Evanston Green Homes pilot reports early wins, highlights funding and enrollment challenges

Evanston — City sustainability staff and partner organizations updated the Housing and Community Development Committee Tuesday on the Evanston Green Homes pilot, a $1 million ARPA-funded program that upgrades home energy systems to improve efficiency, resilience and long-term housing affordability.

The pilot has completed construction at four properties and enrolled 30 housing units across 15 properties, city sustainability and partner staff told the committee. Construction for individual properties has ranged from two to seven weeks, and the project has prioritized electrification where possible, including full electrification at one property.

Why it matters: The pilot tests whether targeted energy upgrades—heat-pump water heaters, electrical-panel upgrades, insulation and weatherization—can lower household energy costs and support housing affordability. Presenters said the pilot also surfaced common deferred-maintenance needs that must be addressed before efficiency work, raising costs and limiting the scope of upgrades for some single-family homes.

"Whenever possible, we're trying to do electrification," said Miriam Savitt, chief strategy and program officer at the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a program partner. "We have been able to do partial electrification in several properties and full electrification in one."

City sustainability manager Cara Pratt summarized partner roles: CNT is a program partner and administrator; Elevate is leading assessments, construction procurement and quality assurance; and the city provides oversight and outreach. Presenters said Elevate has focused recruitment in two target census tracts and that owner-occupied properties proceed faster through assessment and construction than renter-occupied buildings, where lease checks and three‑party agreements add time.

Program status and costs: So far, construction has completed on four projects and 10 more properties are in the pipeline; the pilot originally aimed for 14 properties. Presenters said most contractor firms on the roster are MWDB-certified or eligible, and the program is layering additional funding—when available—from local sources such as the Good Neighbors Fund to deepen investments. But the presenters said ARPA funding is limited and external grant opportunities have been disrupted: one recent grant source is paused because of litigation.

"ARPA funding is running out," Savitt told the committee. "We're trying to fundraise to support both the pilot and think about what can happen long term." City staff said they and partners have applied to several sources but acknowledged a constrained funding landscape.

Deferred maintenance and building type challenges: Presenters said single-family homes and two- to four-unit buildings frequently require mold mitigation, roofing, or other critical repairs before insulation or HVAC work can occur. Multifamily buildings commonly use boiler or baseboard heat, which is expensive to replace at pilot scale, limiting full electrification in those buildings.

"We have seen a fair amount of deferred maintenance, particularly in single-family properties," Savitt said. "Those are things that we are trying to add and mitigate as well as seeing the energy-efficiency upgrades."

Measuring outcomes: Elevate plans to compare energy bills a year after upgrades to measure actual energy- and cost-savings, the committee heard. Council members urged the partners to produce a short "playbook" and to gather post‑project data on bill and usage reductions to build a narrative for replication.

Public outreach and contractor capacity: Committee members and members of the public recommended more local outreach and partner events, and suggested the city coordinate with nonprofit groups hosting community forums. Presenters said recruitment included ward presentations, city newsletter posts and a program website; several council members suggested expanding hours and locations for outreach and building local contractor capacity to scale work.

Next steps: Staff said the pilot is on track to finish construction by the end of the year and will return to the committee with lessons learned and a final report, including energy-bill comparisons and recommendations for program expansion or successors.

Ending: Committee members voted to accept and place the Evanston Green Homes pilot update on file. The partners and staff said they will present a final report and recommendations after the pilot ends, with greater detail on costs and impacts.