Heat Recovery Grants Can Help Co-ops and Condos Cut Carbon Emissions

The countdown continues to Jan. 1, 2024, when Local Law 97 goes into effect and co-op and condo boards will have to begin bringing their buildings' carbon emissions under set caps, or face stiff fines. Also continuing is the flow of funding that can help boards pay for the retrofits that will help them comply with the law.

The latest is a $12 million Heat Recovery Program that will help pay for retrofits that reduce carbon emissions by recapturing heat from from cooling and dehumidification, ventilation exhaust, or wastewater processes — then storing that heat for later use or using it to power other building systems.   

Applications for the Heat Recovery Program are now open, and funding will be made available on a first come, first served basis. To learn more or to apply for a grant, click here.

The grants fall into two categories: Category 1 provides funds to assess current building infrastructure, quantify rejected heat from current operations, and explore potential cost-effective measures to recover and reuse heat to reduce total energy consumption. The goal of the assessment is to provide boards with actionable data to inform their decision-making. Applicants can receive funding for up to 75% or a maximum of $40,000 to create and deliver completed opportunity assessments.

Category 2 provides funding to implement a heat-recovery system in an existing building. Applicants can receive funding for up to 75% or a maximum of $80,000 to create and deliver completed designs. Participation in Category 1 is not a requirement to participate in Category 2.

Low-to-moderate income multifamily housing is eligible for up to 100% cost share, and $3 million of the total funding will be exclusively for projects in low-to-moderate multifamily housing buildings.

Administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), this open-enrollment funding is available to projects in existing commercial, institutional, industrial and multifamily residential buildings, including co-ops and condominiums.

NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris says,"Applying heat recovery to building operations lowers costs by recapturing energy that has already been paid for and reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in safer, more sustainable living conditions.”

Working in tandem with the city's Local Law 97, the state's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act seeks to reduce statewide greenhouse emissions 85% by 2050. In New York City, buildings now generate more than two-thirds of the city's greenhouse gases.