The Office of Public and Indian Housing, is developing a Physical Needs Assessment (PNA) system to achieve a number of goals in the management of public housing and HUD’s oversight of Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). 

The primary goals of the PNA include: 1)  enabling HUD to measure the impact of annual Capital Fund appropriations on the physical needs of the public housing inventory; 2)  evolving the management  practices of PHAs toward project-based capital planning; 3) furthering the objectives of 2005 Energy Policy Act; 4)  producing data on green activities for the Capital Fund in support of HUD’s High Priority Performance Goal to create energy efficient housing; and 5) enabling PHAs to better assess the position of their portfolios to take advantage of potential opportunities.

Each year, over $2 billion of Capital Funds are provided to PHAs to modernize or develop public housing, but currently HUD has no assessment tool to measure the impact of these funds on the public housing portfolio.  Instead, approximately once a decade, as directed by Congress, HUD has been conducting a statistical sampling of PHAs to estimate the accrual and backlog needs of PHAs.  As an alternative to a capital needs study, the PNA will enable HUD to aggregate the needs data generated by PHAs to determine a national needs number at any point in time that will include every project in the public housing portfolio.  The national needs number will be updated annually to reflect needs addressed with Capital Fund appropriations or other sources and to reflect new needs identified by PHAs through a PNA performed every 5 years.

Today, capital planning requirements are aimed at only short or moderate term needs of PHAs.  The current requirements do not provide PHAs with a means to complete long term capital planning.  The new PNA tool will allow PHAs to assess the life cycle needs of their public housing portfolio for a term of 20 years.  Project-based PNAs, combined with HUD’s new focus on the project-based Asset Management Program, move PHAs closer to standard industry practices for effective capital planning.

The 2005 Energy Policy Act amended the Capital Fund section of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 to encourage the integration of “utility management and capital planning to maximize energy conservation and efficiency measures.”  HUD is issuing a PNA rule to require synchronization of Energy Audits and PNAs and to require measurement of the cost effectiveness of energy conservation measures.  The PNA tool will aggregate this information and, for the first time, provide HUD with data to measure the cost effectiveness of replacing building systems with green components at the end of their useful life as well as the cost effectiveness of early replacement of building components.

HUD’s High Priority Performance Goals include a commitment to create energy efficient housing through energy conservation and green retrofits. The PNA will integrate green improvements into future capital planning by the PHAs, and enable HUD to measure progress on achieving energy efficient, green public housing.

An important objective of the PNA is to develop a tool to be used by PHAs to engage in effective project-based strategic planning. The PNA will enable PHAs to move more nimbly to take advantage of new opportunities as capital markets change and new programs.

A proposed PNA rule will be published, providing notice of PNA requirements, and further opportunity for comment from interested parties.  Prior to national implementation the product will be pilot tested at up to 9 PHAs of various sizes representing as many as 13,150 units. Implementation of the PNA at all 3,000+ PHAs, encompassing more than 8,000 projects, represents a major undertaking.  As a new initiative, it is anticipated that the PHAs will require substantial hands-on technical assistance, advice and encouragement to implement the PNAs consistently and accurately.  Development began in 2010, with all PHAs expected to complete PNAs in 2012. 

• Report on the Public Sessions on Physical Needs Assessment
• DRAFT Green Physical Needs Assessment (GPNA) Tool (November, 2011) (NEW)
• Offeror Aggregator Tool  Prototype (password encrypted) - zip, ~69MB (NEW)