Most Bang for the Buck?

The Obama Administration's housing policy is taking shape, and one of its central tenets is to provide federally-assisted housing with a qreener future. Another step was taken in that direction today, as the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it will offer approximately $250 million in grants and loans to make approximately 25,000 apartment units more energy efficient. The funding, made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is designed to create thousands of "green collar" jobs, as federally-assisted multi-family apartment developments are updated with the next Getting Started generation of energy efficient technologies. Grants and loans, up to $15,000 per residential unit, will assist landlords and property management companies cut their heating and air conditioning costs by installing more efficient heating and cooling systems, and to reduce water use by replacing faucets and toilets. Eligible applicants must already be HUD assisted,either through Section 8 project-based rental assistance, or the Department's Section 202 (elderly) and Section 811 (disabled) programs. The government clearly sees multiple benefits in this housing strategy, namely, job generation, help for the environment, and modernization of the nation's federally assisted housing stock. Is this the right path for the Administration to travel down, or are there better methods to improve and modernize the nation's federally assisted housing stock?