Building Decarbonization
PCA Awards Twenty Building Decarbonization Grants
Congratulations to these grant recipients:
Hudson River Housing, Poughkeepsie - $100,000 for rooftop solar as part of a larger green retrofit of homeless housing
YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County - $100,000 for heat pumps, insulation, and air sealing for the main gym to reduce fossil fuel reliance
Marbletown Community Center - $78,250 for insulation & geothermal
Hawthorne Valley Association, Ghent - $63,000 towards campus-wide plan to switch from oil to heat pumps, replace windows, increase insulation
Jewish Congregation of New Paltz - $56,937 to remove an oil furnace and install heat pumps, as well as increase efficiency with insulation
Hudson River Maritime Museum, Kingston - $45,626 to replace natural gas heat with heat pumps in the main building & install rooftop solar panels on the Wooden Boat School
Vassar Temple, Poughkeepsie - $36,026 for energy conservation measures and heat pumps
Mountain Top Arboretum, Tannersville - $27,800 to install heat pumps and remove fossil fuel infrastructure.
Hudson Valley Research Lab, Highland - $25,000 for solar on agricultural lab's roof, to complete an envelope/HVAC renovation project
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, Kingston - $25,000 for air sealing, insulation, new doors to complement heat pumps
Putnam Valley Library - $20,922 for insulation & heat pumps to replace an old furnace
Old Dutch Church of Kingston - $20,000 for energy study and energy efficiency projects
Kiwanis Ice Arena, Saugerties - $4,000 for storytelling/outreach to promote its innovative, next generation refrigerants project
Oakwood Community Center, Troy - $10,000 for electrical upgrades in preparation for heat pumps
Village of Philmont - $15,000 to underwrite a design/engineering plan for a multi-use village hall
Hyde Park Library - $12,000 for design/engineering & grant writing for a historic library's HVAC system
Village of Catskill - $5,000 to underwrite an energy study of village hall/police department
City of Poughkeepsie - $5,000 to underwrite an energy study of city hall
Town of Claverack - $5,000 to underwrite an energy study of a highway garage
Town of Germantown - $5,000 to underwrite an energy study of a municipal building
Below is archived information about the grant application process
Heating, cooling, and providing energy to buildings are collectively the top contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in NY State. PCA wants to help you change that!
Here in the Hudson Valley, with some of the oldest building stock in the country, retrofits can make a huge impact on our climate, health, and pocketbooks. New York State and the federal government are beginning to provide large scale funding for building retrofits, yet the path to accessing it can be complicated.
PCA is committed to positioning municipalities, schools, faith-based organizations, libraries, and nonprofits for success in attracting funding and making the shift with their buildings. Finished projects will act as demonstration sites, inspiring fellow community members to do the same with their homes.
Grant Details
Grants will be in the range of $5,000 - $100,000 with no match required. PCA designed the grant to help fill gaps we’ve observed at different stages of the decarbonization process.
Those stages are:
STAGE A: Some applicants may just be getting started and need energy studies to understand what interventions would work best; these municipal, public and private school, or college campus applicants (as long as they pay into the systems benefit charge) will be eligible for $5000 to match with NYSERDA’s Flextech program. (For other types of nonprofits, check out this energy study program with a small cost share.)
STAGE B: PCA has also noticed that gaps exist for those needing design, engineering and grant writing support. If this is your need, you can apply for $5,000 - $15,000 for those purposes.
STAGE C: Finally, there is funding out there for implementation projects, but these often do not cover the full cost. For smaller municipalities and nonprofits, scraping together the additional funds can be a roadblock. These applicants can apply for $5,000 - $100,000.
PCA has a goal of awarding at least 40% of funding to NYS-designated disadvantaged communities. We hope to fund a variety of applicant types (municipality, nonprofit, school, library, and faith-based organization) and a range of amounts. Funds are limited, so competition for large grant amounts will be higher than small amounts.
Please direct any questions to decarb@climateactionhv.org.
Videos and Slides from the 10/27/23 and 9/19/23 Info Sessions
The presentation is the same for both, but the Q&A is different for each.
Timeline
APPLICATIONS OPEN on
September 5, 2023
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS is
November 21, 2023
GRANTS ANNOUNCED in
March 2024
GRANT PERIOD
1 year
Applicant Requirements
Applicants must be:
Either a municipality, nonprofit organization, or a fiscally sponsored organization
Located in Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Putnam, Rensselaer, or Ulster Counties
Either the building owner; or renters may apply in tandem with the owner, if they too are a nonprofit
Find all the nitty gritty details in this downloadable PDF
What is building decarbonization?
Heat pumps and geothermal, additional insulation, new windows and weatherization, solar installations, energy star appliances and induction stoves—anything that gets a building to greater energy efficiency and reduces the need for fossil fuels.
Support
PCA believes in making this process feel more human! It is our intent to build a cohort of diverse types of institutions at various stages of the decarbonization process for enhanced learning and collaboration. We build in additional support for grantees such as:
Zoom office hours with experts
Zoom guest speakers
Field trips to inspiring projects
FAQ
Q. Can I apply for Stage B or C if I haven’t done Stage A (energy studies)? Or can I apply for Stage C if I haven’t done Stage B?
A. Yes, you can. We understand that for some projects, Stage A or B may not be necessary.
Q. Can municipal utilities (water, sewer district) or fire districts apply?
A. Yes.
Q. Will PCA offer this Building Decarbonization Grant annually?
A. We would like to, but we want to see if this first round is successful first before we decide to offer it again.
Q. Are propane or natural gas conversions from oil eligible? Can we apply?
A. No, applying for new fossil fuel equipment is not eligible.
Q. I represent a 501c3 that rents a municipal building. If we apply, must it be through the municipality and in competition with that municipality which also plans to apply? Can we apply under our non-profit with permission from the municipality?
A. We will get back to you on this one!
Q. Is Flextech a competitive grant to get money for energy studies?
A. Flextech is a NYSERDA program for municipalities and schools and college campuses to get 50% in matching funds for energy studies. It’s non-competitive. You need to find a good contractor that is on the NYSERDA list. You want to find one that has experience doing these Flextech applications as well as energy studies. The contractor will do the Flextech grant application for you, as well as the actual energy study. You would apply for the BDG grant to help you with your half of the 50%. From Flexhtech: “Municipalities can work with one or multiple buildings through the FlexTech program. Those buildings can be included in one or multiple scopes of work (projects). Typically, one scope of work with all of the buildings is easiest especially if timelines for the studies align. For a standard FlexTech study the funding would be a 50% cost share up to $500,000 or 10% of the facilities annual energy costs, whichever is less.”
Q. What about EV chargers?
A. No, these are not eligible for the BDG grant. We are trying to stay focused on the building. It’s a line in the sand! Check out the ZEV grants through NY State.
Know someone who should apply?
Download and Share PDF Flyer
Questions?