$70M Initial Investment for New Electric Heat Pumps at NYCHA Buildings
Midea America and Gradient Selected to Develop New Heat Pump Technology and Produce 30,000 Initial Units
The Advanced Heating and Cooling Solutions Will Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improve Resident Comfort
Click here for video of the heat pump installation process
Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams joined the NYCHA, New York Power Authority (NYPA), and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to announce the Clean Heat for All Challenge (#CleanHeat4All or #CH4A) — making an initial $70 million investment in the development and production of 30,000 new heat pump units for use in New York City public housing facilities. Last week, the NYPA Board of Trustees awarded the funding through two seven-year contracts to Midea America and Gradient for the development and delivery of cold climate packaged window heat pump units. The announcement is the latest milestone in the Clean Heat for All Challenge, an initiative spearheaded by NYCHA, NYPA and NYSERDA to develop a new electrification product that can better serve the heating and cooling needs of existing multifamily buildings and hasten the transition to fossil-free heating sources.
“New York is tackling the climate crisis and the need for affordable housing head on, and the funding announced today will go a long way in addressing both,” said Governor Kathy Hochul. “Prioritizing green investments in public housing ensures the State’s bold climate agenda is equitable, benefiting all New Yorkers now and in the future. NYCHA residents deserve high quality homes and we’re working to make that happen.”
“Our administration is laser-focused on providing safe, high-quality, affordable housing for all New Yorkers, and today, we are delivering on a commitment in our housing blueprint that brings us one step closer,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “We understand better than ever that our city’s most pressing crises are interconnected, but the solutions can be too. I am so proud to be partnering with Governor Hochul to deliver top-of-the-line technology for NYCHA residents to heat and cool their homes while also reducing our carbon footprint and helping to protect New Yorkers from health issues like asthma.”
“NYCHA residents have suffered freezing winters and boiling summers for too long. As a model for cleaner, more reliable heating and cooling for homes across the city and hopefully the country, the Clean Heat for All Challenge will put public housing residents at the forefront of our decarbonization efforts,” said NYC Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz. “This $70 million investment is an incredible step forward in the face of a changing climate that will have an impact on both those living in these homes with the new window units as well as our city as a whole. Thank you to New York Power Authority and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for their partnership in support of NYCHA residents and a greener future.”
“The partnership between NYCHA and NYPA to develop new green technologies and pathways to implement them across a large portfolio of residential buildings will serve as an example to all property owners as we implement Local Law 97,” said NYC Chief Climate Officer Rohit T. Aggarwala. “Buildings are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the five boroughs, and it is these types of innovative projects that will help us meet our critical climate goals.”
“I applaud Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul for leading by example with this forward-thinking action plan, showing private building owners that through innovation and investment, we can make real progress in reducing the harmful greenhouse gases coming from our buildings,” said NYC Department of Buildings Commissioner Eric A. Ulrich.
“The technology developed through the Clean Heat for All Challenge will be transformational for the market and will help clear many of the hurdles buildings face to adopt clean heating and cooling,” said Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Executive Director, NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. “The cleaner air, improved comfort, and safety that heat pumps provide are vital to the health of our communities, and this partnership will have impacts far beyond the affordable housing market: It will create local green jobs, support New York City’s efforts to help homeowners through programs like ElectrifyNYC, and continue to demonstrate the City and State’s leadership on tackling the climate crisis.”
“NYPA is excited to progress the Clean Heat for All Challenge through the selection of the initiative’s first vendors, which will develop and produce 30,000 heat pump units for the benefit of NYCHA residents,” said Interim NYPA President and CEO Justin E. Driscoll. “The decarbonization of buildings—the state’s largest carbon emissions source—is critical to achieving the Governor’s ambitious climate change goals.”
“NYSERDA is proud to support the Clean Heat for All Challenge and congratulates these two innovative companies as they begin work on what is expected to be an efficient, cost-effective, easy to install heating and cooling solution for NYCHA residents,” said New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen Harris. “The combined focus on advancing new heat pump technology in multifamily buildings and ensuring the health and comfort of underserved populations supports Governor Hochul’s commitment to achieve two million climate-friendly homes by 2030 while ensuring that all New Yorkers benefit from clean energy investments.”
“Lowering or eliminating the reliance on fossil fuels in existing and new buildings is fundamental to New York State achieving the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,” said New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas. “Today’s announcement clearly demonstrates how the collective efforts of state and local government to decarbonize our housing stock will create climate-friendly affordable homes as well as healthier, safer, and more resilient communities for all New Yorkers.”
“The lack of an efficient and affordable solution for electric heating and cooling remains one of the primary hurdles for meaningfully reducing our carbon emissions footprint, especially for many of the tall residential buildings that comprise our portfolio,” said NYCHA Chair & CEO Greg Russ. “The support of the Governor and Mayor has been instrumental in bringing this innovative public-private partnership to the Authority and helping us move towards a low-carbon future, by bringing the promising technology of beneficial electrification to the largest public housing authority in the United States.”
“With the introduction of Local Law (LL) 97, New York City took a major step forward in the urgent fight against climate change. And as the largest public housing authority in North America, NYCHA faced an interesting challenge with LL97: putting heat pumps in buildings that weren’t designed for them. As many of our customers have found, installing mini-split heat pumps in older buildings can be expensive and complicated,” said Gradient CEO Vince Romanin. “But the way NYCHA is promoting electrified heating and efficient AC through the Clean Heat for All Challenge is a testament to its commitment to the comfort of its residents and the resilience of its infrastructure. This partnership is a huge validation of Gradient’s vision to advance building decarbonization in New York City and beyond.”
“Midea is excited to be leading the development of new technologies that can support more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly options for heating and cooling,” said Midea America Research Center Residential Air Conditioning R&D Manager Adam Schultz. “Midea has a rich history of developing innovative air conditioning products, including cutting-edge heat pump and inverter technologies. As a result, the product we have developed for the ‘Clean Heat for All Challenge’ is the next generation of innovation, leveraging our decades of expertise to deliver a cold climate window heat pump at very high efficiency levels. We feel that this product is a great step towards achieving the clean energy goals that the City and State are striving for and the beginning of a strong partnership.”
“The Fund for Public Housing is proud to support this innovative public-private partnership by launching the Clean Energy Academy, preparing public housing residents to work in a 21st century career,” said Fund for Public Housing Executive Director Alex Zablocki. “With our partners at NYCHA, and support from governmental agencies and the private sector, the Clean Energy Academy will train 100 NYCHA residents within two years, readying them for careers in building electrification and clean energy and providing residents with the opportunity to learn new skills and advance a career in this growing sector. The Academy will provide a tailored curriculum to meet the needs of NYCHA’s decarbonization goals. This program is only possible with the multi-year philanthropic support and technical expertise of our partners.”
NYPA will coordinate with the two vendors to develop the proposed heat pump technology for testing and demonstration over the next year. Once completed, NYPA will collaborate with NYCHA to install 60 of the developed units in designated public housing to be comprehensively monitored and assessed over the course of a winter season before moving forward with the widespread installation of 30,000 units throughout the following years. The heat pump units developed to meet the Clean Heat for All Challenge will enable rapid, low-cost electrification of space heating in multifamily buildings by reducing or eliminating many of the cost drivers inherent to installing existing heat pump technologies in resident-occupied apartments, including electrical system upgrades, lengthy refrigerant piping and through-wall drilling and penetrations.
NYPA received six proposals in March of 2022. The proposals were reviewed by a scoring committee comprised of members from NYCHA, NYPA, and NYSERDA as well as a panel of technical advisors from the building energy-efficiency industry. Proposals were evaluated based on a scoring matrix that awarded points for meeting certain design criteria, such as efficiency performance, minimal window obstruction and cost.
Midea America Corp., which was awarded a contract for 20,000 units, is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, and is a subsidiary within Midea Group – a global appliance manufacturer founded in 1968. Midea is a market leader in developing smart and innovative whole home heating and cooling solutions that are environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and widely accessible.
Founded in 2015, Gradient is a startup based in San Francisco, California, that was awarded a contract to manufacture 10,000 units. The proposed unit will be a cold climate heat pump capable of operating at low temperatures based on NYCHA’s specifications. The company intends to manufacture the product domestically in the United States.
Heat pump technology provides efficient cooling and heating from a single unit by moving heat between the indoor and outdoor spaces depending on the season. The process is achieved through the refrigeration cycle, which can be up to four times more efficient than traditional heating systems, such as boilers, which rely on on-site combustion of fossil fuels to produce heat. Heat pumps are difficult to install, particularly in occupied units. As a result, many operators prefer to delay electric conversion in favor of in-kind replacement of fossil fuel systems.
By leveraging NYCHA’s portfolio—which includes 2,198 residential dwelling buildings—the Clean Heat for All Challenge is designed to spur innovation and growth of this product in the United States by positioning NYCHA as an early adopter of this technology, while also providing NYCHA residents with a modern system of heating and cooling that they can directly control.
The Clean Heat for All Challenge directly supports the goals of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act) and the New York City Climate Mobilization Act, which both call for a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by the year 2030. NYCHA estimates a need for approximately 156,000 cold climate window heat pumps over the next 5 to 10 years in order to electrify its portfolio to achieve 80 percent greenhouse gas reductions by 2050 per New York City’s Local Law 97. Beyond NYCHA, such a unit would be applicable to other large portfolio managers, including other public affordable housing operators and universities.
NYPA is providing upfront financing and supporting the implementation of the challenge and NYSERDA is providing $13 million for the demonstration phase, including initial purchase, monitoring and performance assessment, with funds approved through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Operating Plan. NYCHA will invest an additional $250 million—inclusive of the $70 million announced today toward the initiative—to purchase and install the new equipment as well as provide additional improvements to the building envelopes and domestic hot water systems.
To supplement this capital investment, NYCHA is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (NYS-DHSES) to secure funding at several developments that were impacted by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, a presidentially declared disaster. Where the recovery includes restoration of heating systems and/or otherwise intersects with these systems, NYCHA will work with these agencies to leverage this funding source (both restoration funding and funding for cost-effective mitigation) in the restoration of these systems, where applicable.
In tandem with this challenge, NYCHA and the Fund for Public Housing are also launching a Clean Energy Academy to position NYCHA residents to work in building electrification and clean energy careers. The Fund for Public Housing, with a grant from NYSERDA and philanthropic support from National Grid, New York Power Authority, NorthLight Foundation, Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies, and Rise Light and Power, will train 100 public housing residents through the Academy in its first two years, preparing graduates for careers in clean energy. Through the development of the Clean Energy Academy, NYCHA will continue to prioritize clean energy jobs for public housing residents as part of its efforts to decarbonize its buildings.
Photo courtesy of the New York Governor’s Office