Kim Vermeer, Secretary

A longstanding green building and sustainability practitioner. Since founding her consulting company, Urban Habitat Initiatives, twenty years ago, she has focused on helping community development corporations and other affordable housing developers set and achieve ambitious sustainability goals for their projects.

As the green strategies consultant, she offers strategic and tactical consulting to coordinate energy conservation, healthy housing and green building in their projects and to direct project certification through LEED for Homes or Enterprise Green Communities. Today, her consulting focus is expanding to include climate resilience as an integral element of sustainability. In her consulting practice she has also worked to increase the understanding and adoption of sustainability best practices through research and professional education.

Kim received her Bachelor’s Degree from MIT and completed a Master’s Degree at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her education in architecture design, policy, and urban planning, and past work in housing finance, provide a unique skillset for this work. Kim is LEED AP Homes accredited.

“I believe that a quality manufactured home, placed properly, and purchased with a quality loan is an important housing and financial asset for families.  Next Step Network is committed to making it happen through ‘Affordable Housing Done Right’. Through its programs and services, Next Step is addressing the key places where too often manufactured housing has been ‘Done Wrong.’  I’m proud to have a small part in helping Next Step transform this industry for the betterment of families across America.”