New York State Weatherization Program Set to Exceed Goals

ALBANY, NY (02/24/2010)(readMedia)-- The NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal announced today that its federally funded Weatherization program will dramatically exceed its goals by making the homes of more than 15,000 low-income New Yorkers safer and more energy efficient, an increase of 15 percent over the agency's original goal for the 2009-2010 program year of 12,950 units.

The agency expects to weatherize at least twice that number of houses and apartments in the coming year.

Brian Lawlor, Acting Commissioner of DHCR, said "The state's network of weatherization service providers has once again exceeded expectations. While there has been a great deal of misinformation in the media recently about weatherization, the truth is that this program helps the neediest New Yorkers stay warm and safe while also reducing their energy costs. And in addition to conserving resources, the weatherization program also keeps a number of New York businesses in operation and provides jobs and job training for weatherization workers."

Since the inception of the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in 1977, more than 500,000 dwellings have been weatherized in New York. Weatherization reduces energy costs by an average of more than 20 percent, conserves oil, gas and other natural resources and reduces the State's carbon footprint.

DHCR administers the federal WAP program in New York and utilizes a network of community-based organizations to process applications from residents and conduct energy audits to determine the weatherization services each household requires. Subgrantees provide energy conservation services through their own trained crews and by subcontracting work to local contractors.

DHCR received slightly more than $100 million for WAP in 2009, a large bump up from its regular annual allotment which averaged about $60 million. The agency also received $394 million in WAP stimulus funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The money was made available in June of 2009 after approval of DHCR's weatherization plan by the federal Department of Energy.

The ARRA weatherization funds presented a number of challenges, including the requirement that subgrantees pay prevailing wage to weatherization workers, which had never been required in the past. Thus, the Department of Labor had to determine the prevailing wages for weatherization workers in each county in the United States, a task that was finalized in December of 2009.

Yet despite the delays caused by this and other regulatory issues, DHCR was able to enter contracts and get working capital to subgrantees quickly and efficiently. To date, more than 550 units have been completed using stimulus funds and more than 17,400 units are in progress.

The agency is on schedule to fulfill its target goal of weatherizing more than 45,000 units by March 2012, the deadline by which stimulus-related weatherization work must be completed. As of December 31, DHCR's subgrantees had created 226 jobs, which does not include jobs created by subcontractors. Additionally, more than 720 people had been trained for weatherization-related jobs.

Energy efficiency measures include proven techniques such as adding high-density insulation in walls and ceilings, weatherstripping windows and doors, insulating hot water tanks and pipes and utilizing energy efficient lighting.

Other energy-saving measures include improving or replacing heating systems and replacing old, inefficient refrigerators with new highly efficient Energy Star rated units.

Priority for weatherization activities is given to households with children, the elderly and persons with disabilities. Funds are also used to weatherize the homes of homeowners and renters with high fuel costs in relation to their household income. Some of these households are identified by a local office for the aging or local department of social service. Funds are targeted to the most cost-effective conservation measures, determined from an on-site energy audit of the building.

The Office of the State Comptroller recently approved $60 million in ARRA fund contracts targeting Multi-family housing. ARRA offers a unique opportunity to weatherize larger developments. DHCR is collaborating with very successful national partners including Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Enterprise Community Partners and the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) to take on larger, multi-family projects. While large scale projects pose additional challenges and require more time, they produce lasting results.

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