Site Characteristics—Proximity to Transit

Applications can earn up to 2.5 points in the competition for federal 9% low-income housing tax credits by being located within 1 mile of public health facilities including mass transit stops. The points are part of the maximum 10 points available for meeting the Sustainable Development Criteria in the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority's 2009–10 qualified allocation plan.

Site Characteristics—Walkability

Applications can earn up to 5 points for proximity up to 1 mile from private, public, and health facilities. The points are part of the maximum 10 points available for meeting Indiana's Sustainable Development Criteria.

Site Characteristics—Infill versus Greenfield

Applications can earn up to 2 points for being an infill housing development that conforms to the existing neighborhoods as part of the state's Community Revitalization of Preservation criteria.

Project construction—Energy-Efficient Construction

Projects that win certification under a set of green building standards including Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design can win a boost of up to 30% to their eligible basis for computing the amount of tax credits at the property.

Applications can earn up to 8 points for meeting a variety of federal Energy Star standards for energy efficiency as part of Indiana's energy efficiency criteria.

Applications can win up to 6 points for sustainable construction features including using recycled content building materials and low-volatile organic compound finishes. The points are part of the maximum 10 points available for meeting Indiana's sustainable development criteria.

Likelihood of Success Without Sustainable Development

An application can earn a maximum of 20 points for a combination of sustainable development, energy efficient, or community preservation features in Indiana 150-point competition for tax credits. That's a significant edge.

Trends, Changes

Indiana's energy efficiency and sustainable development criteria were both first introduced in the prior round. In 2011, some of these point criteria might become threshold requirements, according to state officials.