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By Jennifer McDermott

The Associated Press

Renters of affordable housing units felt forgotten and left out of the nation鈥檚 transition to clean energy. They lived in older buildings that had been repaired over the years but had leaky windows and old appliances that consumed a lot of energy. They didn鈥檛 have solar power.

That was the feedback Adrianne Todman got while traveling to housing sites as the head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

She told renters and property owners that things were going to change, and on Tuesday that change hit a milepost: HUD announced the last $30 million of more than $1 billion spent to modernize and fix older buildings for thousands of low-income renters nationwide.

The aim is to make the homes more comfortable while ensuring the buildings emit less carbon pollution. The retrofits also allow them to better withstand extreme weather.

The money was disbursed nationwide over the past year. Building owners are using it to add energy efficient windows, heaters and air conditioners; electric vehicle charging stations; floodproofing features; roofs that don鈥檛 get as hot; and solar panels with batteries. Eligible properties included those with units whose rents are subsidized by the federal government as well as those occupied by seniors and people with disabilities.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything that this billion dollars has done, in addition to doing the work that those of us know needs to be done to deal with the impact of climate change, it鈥檚 given people who live in those buildings hope, so that they can live comfortably, and hope that they can live safely,鈥� Todman said in an interview.

That includes New Orleans resident Hilda Bell, 74, who wants to live in a building that is safe from severe weather. Bell resides at the St. John Berchmans Manor apartments for low-income seniors.

One of the larger HUD awards, a $12 million loan, was given to the building鈥檚 owner, Providence Community Housing, in September. The building flooded with four feet of water during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and four years passed before it reopened after repairs. Now 42 years old, the building needs a fortified roof and windows that can withstand severe storms, structural changes to harden electrical and mechanical systems against flooding, and updated heating and cooling equipment to reduce energy use.

鈥淚 know this building needs that strengthening,鈥� Bell said. 鈥淭he roof needs repairs. The windows need to be sealed. So this money that鈥檚 awarded can be greatly used. There are many things that can be replaced. Because they were fixing before, but with this award money, things can be replaced.鈥�

The community desperately needs affordable housing, said Terri B. North, president and CEO of Providence Community Housing. If the building is green, energy efficient and resilient, it鈥檒l last for another 42 years, she added.

At Crafton Towers in Pittsburgh, residents will get most of their electricity from solar power once the building鈥檚 renovation is done. The owner, Action Housing, said the apartments need significant improvements focused on energy efficiency and decarbonization and the help is needed because it has become increasingly hard to make improvements as energy costs rise but rents don鈥檛. The nonprofit developer received a nearly $6.2 million grant.

鈥淲e need to preserve affordable housing by keeping these buildings operating, keeping the utility costs down and making them more energy efficient and better for our climate than they have been,鈥� said Sarah Ralich, senior energy and construction manager for Action Housing. This program, she said, 鈥渁ctually gives tangible dollars for the work.鈥�

Resident Joseph Cousineau Sr., 73, agreed the 1970s building 鈥渘eeds some love.鈥� Water leaks through the windows when it rains and the heating and cooling units in some apartments don鈥檛 work, he said. The building is getting a new exterior with insulation and windows and electric heat pumps to replace gas-fired units.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been left out for years,鈥� he said. 鈥淣othing has been changed on this building at all, to really improve it, since the day they built it. We need to be brought up to date, we really do.鈥�

Preservation of Affordable Housing received 18 HUD awards ranging from $750,000 to $7.8 million for a total of nearly $65 million. Its Island Terrace Apartments, a 21-story, 240-unit building in Chicago, is receiving a desperately needed rehabilitation, said Konrad Schlater, vice president for development finance for the national nonprofit. That includes an increasingly common energy-saving device: an energy recovery ventilator. It brings in fresh air and sends out stale air without impacting temperatures.

There would have been no way to modernize many of these properties now without the HUD program, Schlater said.

One of the first grant recipients was Woodland Homes, an apartment community for low-income seniors in Lexington, Tennessee. Property manager Wesley Living used a $750,000 grant to convert the furnace and water heater from gas to electric and install electric vehicle charging stations. Solar panels were added to the community center roof, with batteries to store power as part of a larger renovation using a state tax credit program. The work is now complete.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be good for the future, not only for us, but for the future of our planet,鈥� 74-year-old resident Judy Jones said.

Jones and other residents said they take comfort in knowing the lights will stay on in the community center when severe storms and tornadoes cause outages. Wesley Living expects the buildings to use about a third less energy.

HUD is tracking which investments significantly reduce energy and water use and improve the lives of residents, and will share that information with affordable housing providers to help inform their future renovation decisions. Grants and loans totaling about $1.4 billion have gone to 270 properties with over 30,000 rental homes in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Todman thinks the true number of people helped is far higher, when considering future residents. Without these investments, she said, some of the units could have become distressed and unlivable, worsening the affordable housing shortage.

鈥淭his program brings HUD鈥檚 subsidized units into the 21st century,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t helps to make sure that people, because they鈥檙e low-income, are not being left behind with the energy improvements that need to happen and are happening across the country.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: AP photojournalist Erin Hooley contributed from Chicago.