HUD Green Housing: Biden's $830M Funding Initiative

A Landmark Climate Investment in Housing

President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed in August 2022, provided the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with its largest-ever climate-focused housing investment. Of the roughly $1 billion IRA allocation to HUD, $837.5 million was dedicated to direct grants and loan subsidies through the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), with an additional $4 billion in loan commitment authority. The program supports energy efficiency, renewable energy generation, climate resilience, and low-embodied-carbon building materials in HUD-assisted multifamily affordable housing.

What GRRP Funds

GRRP is designed to tackle multiple climate priorities simultaneously in a single program:

• Energy Efficiency: Upgrades like insulation, efficient heating and cooling, water-saving fixtures, and electrification of fossil-fuel systems.
• Renewable Energy: Solar panels, battery storage, and other on-site clean energy generation.
• Climate Resilience: Investments that protect properties from flooding, extreme heat, wildfires, and severe storms.
• Low-Embodied-Carbon Materials: Construction materials with smaller carbon footprints, such as low-carbon concrete, mass timber, and recycled-content insulation.

Properties receiving GRRP funding commit to tracking performance and sharing data so HUD can evaluate which strategies deliver the best combination of climate, cost, and resident benefits.

Three Tracks of Funding

GRRP offered three cohorts tailored to properties at different stages of readiness:

• Elements: Smaller, simpler grants for properties making targeted efficiency or resilience improvements.
• Leading Edge: Larger awards for properties undertaking deep decarbonization retrofits, including full electrification.
• Comprehensive: The largest awards for properties combining major capital repairs with deep decarbonization and resilience upgrades.

The three tracks let HUD fund both small, replicable projects and ambitious showcase retrofits.

Who Benefits

GRRP funds flow to HUD-assisted multifamily properties that serve low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities. Because the program aligns with the Biden administration's Justice40 Initiative, investments are concentrated in properties serving disadvantaged communities that have historically borne higher pollution burdens and experienced more severe climate impacts. Residents benefit from lower utility bills, healthier indoor air, safer homes during storms and heat events, and preserved affordability.

Results to Date

HUD announced the final round of GRRP funding, bringing total awards to approximately $1.43 billion across grants and loans. More than $1.12 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act was awarded to 225 properties covering nearly 26,000 rental homes. The program has shown that deep retrofits can cut utility costs, reduce emissions, and make housing more resilient to climate disasters, while preserving units that would otherwise be at risk of losing affordability.

Program Status

The GRRP has faced an uncertain future under changing federal priorities. As of 2025, reports indicated HUD paused or scaled back aspects of the Biden-era green retrofit program. Awarded projects are generally moving forward, but new funding notices beyond the IRA allocations are less certain. Property owners and developers interested in deep retrofits may need to turn to other funding streams, including state climate programs, utility incentives, and federal Department of Energy programs.

What Homeowners Can Learn From GRRP

While GRRP is limited to multifamily HUD-assisted housing, individual homeowners can access parallel climate-focused incentives. The Inflation Reduction Act also created and expanded residential tax credits for heat pumps, insulation, efficient windows, rooftop solar, electric vehicle chargers, and induction stoves. The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit and the Residential Clean Energy Credit together can offset thousands of dollars in home upgrade costs. State and utility rebates, including Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEEHRA) and Home Efficiency Rebates (HOMES), add additional savings for income-qualified households.

Why It Matters

GRRP demonstrates that climate investments can be layered with housing preservation to deliver multiple benefits at once. For the hundreds of thousands of low-income renters in HUD-assisted multifamily properties, the program has meant modernized homes, lower energy bills, and improved safety during extreme weather. Its long-term impact will be measured both in tons of carbon emissions avoided and in units of affordable housing preserved.