More than $29 million has been awarded to 15 innovative projects through Round XIV of the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) initiative. Administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the initiative is helping New York reduce statewide carbon emissions, promote economic development and create new opportunities in communities throughout the state. The projects, seven of which are located in NYS designated disadvantaged communities, were awarded through participation in one of the two NYSERDA programs, the Building Cleaner Communities Competition (BCCC) or the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Carbon Challenge.

“Innovative solutions like those awarded today are transforming how we design, operate and power buildings across New York State,” said NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris. “Retrofitting existing structures and processes with carbon reducing strategies and breaking ground on cutting-edge new construction is how the state will stay at the forefront as we move toward a clean energy economy.”

The C&I Carbon Challenge is a competitive program that provides funding to large energy users such as manufacturers, colleges, universities, health care facilities and office building owners in New York State to implement clean energy projects that reduce carbon emissions. Projects may utilize a combination of energy or manufacturing process efficiency strategies, carbon capture technology, low-carbon fuel utilization, renewable generation or energy storage.

BCCC, previously known as the Carbon Neutral Communities Economic Development (CNCED) program, was created to showcase real-world examples of clean and resilient economic development projects that utilize technologies that advance decarbonization goals, provide comfortable spaces for users, and serve critical community needs. Previous winners have included the Underground Railroad Interpretive Center in Albany, Highland Passive House in Highland, and Timber Trails Forest Farm in Canandaigua.

• RED-Rochester’s elimination of vented waste steam, installing three solar PV arrays, and replacing centrifugal air compressors with state-of-the-art machines, in Rochester, NY.

• Skyven Technologies, an expert industrial decarbonization firm, will work with Lactalis to install an efficient, electrified heat system capable of reaching high temperatures at their plant in Buffalo, NY.

• The EME Consulting Engineering and Architecture Group’s design and development of the largest geothermal heating and cooling system in the Northeast for Fordham University at their Rose Hill Campus in the Bronx, NY.

NYSERDA also awarded more than $15 million for 10 winning BCCC projects located in the Capital District, Mid-Hudson, Mohawk Valley, and New York City including:

• The Beacon MultiService Center’s adaptive reuse expansion project to a proposed Passive House certified building in East Harlem, NY.

• The Brownsville Arts Center, a new all-electric, high-performance 28,000-ft² building that will be Passive House certified located in Brooklyn, NY.

• The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens’ modernization project in Buffalo, NY, which will demonstrate high efficiency design and will minimize emissions during the new construction process.

• Chester Agricultural Center Farmwork Housing’s construction of a new mixed-use, affordable all-electric housing development that is proposing Passive House certification in Chester, NY.

• Hamilton College’s construction of a new 41,000-ft² computer and data science facility as a proposed all-electric project in Clinton, NY.

• Hawthorne Valley’s rehabilitation of four education buildings totaling more than 60,000 ft² to become carbon neutral in Ghent, NY.

• The HEArts Community Center’s adaptive reuse of a vacant, 23,577-ft² historic building into a community center in Bronx, NY.

• The Schenectady Environmental Education Center adaptive reuse of a long-vacant building to be a net-zero facility in Schenectady, NY.

• The Tunnel, a new 34,000-ft² high-performance mixed-use project in Port Jervis, NY.

• Ulster County’s Public Safety construction of a new communications building that will incorporate ground-source heat pumps and a roof mounted solar that will supply 25% of the building’s electrical needs in New Paltz, NY.

The top image is a rendering of the Brownsville Arts Center Brooklyn.