New York gets $16.5m for housing upgrades

Wednesday 21 August 2024

New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul has exciting news for the city – a fresh boost of funding to drive the decarbonisation of affordable housing!

New York City is set to receive a generous $16.5 million (£12.6 million) injection to enhance its affordable housing sector through the innovative Resilient and Equitable Decarbonization Initiative for Existing Buildings (REDi: EB) programme.

This funding marks a significant expansion of a collaborative effort between New York State and New York City, aimed at supporting building owners and developers in electrification and energy efficiency retrofit upgrades within the affordable housing sector.

The initiative to modernise Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) regulated buildings is poised to bring about a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, a decline in greenhouse gas emissions, and an enhancement of indoor air quality for the residents belonging to low-to-moderate income brackets.

Of the total $16.5 million grant, an allocation of $1.5 million (£1.1 million) is earmarked to offer technical assistance throughout various project phases, including design, construction, and post-construction tasks for all participating projects.

Expressing her enthusiasm, Governor Kathy Hochul stated, ‘In collaboration with New York City, we are taking strides to provide financial backing to reduce building emissions and combat the climate crisis. Our objective is to ensure that developers and building owners have the necessary resources at their disposal to retrofit affordable housing units and contribute towards the decarbonisation of buildings in underserved communities.’

This latest initiative serves as an extension of the previously successful $24 million HPD-NYSERDA Retrofit Electrification Pilot initiative, initiated back in 2021, which has already funded electrification retrofits in a total of 17 buildings.

Ready to know more about this groundbreaking development? Sign up as a member with us today!