Environmentalism for the Real World
MaineHousing and Unity College Sign Contract for Sale of Carbon Emission Reductions, Program Will Benefit Environment, Low-Income People

Unity, Maine – April, 2008 — MaineHousing (Maine State Housing Authority) and Unity College have completed an historic agreement, with the college agreeing to purchase carbon emission reductions derived from MaineHousing's energy efficiency programs.

Director of MaineHousing Dale McCormick and Unity College President Mitchell Thomashow sign the historic agreement as Unity College Vice President for College Advancement Rob Constantine and Cathy Lee, Managing Director of Lee International look on.  Lee is a carbon marketing consultant to MaineHousing.

This is the first such carbon emission reduction in Maine. Appropriately, the agreement was announced on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, at a ceremony at the college.

MaineHousing will use the funds it receives to create additional affordable, environmentally sound, energy efficient housing.

"This is a winning situation for everyone," said MaineHousing Director Dale McCormick. "It creates funds for more energy efficient affordable housing, it contributes to further reductions in carbon emissions, and it extends the benefits of the carbon market to low-income people."

Last year the college signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), which requires colleges and universities to eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions. As part of this effort Unity College will offset air travel of employees by purchasing carbon emission reductions.

Unity College Associate Professor and Director of Sustainability Mick Womersley wanted to keep dollars spent for carbon offsets in Maine to keep the multiplier effect of spending in state. He approached MaineHousing and offered to purchase emission reductions derived from energy improvement programs if the housing agency had such reductions for sale before July.

Unity College Vice President for College Advancement Robert Constantine said the purchase connects Maine people with the nuts-and-bolts of environmentalism.

"Environmentalism often is seen in abstract terms, with carbon credit dollars going to benefit environmental projects in foreign countries," Constantine said. "Keeping carbon credit dollars within the state of Maine to benefit local communities is precisely the kind of 'real world' environmentalism that is a fundamental part of the Unity College approach."

MaineHousing is the first state housing finance agency in the country to develop a model program to quantify, verify, certify and sell carbon emission reductions created by energy efficiency improvements in low-income housing.

Unity College, known as America's Environmental College, is a small private college in rural Maine that provides dedicated, engaged students with a liberal arts education which emphasizes the environment and natural resources.
 
MaineHousing, Maine's housing finance agency, provides funding for affordable homes and apartments for Maine's low and moderate income households. The agency has applied for a Ford Foundation grant to support the development of a model program.  The sale of carbon emission reductions to Unity College will be the first, and will set the stage for expansion of the program.

Both Unity College and MaineHousing participate in the Governor's Carbon Challenge and were recently recognized for their achievements at the Recognition and Awards Ceremony during the Governor's Carbon Challenge Networking and Expo Forum.

Dale McCormick’s Remarks on Earth Day, April 22, 2008 at Unity College 

Unity College planted a seed at MaineHousing that has grown into a project and a journey. 
I immediately said, “Yes, we will sell the carbon emission reductions (ERs) we create to you”.   I figured what with MaineHousing being the first State Housing Authority in the US to require Green Building Standards for all the housing we finance; we must have tons of carbon lying around.  For instance, weatherizing a home and replacing a pre-1976 mobile home each creates energy savings that translate to 1 ton of carbon/year.

As I delved more into the carbon markets, I soon realized that in order to sell the carbon, we have to measure it, have it certified by a third party verifier, and register each tonne.   And so we have embarked on the journey I mentioned to create a program to measure the carbon reductions.  We are the first State Housing Authority to do so and have enlisted the support of our sister agency in Pennsylvania.   We are focusing on five areas of MaineHousing activity: 

1. Affordable Energy Efficient Replacement Program for Pre-1976 Mobile Homes
Pre-1976 mobile homes owned by low income people receiving fuel assistance will be replaced with Energy Star qualified mobile homes. 

2. Weatherizing homes
A federal program provides grants to low income homeowners and renters to improve home energy efficiency through improvements such as home insulation, caulking, weather stripping, furnace repair, and furnace replacement.  Community action agencies screen people for eligibility as part of the Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program application process and deliver the program. 

3. Solar Thermal retrofit on affordable multi-family buildings
State housing finance agencies can provide below market loans to owners of multi-family housing with outstanding housing authority mortgages to purchase solar hot water systems that will replace volatile energy costs with a level debt payment; the owners will no longer need to heat water with electricity, gas, propane, or oil.  The monthly debt payment will be less than the owners’ current cost to heat hot water and will be locked in for the 20 year term of the loan.  The ER revenue will provide the subsidy to sustain this program.

4. Home Energy Loan Program

Single family homeowners
Home energy loans provide very low interest rates to low and moderate income homeowners to finance energy audits and improvements to make their homes more energy efficient. MaineHousing’s program allows income eligible homeowners to borrow up to $15,000 at 2% interest.  Home energy loan program loans are available through participating lenders. The sale of ERs will provide the funding to sustain the buy down of the interest rate.

Multi-family housing owners
The home energy loan program will provide loans with a below market interest rate of approximately 4.5% to owners of multi-family housing with outstanding state housing finance agency mortgages for energy improvements that save more than they cost.  Refrigerators and light bulbs will also be replaced with Energy Star Models. The sale of ERs will provide the funding to sustain the buy down of the interest rate.

5.   New Construction and Rehabilitation with Green Standards
New construction of affordable multi-family apartment buildings to energy efficient standards (MaineHousing’s Green Building Standards or LEED) will create ERs.  These standards emphasize energy efficiency, good indoor air quality and additional site and building features, such as native vegetation, that reduce the negative environmental impact of development without adding to the cost. 

     MaineHousing has hired Cathy Lee of Lee International to help us develop methodologies for measuring, which are of the highest standard, and that will allow our carbon to be sold for a premium price in any market.   We also know that investors in the carbon markets value the kind of ERs that MaineHousing is producing because it has social benefits beyond just the reduction of carbon in our atmosphere.   It is clean carbon that represents a triple bottom line: 

1. Carbon has been reduced so global warming is slowed;
2. Good things have been done for low income people via programs of MaineHousing;
3. The money derived from the sale of MaineHousing’s carbon will make sustain programs that benefit low income Mainers.

     Lastly, On Earth Day I am proud to say that MaineHousing not only promotes carbon emission reductions in its programs, but also in our own office ...we "walk the talk".   We have created a Green Committee that has shepherded in many changes all producing a 16% carbon savings:  solar photovoltaic panels produce 10% of our electricity; motion sensor switches for lights so they shut off when not in use; a new coffee system that eliminates Styrofoam cups and burners, duplex printers, flex time that saves employees 1 trip/week and saves 77 metric tons of carbon/year.   Last week we did a waste characterization and weighed all the garbage we produced.   We discovered that 75% of it could have been recycled.   So we have more work to do.