(Photo: Albany, New York. Credit: Marco Varisco, Flickr Creative Commons)
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) made $10 million available this week for clean energy projects to reduce carbon emissions at commercial and industrial buildings throughout the state.
Commercial and industrial buildings account for 33% of the energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the state, NYSERDA says. The latest round of funding is part of a pilot project called the Commercial and Industrial Carbon Challenge to find out whether flexible uses of funding for clean energy projects is more cost-effective and reduces more carbon emissions than traditional state-supported programs.
The Carbon Challenge will offer awards ranging from $2 million to $5 million to help offset the development costs of clean energy projects at large-scale buildings. The projects should demonstrate the highest potential for lowering carbon emissions in buildings with an aggregate 12-month average demand of 10 MW or greater, and achieve this in a cost-effective way, NYSERDA says.
Projects can involve energy efficiency or distributed energy resources that provide increased flexibility for commercial and industrial customers to achieve carbon reductions, according to the public benefit corporation. Buildings eligible for the funding include colleges, universities, health care facilities, office buildings, and manufacturing plants.
All proposals must include a three-year carbon emissions reduction target and identify the path to achieving the target. “Awards will be made to proposals demonstrating the highest potential for cost-effectively implementing carbon-reducing clean energy actions, which must be completed by 2021,” according to NYSERDA. Commercial and industrial building owners must submit proposals by July 10, 2018.
“This Carbon Challenge provides greater flexibility in funding to commercial and industrial building owners who want to adopt clean energy actions to drive greater efficiency throughout their buildings and in turn reduce their energy costs,” said NYSERDA president and CEO Alicia Barton.
The new initiative is intended to support the governor’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40%. Funding comes from the state’s 10-year, $5.3 billion Clean Energy Fund.
In November, NYSERDA announced $12 million in funding to improve energy efficiency for industrial and multifamily buildings. Just last week, the public benefit corporation made $15 million available for installing and operating fuel cell systems statewide.
The 3rd Annual Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference takes place May 15 – 17, 2018 in Denver. Learn more here.