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Home Innovation News

June 15, 2012

Local Nonprofit Organization Wins National Green Certification Award

Greensboro, NC. - Affordable Housing Management, Inc. (“AHM”) has been named a 2011 Home Innovation Research Labs Green Partner of the Year for its outstanding contributions to advancing green building in the Greensboro area and commitment to voluntary, market-driven, third-party certification of high-performance homes.

AHM’s commitment to creating benefits for its residents, its community, and the environment is what originally attracted the organization to the National Green Building Standard rating system and third-party certification by Home Innovation Research Labs. AHM had four renovated buildings Green Certified to the Emerald level, their highest possible certification level, in 2011.

“Being one of only a handful of our green certification participants to be honored with this Partner of the Year award validates the commitment AHM has made to providing its residents with increased value, comfort, durability, and efficiency through third-party verified green homes,” according to Michael Luzier, president of Home Innovation Research Labs. “They are demonstrating a similar level of market leadership in 2012 with green projects like Laurence Manor.”

AHM has just completed an extensive renovation of Laurence Manor, a 32-unit apartment complex located at 2300 Juliet Place, Greensboro, NC. The renovation corrected old inefficient apartment construction with modern energy efficient building components such as Energy Star rated windows and doors, appliances, light fixtures, low-flow faucets, insulation, air sealing, and HVAC. The Laurence Manor renovation is in the process of obtaining third-party certification by Home Innovation Research Labs to the National Green Building Standard (NGBS).

Angela Brown, a resident of Laurence Manor stated “I am so excited about the beautiful new fixtures and appliances in my apartment and the significant reduction in my utility bills!”

“AHM is extremely pleased to have had the opportunity to restructure an almost thirty-year-old antiquated inefficient property and transform it into a property that benefits the residents by providing modern, energy efficient, healthy, and affordable rental housing,” indicated David Levy, AHM Executive Director. The financial restructure also included a new twenty-year federal Housing Assistance Contract from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that ensures the residents’ ability to remain in and enjoy their renovated apartments at the same affordable rent they had been paying before the renovations. Sue Schwartz, City of Greensboro’s Director of Planning and Community Development emphasized that “maintaining our current stock of affordable housing units is a key component of the City’s housing programs. Our greatest housing need is for rental units affordable to extremely low income households.”

Permanent financing was provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, through its Office of Affordable Housing Preservation’s Mark to Market program, and by the City of Greensboro’s federal HOME Program and Better-Buildings energy efficiency funds. General Contractor for the project was Weaver Cooke Construction.

The public is invited to a ribbon cutting ceremony to be held at Laurence Manor, 2300 Juliet Place, at 2:00 P.M. Friday, June 15, 2012.

AHM, formerly known as Greater Greensboro Housing Foundation, is a forty-two year old private nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide quality affordable rental housing for low to moderate income households, including the elderly and disabled. AHM’s mission is accomplished through the development and management of affordable apartments for those households. AHM is located at 330 South Greene Street, Suite B-11. For more information call 336.273.0568 Ext. 126, email info@ahmi.org or visit www.ahmi.org.

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ABOUT: Home Innovation Research Labs, located in Upper Marlboro, Md., is a full-service research, testing, and consulting firm determined to improve the quality, durability, affordability, and environmental performance of single- and multifamily homes and home building products – in short, we aim to perfect the home. Founded in 1964 as a subsidiary of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), our team has been integral in solving many of our client’s most difficult product and technology issues, and helping to introduce some of the most groundbreaking innovations in construction. Through an interdisciplinary research approach – including market research, building science analysis, laboratory testing, and standards development – we help to find a home for innovation in the construction industry.

NOTE TO EDITORS ON STYLE USAGE: To identify this company and its work correctly, first reference should be "Home Innovation Research Labs." In subsequent mentions, “Home Innovation” should be used; we are not identified by an acronym. Prior to February 12, 2013, the company was known as the NAHB Research Center.