What does Blueprint to Decarbonize Transportation mean for Multifamily Housing?

Feb 28

The Biden-Harris administration recently announced an initiative that has the potential to bring America closer to better housing. The U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization is a long-winded document - what else would you expect from a collaboration among several large federal agencies? And it does focus on transportation.

So what does it have to do with multifamily housing and why should you care?

Let’s take a look.

1. Electrification

The Blueprint is aiming at an ambitious target: cutting all greenhouse emissions from the transportation sector by 2050. This is in agreement with the overarching goals of achieving a 100% clean electrical grid by 2035 and reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Electric vehicle charging stations are no longer an optional luxury in multifamily housing, they are now a critical part of the infrastructure. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are lagging behind the EVs as of the present day, but they are also a part of the solution and they will also require dedicated charging stations.

Along the same lines, overall electrification of the multifamily buildings and move away from gas HVAC and appliances are now on the way to becoming mainstream. As of January 2023, all new multifamily housing in California is required to be all-electric. Other states are sure to follow.

2. Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs)

Currently, over 90% of housing in the U.S. is located far from “fixed guideway” transit stations. These statistics are an unfortunate result of suburban sprawl, declining transit extension funding, and decreasing central city population, where the best rail infrastructure is typically located.

While it is yet to be seen how the focus on TODs will be implemented, it could be the most important policy that directly impacts multifamily housing. As Alissa Walker argues in Curbed, “An EV in every driveway is an environmental disaster.” While EVs will be a big part of the decarbonization strategy in the U.S., focus on TODs has the potential of a lot more bang for the buck. The main benefit of locating housing close to transit is giving people the option to switch from cars to “safe, reliable, accessible and equitable low- and zero-GHG emission active transportation, intercity passenger rail, and public transit options. This enhances mobility for everyone, including people with disabilities, children, and the elderly.

3. Land Use & Zoning Reforms

Expect more mixed land use and rezoning. The segregated zoning maps of our grandparents no longer work. New housing will be located in areas previously zoned for commercial, industrial, and agricultural uses. Housing will be mixed with retail and office uses. Special emphasis is given to addressing disadvantaged communities, which have suffered from many years of disinvestment. Transportation is only one piece of the puzzle that should work in the context of undoing the damage of disinvestment and redlining.

4. Housing Affordability

Transportation is a hidden cost of housing. Between 2010 and 2020, transportation represented the second highest household expense (as noted in the Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Transportation, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). It follows then, that reducing the cost of transportation by design can be a large factor in reducing the cost of housing. Locating work and play closer to where people live and offering “clean mobility options” (including walking and biking) not only reduces carbon emissions but lowers overall cost of living.

This ambitious new plan to decarbonize America will probably not be the silver bullet. There are many, many facets to decarbonization and we need creative and aggressive solutions to the global climate crisis. One of the main criticisms that the Blueprint is attracting is the fact that it’s just not aggressive enough. However, with so many entities that collaborated to put this forward, and in such a huge country as the U.S., we think it’s worth celebrating as a step in the right direction.

Learn more about our architecture firm here.