- market housing opportunities and ensure program information is available in the appropriate languages for the target area(s) to be served.

The application’s competitiveness will be strongly dependent upon the extent of project development, including pre-identified properties to be acquired and rehabilitated, and the level of detail to which the applicant has identified all components necessary to implement and complete the project in a timely manner. To the extent possible, applicants are encouraged to carry out their NSP3 activities in the context of a comprehensive plan for the community’s vision of how it can make its neighborhoods not only more stable, but also more sustainable, inclusive, competitive, and integrated into the overall metropolitan fabric, including access to transit, affordable housing, employers, and services.

- C. Activity Description - Applicants must provide the following information by activity: how the activity will address local market conditions; range of interest rates (if any); reuse of program income or revenue; duration or term of assistance; number of units to be acquired, rehabilitated, or demolished for ≤ 50 percent area median income beneficiaries, for 51 - 80 percent area median income beneficiaries, for 81-120 percent area median income beneficiaries, or whether benefit is for a service area where at least 51 percent of the households have incomes 120 percent of area median income; ≤ whether units are multi-family or single-family; whether tenure is renter or owner; how the design of the activity will ensure continued affordability; how the applicant will, to the maximum extent feasible, provide for vicinity hiring or contract with small businesses owned and operated by persons residing in the vicinity including information on existing local ordinances that address these requirements; and procedures used to create preferences for affordable rental housing. (Note: A lease-purchase project is an ownership activity, not a rental activity.)

Applicant must identify the relative building code(s) applicable to the proposed activities and detail how it proposes to utilize applicable housing rehabilitation standards to incorporate energy efficient and environmentally-friendly green elements to provide for long-term affordability and increased sustainability. Requirements include Energy Star Qualified New Homes (for gut rehabilitation or new construction); American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1-2004, Appendix G plus 20 percent (for gut rehabilitation or new construction of mid- or high- rise multifamily housing); Energy Star-46 labeled products; water efficient toilets, showers, and faucets such as those with the WaterSense label; and, where relevant, how housing will be improved to mitigate the impact of disasters. For additional guidance, please refer to the NSP Resource Exchange at www.hud.gov/nspta, the Energy Star program at www.energystar.gov, and the Green Housing Development Guide at http://hudnsphelp.info/media/resources/GreenHousingDevelopmentGuide.pdf.

- D. Impact and Cost-Effectiveness - Applicant must demonstrate how program design will address local housing market conditions and how the project will strive to

4