Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that $16.5 million is now available to decarbonize and upgrade existing affordable housing in New York City through the Resilient and Equitable Decarbonization Initiative for Existing Buildings (REDi:EB) program. The funding is an expansion of a collaborative partnership between New York State and New York City to provide affordable housing building owners and developers with easier access to financing for electrification and energy efficiency upgrades of buildings regulated by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Retrofitting HPD buildings into highly efficient living spaces will help reduce fossil fuel use, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and improve indoor air quality for low- to moderate-income residents.
“In partnership with the City of New York, we are advancing funding to reduce building emissions and address the climate crisis,” he said. Governor Hochul“We are ensuring that developers and building owners have access to the resources they need to retrofit affordable housing so we can decarbonize buildings in underserved communities.”
With today’s announcement, $15 million is now available through REDi:EB, which is administered by HPD in partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), on a first-come, first-serve basis to cover the incremental costs to strategically electrify space heating and domestic hot water production and improve the building envelope through better insulation, windows, and ventilation systems. HPD, NYSERDA, and technical consultants will work with project teams to determine a scope that works best for each project. The maximum award is $1 million per building or up to $2 million for multi-building projects. HPD will pay incentive funds to the project during the construction phase.
Additionally, $1.5 million is now available to fund technical assistance during the design, construction, and post-construction phases for projects participating in REDi:EB. Applications will be accepted through December 31, 2025, or until funds are exhausted.
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen M. Harrissaid, “NYSERDA and HPD’s collaborative initiative will promote the replicable use of clean, efficient technologies that reduce the energy use and carbon footprint of multifamily buildings. This funding not only helps expand access to clean, comfortable, and healthy living environments for New York City residents, but will also help strengthen the resilience of these buildings to withstand the impacts of climate change in the years to come.”
New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “REDi marks a pivotal moment in our mission to confront climate change while ensuring fair access to sustainable and affordable housing. Climate change will impact every corner of our city, but its impacts will be felt most keenly by the most vulnerable New Yorkers. Our moral imperative is to create more sustainable practices while focusing on the creation and preservation of affordable housing. Today, we are not only changing the way we fund the construction of sustainable housing, but we are also redefining the critical role that housing plays in our collective battle against climate change.”
This initiative is part of HPD’s overall Resilient and Equitable Decarbonization Initiative (REDi), a long-term housing decarbonization program that consolidates multiple current and future financing and technical support programs under one umbrella through 2030. Today’s announcement also builds on the $24 million HPD-NYSERDA Renovation Electrification Pilot Project launched in 2021, which has funded electrification retrofits at 17 buildings serving more than 600 households, with several hundred additional households in the pilot project pipeline. Additionally, 50 percent of these projects are located in disadvantaged communities. Both the Pilot and REDi:EB programs support the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent by 2050 and ensuring that at least 35 percent, with a goal of 40 percent, of investment benefits go to disadvantaged communities. To learn more about HPD and to sign up for notifications about this initiative, visit HPD’s website.
New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskassaid, “There is ample data showing that residential buildings, particularly older buildings, are massively energy inefficient and are significant producers of greenhouse gases. This partnership between the City and Governor Hochul’s NYSERDA complements our statewide Clean Energy Initiative to incorporate incentives and technical support for highly efficient, all-electric affordable housing. HPD now has critical resources to help retrofit the housing stock it oversees, with the dual benefit of extending the life of buildings while improving environmental conditions inside and in the surrounding neighborhood, and ensuring that residents live in cleaner, healthier environments.”
State Senator Kevin Parker He said: “As we continue to make progress toward the CLCPA goals, we must prioritize the decarbonization of our existing housing stock. I applaud NYSERDA and the City of New York for providing this support to the affordable housing sector.”
Assemblywoman Didi Barrett “Today’s announcement of $16.5 million in funding to decarbonize affordable housing units in New York City is welcome news. As we continue our transition to clean energy, it’s important to ensure that no New Yorker is left behind. I look forward to seeing programs like this expanded to provide funding for affordable housing in the rest of the state as well.”
New York State Affordable Housing Association President and CEO Jolie Milstein “Decarbonizing affordable housing is essential to meeting ambitious climate and clean energy goals, particularly in a dense urban setting like New York City, where the built environment is responsible for two-thirds of overall emissions. The Resilient and Equitable Decarbonization Initiative for Existing Buildings program will provide developers with critical resources to scale up essential energy efficiency upgrades in existing buildings and help reduce the city’s overall carbon footprint while also addressing the affordable housing crisis. NYSAFAH thanks city and state leaders for their continued commitment to investing in cleaner, greener, healthier affordable housing in neighborhoods across all five boroughs.”
Samantha Wilt, policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council of New York, “Decarbonization reforms can transform existing affordable housing in New York City. NYSERDA funds invested in affordable housing will improve air quality and protect the public health of some of our most vulnerable communities. With this new funding source, the state will deliver more all-electric appliances and energy efficiency upgrades to move closer to its climate goals,” he said.
New York City Council Housing and Buildings Committee Chair Pierina Sanchez “Decarbonizing affordable housing is essential to meeting ambitious climate and clean energy goals, particularly in a dense urban environment like New York City, where the built environment is responsible for two-thirds of total emissions. The Resilient and Equitable Decarbonization Initiative for Existing Buildings program will provide developers with critical resources to scale up essential energy efficiency upgrades in existing buildings and help reduce the city’s overall carbon footprint while addressing the affordable housing crisis. NYSAFAH thanks city and state leaders for their continued commitment to investing in cleaner, greener, healthier affordable housing in neighborhoods across all five boroughs.”
Buildings are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in New York State, and through NYSERDA and utility programs, more than $6.8 billion is being invested to decarbonize buildings. By improving energy efficiency in buildings and promoting statewide installations of on-site storage, renewable energy, and electric vehicle charging equipment, the state will reduce its carbon emissions and move toward the ambitious goal of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 TBtu by 2025 – the equivalent of powering 1.8 million homes.
This program is funded through the state’s Clean Energy Fund (CEF).
New York State’s Nation-Leading Climate Plan
New York State’s climate agenda calls for an orderly and just transition that creates family-sustaining jobs, continues to foster a green economy across all sectors, and ensures that at least 35 percent, with a goal of 40 percent, of the benefits of clean energy investments go to disadvantaged communities. Guided by some of the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiatives in the country, New York is advancing a range of efforts, including the New York Cap-and-Invest (NYCI) program and other complementary policies, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050 relative to 1990 levels. New York is also on track to achieve a zero-emissions electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and economy-wide carbon neutrality by mid-century. A cornerstone of this transition is New York’s unprecedented clean energy investments, including more than $28 billion in 61 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce building emissions, $3.3 billion to expand solar, nearly $3 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and more than $2 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. These and other investments are supporting more than 170,000 jobs in New York’s clean energy sector starting in 2022 and more than 3,000 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality, New York also adopted zero-emission vehicle regulations, including a requirement that all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035. Partnerships continue to drive New York’s climate action with more than 400 registered and more than 130 certified Climate Smart Communities, nearly 500 Clean Energy Communities, and the state’s largest community air monitoring initiative in 10 disadvantaged communities across the state to help address air pollution and combat climate change.
