NYSERDA
At a Glance
Industry
Government/Public Administration
Project Type
Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2016
Location
New York, NY
Summary
Anirudh Sharma developed an outreach and communication strategy and conducted a financial analysis to support the development and implementation of RetrofitNY, a design-build competition for NYSERDA.
Goals:
NYSERDA, a public benefit corporation that promotes energy efficiency and the use of renewable sources, enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Anirudh Sharma to assist in the development of RetrofitNY, a design-build competition for deep energy retrofits in New York State’s affordable housing stock. This initiative has a budget of $30.5 million and was announced in the 2016 State Policy Book with the goal of bringing the benefits of clean energy to low-and-moderate-income (LMI) residents in 100,000 affordable housing units in the state by 2025. At the time Anirudh began working with NYSERDA, the initiative strategy was being finalized, and a comprehensive outreach and communication strategy was in need of further development.
Solutions:
Anirudh and the NYSERDA Multifamily team began by interviewing key stakeholders, which allowed them to:
1) Obtain information, helping to draft eligibility and evaluation criteria for the competition, better understand some technical aspects of deep energy retrofits and inform the selection of the jury.
2) Generate awareness and interest in the upcoming competition.
In addition, a financial analysis was conducted, which will be used to determine which price points for deep energy retrofits would be attractive to building owners. Using the information collected during interviews, in tandem with best practices from previous prize competitions, Anirudh drafted the initial version of the solicitation, serving as the template for the RFP that will be released early next year.
Potential Impact:
RetrofitNY is a long-term program that is expected to have a large impact on the energy landscape of the affordable housing stock in New York State. The deep energy retrofits are expected to result in approximately 5.8 million tons of CO2 reductions and nearly $1.12 billion in energy bill savings for customers. In addition, the program is expected to reduce energy consumption by approximately 3.74 million MWh, and oil and natural gas consumption by 67 million MMBtu over the lifetime of the retrofits. Additionally, the deep energy retrofits will improve the level of tenant comfort and could increase property value for building owners.
Anirudh’s work on RetrofitNY has been important in moving this program from the development phase to the implementation phase, and he will help implement the new program during his second year of graduate school in an effort to formally launch the competition next year.