Since 2022, Northwest Energy Collaborative has been working to expand sustainability certification options for affordable housing in Oregon by advocating for the National Green Building Standard (NGBS). As a small green building consulting company, we recognized that NGBS offered an equally rigorous and nationally recognized alternative, giving developers more flexibility to choose the best certification for their LIHTC funded projects. 

Overcoming the Variance Barrier

Until recently, pursuing NGBS certification on Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) projects required a variance request. Each project had to submit detailed justification and documentation — a process that added time, complexity, and administrative costs.

Although OHCS consistently approved these variances, the lack of a formal policy created unnecessary hurdles for teams committed to sustainable building.

Collaboration Across the Industry

Working with a coalition of developers, architects, and local verification companies, we built momentum for change. Together, we demonstrated through precedent, documentation, and successful projects that NGBS met and exceeded the state’s sustainability requirements. This collaborative effort applied steady pressure on OHCS to recognize NGBS as a fully accepted certification pathway.

A Precedent-Setting Breakthrough

In October 2025, our persistence paid off. Oregon Housing & Community Services indicated that NGBS is officially recognized as a certification pathway for OHCS-funded projects, eliminating the need for variances or special documentation. This enables developers to pursue Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) using NGBS without additional barriers.

 “NGBS should be treated the same as any of the other listed pathways… you can simply state in these forms that NGBS is the path you will be using, no other special documentation (Variance Requests, letters of explanation, etc.) are required… You may consider this email to be the general approval you are asking about.” — OHCS State Architect

A Win for Flexibility and Affordability 

For Northwest Energy Collaborative, this achievement is more than a regulatory milestone — it demonstrates the power of persistence and collaboration. For the affordable housing community, it expands certification options, reduces administrative burden, and supports the delivery of sustainable, cost-effective housing for those who need it most.

We are proud to have helped create this precedent and look forward to supporting more project teams in leveraging NGBS for a more sustainable future.

Please reach out to our team to learn more!

William Castrillon & Jonathan Wrobel, Principal owners of NW Energy Collaborative