Note: This roadmap was developed prior to actions taken by the Trump administration in 2025 that impact Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Justice40 funding. Given these factors, we recommend reviewing this roadmap with particular attention to local, regional, and state solutions. 

This report is a multisector roadmap for electrifying all affordable housing in California to help reach California's climate goals and completely decarbonize all new and existing affordable housing units by 2045, the goal established by state legislation.

We identify strategies to scale equitable decarbonization of housing in Low Income and Disadvantaged Communities (LIDACs) and communities of color by focusing on the different affordable housing typologies, their associated challenges, and financing and investment solutions that can help address them and reach California's renters and vulnerable populations.

Wells Fargo Climate Impact Philanthropy provided support to a team originally comprised of HP Sustainability, LeSar Development Consultants, and Housing Sustainability Advisors. This team is now the Climate Smart Housing Collective, anchored by Community Sustainability Partners and the Global Policy Leadership Academy. We are a collective of individuals and organizations helping leaders across the country focus on the development of programs and financial tools to support the retrofit of affordable subsidized and unsubsidized housing.

Through this work, our team utilized our experience with climate smart housing and engaged partners across public, private, and nonprofit sectors in California, including energy, housing, climate, finance, policy, and community- based advocacy partners. This multisector roadmap is the culmination of our research and collaborative process with expert stakeholders we interviewed and/or convened as advisors to review our work and develop recommendations to address California-specific challenges and opportunities. This report uplifts strategies aimed at not recreating discriminatory community investment practices of the past, and instead prioritizes solutions to ensure that low and moderate-income housing benefit from these investments with protections in place for renters.

With the added momentum from the new infusion of funds that are coming into California from the Federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), the moment provides a profound opportunity to help Californians of all backgrounds and income levels live in sustainable, high-quality homes. To do this, we must build a more comprehensive strategy to pursue federal funds to bring these investments into historically disinvested communities.