The
Enterprise Retrofit Audit Protocol will facilitate funding for retrofitting affordable housing
by establishing a “baseline for metrics and disclosures in the analysis of
green improvements.”
The protocol was developed by Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. and CAS Financial Advisory Services.
In addition
to financial considerations, the protocol requires underwriters to examine the health
implications of proposed retrofits to residents and building maintenance
workers, as well as to determine the property’s impact on the
environment. The information generated can be used to evaluate which energy and
water saving measures to use in an affordable housing retrofit.
Other retrofit analyses rely
on audits based on inconsistent metrics and incomplete energy-conservation and
cost-saving models. The Enterprise protocol evaluates the complete physical and
capital needs of a building, incorporating energy audits as part of a capital
needs assessment and encompassing cost projection benefits.
According to Dana Bourland,
vice president of Enterprise Green Initiatives, the Enterprise protocol “will
help building owners, lenders and providers of public subsidies establish clear
guidelines for how to approach evaluating the potential retrofit of a building.”