Engaging Demand: The RetrofitNY Pledge | ABC Summit

Christopher Mahase, Senior Project Manager, oversees the RetrofitNY initiative at NYSERDA, with the ambitious goal of retrofitting buildings in NYS to net zero levels of performance. Prior to NYSERDA, Chris served as the Director of Sustainability at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) for 8 years, where he oversaw development and implementation of the agency’s green building policy and other sustainability initiatives. Chris has extensive experience in real estate finance and development in the affordable housing sector.

Transcript

1. 1 Engaging Demand: The RetrofitNY Pledge
2. 2 Developing New Markets ➢ How do you create demand without a product? ➢ How do you create a product without demand?
3. 3 What is the RetrofitNY Pledge? The Pledge is a formal call to action to help motivate manufacturers to make low-cost, high-performance building solutions more affordable and accessible. Objectives of the Pledge: ➢ Engage building owners in early market development process ➢ Aggregate demand among building owners, harnessing their collective market power ➢ Signal early demand for manufacturers to help drive innovation, availability, and cost compression of relevant technologies
4. 4 What is the RetrofitNY Pledge? The Pledge allows building owners to use their collective buying power to compel manufacturers to introduce new retrofit solutions into the market at no risk to themselves. By signing, building owners are pledging to install cost effective net zero retrofit solutions when they become affordable and available, if they meet their stated goals AND align with renovation scope and financing plans. The Pledge is a non-binding commitment. Signatories are not at any risk should circumstances change.
5. 5 What is the RetrofitNY Pledge? Crafted with feedback from owners through their perspective to address concerns Main elements of the Pledge: ➢ Adapting to changes in the Landscape ➢ Growing costs and risks ➢ The Commitment • Ease of application • Ease of maintenance and operation • Attractive design • No use of fossil fuels • Net zero energy performance • Affordable
6. 6 Why Sign the RetrofitNY Pledge? Signing the Pledge allows owners to play an active role in advocating for lower cost, higher performance building solutions. By signing, building owners can help: • Harness the collective power of many to create demand • Drive positive change toward a net-zero future through cleaner, healthier, energy efficient, and more comfortable buildings. • Increase credibility, leadership and visibility alongside leading owners in New York State and beyond • Demonstrate a commitment to the health, safety, comfort and financial well-being of their tenants by asking for better building products
7. 7 Who has already signed on? Since its launch, the RetrofitNY Pledge has seen major momentum. To date, 34 organizationshave signed on to the Pledge: • Current signatories represent 398,755 multifamily units across 9,245 buildings in New York State. • The largest signatory to date is the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), who has pledged to implement solutions for their 169,820 affordable housing units and 2,252 buildings.
8. 8 Development of a Net Zero Marketplace The Pledge is an early step in developing a net zero marketplace ➢ Educate owners on net zero and deep energy retrofits ➢ Work toward tangible outcomes with owners to gain buy in with a commitment ➢ Quantify early demand for manufacturers and solution providers ➢ Begin bringing buyers and sellers of net zero energy solutions together
9. 9 Take Action: Sign the Pledge Though the Pledge is off to a strong start, more support is needed from building owners. The more Pledge signatories we can generate in a short time period, the stronger a signal we can send to manufacturers. The stronger the signal, the quicker these solutions are developed and available in the market. To get involved: • Review the RetrofitNY Pledge on the RetrofitNY website https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/RetrofitNY/RetrofitNY-Pledge • Contact NYSERDA to discuss the Pledge before signing at RetrofitNY@nyserda.ny.gov