MaineHousing (Augusta, Maine)
Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing)
Augusta, Maine
Website: www.mainehousing.org
Mission Statement
MaineHousing is an independent state agency that bridges public and private housing finance, combining them to benefit Maine’s low and moderate-income people. MaineHousing brings millions of new private and federal housing funds to invest in Maine to create safe, affordable, warm housing.
The mission of the Maine State Housing Authority is to assist Maine people to obtain and maintain decent, safe, affordable housing and services suitable to their unique housing needs. In carrying out this mission, MaineHousing will provide leadership, maximize resources, and promote partnerships to develop and implement sound housing policy. MaineHousing works through its many private and public partners to provide programs and services that make decent, safe housing more affordable and accessible to Maine people. Over 90,000 Maine households will benefit from MaineHousing assistance this year. Our policies and priorities make the most of every dollar spent on affordable housing.
Issue Areas – Action Issues
Weatherization services through the Weatherization Assistance Program sponsored by the Department of Energy.
The MaineHousing Carbon Quantification Project was created in 2008 to research the feasibility of generating carbon offset revenue from home energy efficiency retrofit projects. The review found significant opportunities to measure savings and generate emission reductions, but no evidence of a robust methodology associated with a carbon standard needed to actually quantify and monetize the savings. In response, MaineHousing developed the Methodology for the Weatherization of Single Family and Multi-family Dwellings under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). The Methodology was approved by two independent validators during a rigorous double approval process required for new Methodologies under the VCS. The publicly available methodology was designed so that diverse programs could generate offsets from energy efficiency retrofits in all residential dwellings types (single family, multi-family, and mobile homes) across all income classes (lower, middle, and upper income).
Student Name and Class Year: Lucy Van Hook, MS ’12
Relevant blog posts:
- Blending Carbon Reductions and Energy Efficient Housing
- Pushing the building envelope: And update on project management for measuring carbon savings from energy efficiency installations in existing buildlings (Password protected)
If you are interested in getting in touch with this student/alum, please contact Caroline Ramaley, [email protected]
