Funding Complements Existing Capital Planning Support and Resources to Provide Step-by-Step Pathway to Decarbonize Buildings

July 9, 2021

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that $7.8 million is available through the Low Carbon Pathways for Multifamily Buildings program for owners or managers of multifamily buildings to implement low carbon solutions as part of planned upgrades. This new incentive complements existing capital planning support and free resources, which together provide a step-by-step pathway to decarbonize buildings. Today's announcement supports New York's progress toward Governor Cuomo's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050 as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

"This funding will support building owners by allowing them to decarbonize buildings and improve energy performance, helping to advance large-scale transformation of the State's building stock and significantly reduce emissions and combat climate change," Governor Cuomo said. "Along with planning support and resources for a variety of buildings, including multi-family and affordable housing, this effort will lead to more energy efficient and cleaner buildings for communities across New York State and help to achieve our aggressive climate goals for a cleaner and greener future."

"The Low Carbon Pathways for Multifamily Buildings program makes it easier for owners and managers to decrease their carbon footprint and lower their energy costs," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "This is yet another critical way New York State is leading the way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat the threat of climate change."

The Low Carbon Pathways for Multifamily Buildings program is available on an open enrollment basis through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). It provides support for owners or managers of market-rate or affordable multifamily buildings implementing proven solutions that can be integrated into common types of upgrades in a building lifecycle to significantly improve the building's energy performance. Solutions fostered by this program will have the potential to be replicated in many of the 1.7 million of affordable housing households across the state. Owners may choose to implement one or more of four low-carbon improvement packages in their building, including:

  • Building envelope improvements;
  • Ventilation upgrades;
  • Full electrification of the heating and cooling systems with efficient heat pump systems; and
  • Partial or full electrification of the domestic hot water generation with efficient heat pumps.

Incentives range from $700 to $5,000 per dwelling unit, depending on the package. NYSERDA will evaluate projects on criteria such as energy savings and cost as well as ease of implementation, solution performance and maintenance needs, tenant receptivity, and avoided penalties/fees. Data collected will be used to inform the wider market.

Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO, NYSERDA said, "The Low Carbon Pathways for Multifamily Buildings program is another resource to help building owners take advantage of routine building upgrades to achieve low-carbon performance, and at a lower overall cost. By addressing emissions from this building type as a whole, we are advancing the portfolio-wide transformation needed to address building emissions block by block and community by community to ensure healthier living spaces and cleaner air for all New Yorkers."

Today's announcement complements the recently released Low Carbon Multifamily Retrofit Playbooks and Low Carbon Capital Planning services offered through NYSERDA's $8.8 million Flexible Technical Assistance (FlexTech) program, to provide holistic, start-to-finish support for building owners and managers, from understanding building typologies to planning and carrying out retrofit work to decarbonizing building portfolios over time.

NYSERDA developed the five Multifamily Low Carbon Retrofit Playbooks, which are free resource guides for multifamily building owners and managers, to break down a whole-building retrofit into packages that can be implemented independently to improve efficiency and electrify heating and domestic hot water over time. They were developed with real estate partners' input using actual building data and designed around the common scenarios in a building lifecycle such as tenant turnover, equipment end-of-life, new building acquisition, and local mandates to provide real-world insights into practical, economic solutions to consider for upcoming investments.

Low Carbon Capital Planning Support for Multifamily Buildings is available to further assist building owners in planning their building retrofits. Through this offer, multifamily property owners are eligible for an increased cost share of 75 percent when they work with a FlexTech Consultant to develop a low carbon capital plan that they could then choose to implement with support from the new Low Carbon Pathways funding announced today. Eligible building owners may receive funding through both programs. Capital planning support includes a property energy study, upgrade analyses, comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, and a high-level timeline for phasing in low carbon upgrades over time.

Buildings are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in New York State. Integrating energy efficiency and electrification upgrades as part of routine investments will reduce carbon pollution and help achieve more sustainable, healthy, and comfortable buildings at lower costs. Through NYSERDA and utility programs, over $6.8 billion is being invested to decarbonize buildings across the State. By improving energy efficiency in buildings and including onsite storage, renewables, and electric vehicle charging equipment, the State will reduce carbon pollution and achieve the ambitious target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs by 2025, the equivalent of powering 1.8 million homes. The state's ambitious plan to reduce carbon pollution will result in an additional $1.8 billion in societal and environmental benefits.

For additional details and to apply, please visit the Low Carbon Pathways for Multifamily Buildings Program website. 

Funding for this initiative is through the State's 10-year, $5.3 billion Clean Energy Fund. More information about this funding is available on NYSERDA's website

New York State's Nation-Leading Climate Plan

Governor Cuomo's nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $21 billion in 91 large-scale renewable projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.2 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting more than 150,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector in 2019, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Under Governor Cuomo's leadership, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.