2024-170-E-AMS-Habitat for Humanity-Supplemental Weatherization to Home Repair

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P a g e 11 o f 18 16. Please describe any potential negative side effects of the project and describe the steps you are taking/will take to eliminate or minimize these impacts to any low‐income or marginalized communities/households: As with any construction work, extensive home repairs can be disruptive to the routines of the homeowners. Habitat hopes by supplementing our regular scope of repairs with weatherization work, we can minimize this disruption by reducing the need for additional repairs in the future. Once complete, these repairs also often have a great impact on a homeowner’s day to day comfort and quality of life in their home. 17. Are the impacted residents already aware of the potential positive and negative impacts of your project and the steps you are taking? If not, please describe your plan to engage with them and how you will act based on their input: If there are any potential negative impacts of a project, Habitat ensures that homeowners are aware of these before beginning any work on the home. Habitat works with the homeowner to find a mutually agreeable resolution. If a resolution cannot be reached, the project does not move forward. Habitat seeks to educate homeowners on the positive impacts of the repairs as well. Particularly with HVACs, education is required to explain the benefits to homeowners who may have lived their entire lives with either gas or fuel source heating. 18. During and after the project, what will your continued engagement with the community be? Building trust and relationships in all communities where we work is central to Habitat’s mission. We continue to engage with residents and community organizations throughout each project and beyond. Many homeowners who have received services also recommend the Home Preservation program to their neighbors in the community. 19. Please describe any other aspect of your project that is relevant to Social Justice and Racial Equity: Climate justice and racial justice are linked. The National Center for Environmental Assessment found that in the U.S., Black people are exposed to approximately 1.5 times more particulate matter than white people, and Hispanic populations 1.2 times more. People living in poverty have approximately 1.3 times more exposure than people living above the poverty line, with significant health implications. According to the National Weatherization Assistance Program Evaluation in 2016, for older single-family homes, weatherization reduces low-income households’ total energy costs by 12.4% within the first year. This is substantial given that low-income households have higher energy burdens, spending three times the share of their annual income (7.2%) on energy costs as compared with other households (2.3%) (American Council for Energy Efficient Economy, 2014). By partnering with local homeowners to provide weatherization, energy efficiency will improve, utility costs will be reduced, and Orange County homeowners will receive upgrades that they likely would not have had access to otherwise. Criterion 2 - Emissions Reduced DocuSign Envelope ID: DBE8454E-5CDD-4377-A739-3C0016853D4E