Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) are charged with leading efforts by the mortgage finance industry to make credit accessible to low- and moderate-income families attempting to purchase a home. We'll review a recently published evaluation of how well GSEs achieved this objective during the 1990s.

The U.S. housing industry increasingly adopts Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council for designing and building durable and cost-efficient homes. These standards have also been helpful in deciding how to meet the unique challenges inherent in developing green affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families. We'll examine the challenges and how they are being addressed by the affordable housing community.

Three affordable housing developments received the 2007 HUD Secretary's Best in American Living Award for design excellence and innovation in affordable housing. ResearchWorks looks briefly at the award-winning features of each of the affordable housing developments: Falcon Crest in Palm Desert, California; the Roanoke and Lee Street Housing Project in Blacksburg, Virginia; and the Nevada Court Project in Denton, Texas.

Housing attainable by low- and moderate-income families, who earn from 30 to 120 percent of an area's median income as essential services personnel, is becoming an urgent community economic issue. Using the 2005 American Housing Survey data, the Center for Housing Policy has updated the national picture of critical housing needs among working families. ResearchWorks explores this workforce-housing problem and the approaches taken to provide relief to workers and their communities.