NYSERDA - Multifamily New Construction Program

Summary

NYSERDA’s Multifamily New Construction Program (MC NCP) provides supports increasing energy performance of multifamily high rise new construction and gut rehabilitation projects by providing technical support and financial incentives. Interested building owners applying for the program must work with a Multifamily Performance Partner. The incentives are multi-tiered and based on building size and performance tiers. Additional incentives are available for projects that serve or are expected to serve low income tenants. The program does not provide incentives for renewable energy projects, however, the program encourages incorporation of such systems to meet building performance targets. 

Eligibility

To participate in the program, the building must be a multifamily residential building, containing 10 or more units with at least 4 floors. Low rise buildings with three or fewer stories and less than 10 units are not eligible for the MC NCP program, but may apply for NYSERDA's Low-Rise Residential Construction program. Both new construction and gut rehabilitation projects where a professional architect or engineer has prepared and certified building plans are eligible for the program. Buildings must also contain residential space comprising at least 50% occupiable square footage of the entire project. 

Buildings must use electricity from the utilities that collect the System Benefit Charge (SBC). These generally include major investor owned utilities in the State including: Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., New York State Electric & Gas Corporation, National Grid, Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation. Some of these utilities also offer multifamily residential incentives. 

Program description

To comply with the targeted energy savings, the projects may choose from four compliance paths- i) Performance Path with ENERGY STAR, ii) Passive House Institute US (PHIUS), iii) Passive House Institute (PHI), and iv) Modified Perspective Path (MoPP). The projects are then classified into one of the three performance tiers based on projected energy savings. The participant applicant must work with a Performance Partner, who will conduct an energy assessment of the project, recommend improvements, and process and submit the incentive payments.

Incentive amounts depend on the Tiers, number of units in the buildings, and additional incentives if the project serve low to moderate income (LMI) customers. Incentives range from $600 to $3,000 per unit for LMI and from $300 to $2,000 per unit for market rate. The incentives are capped for each tier.Incentive payments will be made in 3 stages upon completion of certain milestones.