COLUMBIA, MD — Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) launched the 2020 Enterprise Green Communities Criteria (Criteria), which set the standard for green affordable housing construction nationwide. The Criteria, first launched in 2005 in consultation with leading environmental, public health and green building experts, were the first national green building guidelines specifically for affordable housing. Today, 27 states and Washington DC require that affordable housing developments receiving public funds comply with the Criteria. This year alone, the Criteria will be used to create or preserve more than 200 environmentally friendly multifamily affordable housing developments. “The choices developers make during the design and construction process—location, building materials, the configuration of common spaces and so many more—make a tangible difference for people, their homes and their communities,” said Laurel Blatchford, president of Enterprise. “The Criteria help ensure those choices take into account everything we know about healthy living environments and energy efficiency. In the 2020 update, we are expanding the requirements that help protect vulnerable communities from the effects of our changing climate and ensuring that the buildings we create can withstand disasters that can upend lives and destroy whole communities.”