L+M is Setting a New Standard for Affordable, Sustainable Development in Urban Communities and is Focused on Reducing the Carbon Emissions of our Properties
We are a leader in developing sustainably built affordable housing in communities vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This includes the largest fully affordable, passive house development in the United States and the largest geothermal, fully electric project in Brooklyn. Additionally, L+M is committed to developing and retrofitting buildings to be both low-carbon and resilient to severe weather, with a special focus on stormwater inundation and extreme heat.
Our Energy + Sustainability department spearheads decarbonization and resiliency strategies at the asset and portfolio level. We prioritize initiatives that increase the safety, comfort, and economic improvement of our internal and external communities.
Our Commitment to Sustainability
Community Resiliency: 100 percent of the affordable developments in our pipeline will be built to Enterprise Green Community Standards, a standard for the design, construction, and operation of healthy, energy efficient, and environmentally responsible affordable housing. Our developments in areas vulnerable to coastal flooding have taken extraordinary measures to keep our residents safe now and in the future, such as Arverne East and Beach Green Dunes II.
Decarbonization: We have completed two developments built to Passive House International or Passive House US standards, including the tallest multifamily building to reach such standards in the U.S., Sendero Verde. From 2023, more than 50 percent of our development pipeline will be built to achieve Passive House certification, which dramatically reduces heating and cooling demands, allows for simplified methods of providing heat, and lowers the overall energy consumption.
L+M has pioneered some of the first multifamily geothermal projects in affordable housing, with two currently in operation at Marcus Garvey Extension and Beach Green Dunes II. Additionally, both of our community-scale developments, Alafia and Arverne East , will rely on geothermal to provide the heating, cooling, and hot water needs of thousands of future residents.
Our commitment to deep decarbonization extends to our public/private partnership projects as well. The comprehensive scope at our Harlem River NYCHA site, in partnership with Settlement Housing Fund, includes fully electrifying the heating systems at nearly 700 resident units across 8 buildings with heat pump technology. Two of the buildings are in the process of being re-cladded to reduce energy consumption and re-invigorate the aesthetics of the site.
Operational Excellence: With over 23,000 units under management, we are in the process of rolling out initiatives to control and reduce our carbon emissions and energy use, including:
- Investments in our data and monitoring capabilities starting with re-benchmarking our entire portfolio using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
- Rolling out advanced boiler controls at 15 of our properties in 2022
- Integrating energy and carbon considerations into our capital event planning
- Reducing local emissions by participating in demand response across 40 of our properties
