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MortgagePoint ยป Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 72 November 2023 J O U R N A L community development issues in their community. At HUD, we look forward to learning alongside them and sharing the research and evidence-based insights they develop so all communities can benefit." ASU received $3 million for the Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability (ARCHES) HSI Center of Excellence, a collaborative effort with the University of Arizona (UA) Drachman Institute. ARCHES aims to enhance housing security, climate, and health in the arid Southwest, including New Mexico, through research on equitable housing growth, aging community health, and housing resilience, using diverse data sources and rigorous analytics. Texas Tech University was awarded $3,207,839 for the Center of Excellence in Climate Resilient and Equitable Housing (CECREH). CECREH will address disparities in disaster-stricken commu- nities, especially among low-income and minority groups, by advancing research across various disciplines like engineer- ing, economics, and social sciences. This research will lead to innovative post-di- saster housing recovery solutions for underserved communities. The University of Texas at Austin received $2,459,527 for the UT Austin Equi- table Technologies for Housing Innova- tion Center (ETHIC). ETHIC will research spatial patterns affecting housing inequity, develop an industrialized construction system for more affordable housing and jobs, and apply sustainable methods to tackle climate change's impact on housing equity across the supply chain. Texas A&M University secured $1,832,634 to create the Center of Ex- cellence in Hispanic Housing Studies (CoHHS). CoHHS aims to enhance environmental health and economic well-being for Hispanic households and communities through community-in- formed practices, policies, and products. It will also utilize outreach programs to identify research-driven solutions and develop evidence-based toolkits for meaningful change. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION INVESTS IN CLIMATE RESILIENCE UPGRADES FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS T he U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $103.4 million in new loans and grants to renovate the homes of 1,500 low-income households to be zero energy and resilient at 16 HUD-Assisted Multifamily Housing properties under the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics. These GRRP awards will support working families and modest-income individuals by making upgrades that could otherwise be cost-prohibitive to increase resilience and energy efficiency while enhancing their lives at home by structurally modernizing the homes. The awards represent the Biden administra- tion's commitment to ensuring America's clean energy economy translates into investments in more housing supply, and safer, healthier housing that is resilient to climate disasters. President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act established the GRRP with more than $800 million in grant and loan subsidy funding to support up to $4 billion in loans. Recently, HUD announced its first-ever Funding Navigator, an interactive tool that allows users to browse and sort federal funding opportunities for billions of dollars in funding available under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). In addition, under new direct pay provisions in the IRA, tax-exempt entities, Tribes, and units of government now qualify for 48, 48(e), and 11 other clean energy-related tax credits. All the investments under the GRRP will advance President Biden's environmen- tal justice agenda by serving low-income families in disadvantaged communities, in alignment with the administration's Justice40 Initiative, which ensures the overall benefits of certain Federal invest- ments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. These investments will directly benefit residents of HUD-assisted housing, each in a disad- vantaged community, and will make their homes more resilient to extreme weather events and enhance their ability to respond to and recover from such events. Without this funding, HUD-assisted multifamily properties would not be able to make the same investments in greener, safer, and healthier properties that other, market-rate multifamily properties are making today. "The Biden-Harris administration is committed to building more affordable housing and improving the quality of life for residents living in those homes," HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said. "The Green and Resilient Retrofit Pro- gram continues to improve our nation's climate resilience by making sure low-in- come families and individuals have ac- cess to affordable housing that is strong, healthy, and energy efficient. Thanks to President Biden's Investing in America agenda and Bidenomics, this investment brings the quality-of-life benefits of clean energy homes and advances our work, preserving the affordable housing in communities for the future." HUD's latest investments will help combat the climate crisis, increase the supply of affordable housing, and support equitable economic develop- ment in American communities. In the GRRP Leading Edge category, owners are required to commit to achieving recognized green certifications, such as PHIUS REVIVE or LEEDv4 Gold or Platinum, that will lead to significant property upgrades such as on-site solar, wind turbines, FORTFIED-rated roofing, and other substantial energy efficiency and climate resilience improvements. To date, HUD has awarded more than $121 million in grants and loans in the first two GRRP funding waves, including today's awards and awards announced on September 13, 2023, under the GRRP Elements category. In addition, to HUD's GRRP funding,