Announcing The Clean Fight’s Multifamily LMI & Affordable Housing Edition, in Collaboration with the Climate Friendly Homes Fund
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN
New York, NY (November 20, 2024) - We’re thrilled to announce that applications are now open for the fifth edition of our award-winning Accelerator program, supported by NYSERDA and U.S. EDA, which will focus on decarbonizing existing multifamily low-to-moderate income (LMI) and affordable housing.
In collaboration with leaders in the affordable housing market at the Climate Friendly Homes Fund administered by The Community Preservation Corporation and supported by Cadence OneFive, we are seeking high impact, market-proven climate solutions that break down barriers to decarbonization and simplify the retrofit process for multifamily LMI and affordable housing within New York City and State.
“Leaders in the affordable housing space are doing a huge amount of work to ensure the energy transition is accessible and beneficial to all New Yorkers. We’re excited to launch our latest program to support this work by sourcing best-in-class climate solutions designed with the unique needs of this sector in mind, filling a gap that has made decarbonization particularly difficult for affordable housing providers. We believe that this unique collaboration with our long time partner The Community Preservation Corporation will help us to create replicable pathways for affordable housing to decarbonize across the State” said Kate Frucher, Managing Director, The Clean Fight.
Why multifamily LMI and affordable housing?
Buildings are a major driver of climate change globally–accounting for nearly 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions. In New York City, that number is even higher–a whopping 70%. In light of this, New York State has committed to having 2 million electrified or electrification-ready homes by 2030, including 800,000 LMI households, and New York City has mandated buildings to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2040. But decarbonization presents unique challenges for New York’s multifamily LMI and affordable housing.
Navigating decarbonization is complex and costly, which means LMI and affordable housing providers–who are often under-resourced and operate on tight margins–may lack the capacity to even get started. In addition, the solutions that are on the market may not be the best fit for the older buildings that comprise most of this multifamily housing stock. These housing providers must also ensure that any decarbonization upgrades preserve affordability, so that New York’s vibrant, diverse communities stay that way.
Program Goals
To meet this moment, we are sourcing solutions from around the world to make decarbonization retrofits easier to navigate, pay for, install, operate, and maintain for New York’s multifamily affordable housing providers. Solutions that can help, among others, the Climate Friendly Homes Fund find solutions that will enable them to leverage their $250M in grant funding to electrify 10,000 affordable housing units by 2028.
We are seeking a wide range of solutions, including:
Energy Efficiency and Electrification Solutions
Retrofit Navigation Platforms
Bundled/Turnkey Solutions
Financing, Insurance, and Warranty Solutions
If you are a climate startup with a solution that could meet the needs of this unique customer segment, we welcome you to apply. Our program will support the scaling of your solution through high-touch matchmaking with housing partners and critical ecosystem players, connections to the right sources of capital to meet your growth needs, and access to up to $100k per company in grant funding to facilitate demonstration projects in New York State.
“The Community Preservation Corporation is committed to fostering sustainable and resilient communities,” said Sadie McKeown, President of The Community Preservation Corporation. “We are proud to share our expertise in financing deep green retrofits for affordable multifamily housing as a partner of The Clean Fight’s Affordable and LMI Housing Decarbonization Accelerator. We look forward to collaborating with participating startup companies to foster innovative models for transforming existing housing into modern, energy efficient homes that provide a host of benefits for building owners and residents of LMI communities across New York.”
Our outstanding capital partners include Aligned Climate Capital, Amalgamated Bank, Broadscale Group, NYCEEC, NY Green Bank, and Silicon Valley Bank.
Dive into the Accelerator program’s details here and attend The Clean Fight’s launch webinar Thursday, November 21, 2024 to learn more about our program.
If you are an LMI and affordable housing provider interested in decarbonizing your portfolio, connect with our team here to explore how this program can support you.
If affordable housing providers, climate tech companies, capital partners, and other stakeholders can come together to unlock these challenges in New York, there is enormous opportunity. By partnering with the experts at the Climate Friendly Homes Fund and Cadence OneFive, and with the support of NYSERDA and the U.S. Economic Development Administration, we strive to help build a deeper and broader market that is accessible to more than just the earliest adopters.
About The Clean Fight
The Clean Fight is a not-for-profit dedicated to accelerating the equitable adoption of climate solutions in New York State and beyond. Given that many of the technologies we need to solve the climate crisis already exist, it’s imperative that we ensure they are adopted quickly, equitably, and at scale. To enable this adoption, The Clean Fight designs and implements programs to prove out the most impactful strategies to remove key barriers to adoption of scale-ready solutions. The Clean Fight is supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), and is a chapter of New Energy Nexus. In the four years since its inception, it has supported 50 companies, who have secured $800 million in follow-on capital, with over 5000 resulting deployments in New York State.
About Climate Friendly Homes Fund and Community Preservation Corporation
The Climate Friendly Homes Fund (CFHF), administered by The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), provides financing for existing, 5-50-unit buildings in New York State with a focus on replacing older and less energy-efficient systems with all-electric, high-performance heating, cooling, and hot water heating systems. With $250 million in New York State funding, CPC and New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) aim to finance electrification retrofits in at least 10,000 units of multifamily housing that serve economically disadvantaged communities. These funds will empower small building owners to identify and execute a scope of work to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings and decrease their greenhouse gas emissions. In order to maximize impact and the reach of the program, CPC has identified like-minded green lending institutions, CDFIs, and other community-based partners to collaborate on the identification and screening of building retrofit opportunities across the State.
About New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
NYSERDA, a public benefit corporation, offers objective information and analysis, innovative programs, technical expertise, and funding to help New Yorkers increase energy efficiency, save money, use renewable energy, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. NYSERDA professionals work to protect the environment and create clean-energy jobs. NYSERDA has been developing partnerships to advance innovative energy solutions in New York State since 1975. To learn more about NYSERDA’s programs and funding opportunities, visit nyserda.ny.gov
About the U.S. Economic Development Administration
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA invests in communities and supports regional collaboration in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.
About Cadence OneFive
Cadence OneFive accelerates building decarbonization and climate-adaptive retrofits for multifamily buildings. Its platform, Momentum, streamlines the retrofit process by providing efficient workflows and actionable insights to building owners, replacing a broken renovation process that runs on email attachments with no visibility into pricing or performance. By enabling rapid planning, financing, and procurement, Cadence OneFive seeks to create a future where everyone enjoys high-quality, affordable housing that protects them well from the effects of climate change, no matter their zip code.