states where our coalitions are active.
The Equity Working Group (EWG) interrogates the root causes of the inequitable distribution of energy efficiency that is often the result of racism and historically discriminatory policy in housing and energy. Our focus is on developing strategies that employ an equitable lens to existing and emerging local, state, and national energy policies and programs.
The Sustainability in Affordable Housing Lender Learning Network (SAHLLN) provides a platform for multifamily housing lenders and allies to discuss their experiences of barriers to increasing efficiency investments in affordable multifamily properties as well as to share the successes and lessons learned from tested strategies.
The EEFA Federal Policy Team tracks federal legislation, rules and programs related to affordable housing and energy policies. We inform coalitions, partners and allies about developments and events in Congress and federal agencies including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Energy and the Department of Health and Human Services. And we educate Members of Congress and Administration officials about the importance of clean energy, energy and water efficiency and the preservation of affordable housing. Federal housing and energy policy, and related programs and services, must ensure that affordable, climate-resilient and sustainable homes are available to all.
Our Healthy Affordable Building Materials team works to ensure that policy at the state and national level includes safeguards against toxic building material and provides incentives for the use of healthy building materials. We advocate for a guiding “do no harm” principle when educating policymakers about the multiple health benefits, including improved indoor air quality, of healthy building materials and energy efficiency. We work with allies and partners to develop and launch innovative pilot projects that boost utility savings for low-income renters and improve community health.
