A new federal grant will help a low-income housing development in Newport News reduce energy use and ease climate impacts.
Stuart Gardens apartments, originally built in the 1940s, was awarded $10 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development this week to retrofit its property with environmentally friendly features like solar panels and efficient HVAC systems.
The Newport News complex was one of 10 developments nationwide that got a grant through HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress in 2022.
The goal is to retrofit or add elements to reduce homes’ carbon emissions, strengthen them against extreme weather, add renewable energy sources and achieve green building certifications.
“HUD wants these families to have better access to clean energy upgrades like solar panels and modern and efficient heating and cooling systems, so that they too can have resilient homes,” HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said in a statement Thursday.
The new federal grants will benefit 1,400 families nationwide, HUD said.
