AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Support For Green Jobs Passes $1 Billion

Union pension capital is invested in green retrofits, LEED construction

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) announced today that it has invested more than $1 billion to date in environmentally sustainable development and energy-saving rehabilitation work through its Green Jobs Initiative. Investments by the HIT and its subsidiary, Building America CDE, have generated over 13,600 jobs for union construction workers while helping to make the environment cleaner, healthier, and more resource-efficient.

The recent investment of $115 million for energy-saving rehabilitation work at Boston's Georgetowne Homes I and II put the HIT's Green Jobs Initiative over the $1.1 billion mark.

"We are proud to support environmentally sustainable, union-built construction," said HIT Chief Operating Officer Ted Chandler. "Besides creating thousands of family-supporting union jobs, our Green Jobs investments are helping maintain the viability of the country's aging affordable housing stock while creating new energy-efficient housing for the future."

The HIT formalized its long-time commitment to environmentally sustainable building practices by establishing its Green Jobs Initiative.  Through this initiative the HIT has invested $471 million for 18 energy-saving LEED-designed buildings, and six more LEED-designed projects received New Markets Tax Credits from Building America.  The HIT has also invested $641 million in another 20 projects to finance energy-efficient retrofits of older buildings. Together, these 44 projects represent nearly $2.8 billion of development activity and 18,334 housing units that have been built or rehabilitated in communities around the country. Of these, 38 projects have been financed as part of the HIT's Construction Jobs Initiative which began in 2009.

About the HIT
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) is a fixed-income investment company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It manages $4.7 billion in assets for more than 360 investors, which include union and public employee pension plans. The HIT invests primarily in government and agency insured and guaranteed multifamily mortgage-backed securities.  The HIT is one of the earliest and most successful practitioners of socially responsible, economically targeted investing, with a nearly 50-year track record that demonstrates the added value derived from union-friendly investments.  The investment objective of the HIT is to provide competitive returns for its investors and to promote the collateral objectives of constructing affordable housing and generating employment for union members in the construction trades and related industries.  Since its inception, the HIT has invested over $6.6 billion to finance over 108,000 units of housing nationwide, generating over 71,000 union jobs.  More information is available on the HIT's website, www.aflcio-hit.com.

Contact:
Michael K. Frisby
(202) 625-4328

SOURCE AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust