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Tag: Announcement

Certification requirements to complete energy assessments in the Single Family Residential Programs

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To: Contractors
Regarding Programs: All Residential Programs
Summary: Certification requirements to complete energy assessments in the Single Family Residential Programs
Contact: Please reach out to your account manager

Starting April 1, 2023, NYSERDA will require that all contractor staff completing energy assessments through EmPower+ will be required to hold at least one of the following certifications. This will continue to be a requirement of the Residential Energy Assessment and Comfort Home Programs.

  • BPI Building Analyst
  • BPI Building Analyst Technician
  • BPI Energy Auditor
  • BPI Multifamily Building Analyst
  • AEE Certified Energy Auditor
  • ASHRAE- Building Energy Assessment Professional
  • HERS Rater
  • LEED Rater
  • ICP Quality Assurance (QA) Assessor

If you have any questions, please reach out to your account manager.

Refrigerator/Freezer Deliveries

Events, Training Opportunities and ConferencesArchive
EmPower NY & Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STARArchive
Residential Energy AssessmentsArchive
Comfort Home PilotArchive
Green Jobs – Green New York Residential FinancingArchive
General AnnouncementsArchive

To: Contractors and Stakeholders
Regarding Programs: EmPower New York & Assisted Home Performance
Summary: Refrigerator/Freezer Deliveries
Contact: If you have any questions, please reach out to your account manager or contact us at hpwes@nyserda.ny.gov.

When discussing no-cost refrigerators/freezer replacements with EmPower households, Participating Contractors should make their customers aware at the time of the energy assessment that the delivery of refrigerators/freezers could be delayed.

Program staff have been informed by Participating Vendors that supply chain issues are impacting the availability of certain makes and models of refrigerators/freezers. In some cases, it could take 2 to 6 months before the vendor receives the unit from the manufacturer.

Participating Contractors should set expectations with the household that appliances may be delayed. If a household reaches out to a Participating Contractor regarding their appliance delivery, please remind the customer of the delays discussed above. If the appliance was ordered more than 90 days ago, the household can request additional information regarding their appliance by calling the customer support line 1-877-697-6278. If you have any questions, please reach out to your account manager or contact us at hpwes@nyserda.ny.gov.

The NY Home Energy Portal is coming in Spring

Events, Training Opportunities and ConferencesArchive
EmPower NY & Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STARArchive
Residential Energy AssessmentsArchive
Comfort Home PilotArchive
Green Jobs – Green New York Residential FinancingArchive
General AnnouncementsArchive

To: EmPower/AHP Contractors, REA Assessors, NYSERDA and CLEAResult
Regarding Programs: EmPower New York & Assisted Home Performance (EmPower+) and Residential Energy Assessment Program
Summary: The NY Home Energy Portal is coming in Spring. Attend training to learn how to use the platform
Contact: support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov

Are you ready for the NY Home Energy Portal? Attend training to be ready for the Spring 2023 launch!

The NY Home Energy Portal, formally referred to as the Residential Market Engagement System or RMES, is a new online platform NYSERDA is implementing in Spring 2023. Get to know the platform now by watching the demo NY Home Energy Portal Demo and see how the platform helps you manage your projects. Important information on the NY Home Energy Portal was covered in the January 6, 2023, contractor webinar. Contractors must view this if they were not present for the webinar at https://hpwescontractorsupport.com/webinars/.

Below are the tentative training locations and dates. Please mark your calendars and watch your email in the coming weeks for more information and registration instructions. Based on feedback, NYSERDA is working to finalize the training schedule and will follow up with final locations and dates ASAP. Please note, the below schedule is tentative and may change.

If you have questions, reach out to CONTRACTOR SUPPORT:

Call toll free: 800-284-9069

Email: support.residential@nyserda.ny.gov

Survey – Cost Reductions for Home Energy Upgrades

To: Contractors
Regarding Programs: All Residential Programs
Summary: Survey – cost reductions for home energy upgrades
Contact: homeupgradecostsurvey@lbl.gov

Do you have knowledge on the costs of residential energy upgrade projects and ideas about how to reduce them? Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL)is conducting a paid survey to gather information from the residential renovation and construction industry on these topics. We are looking for responses from contractors, consultants, program managers, and others with expertise in these areas.

Survey participation details:

  • The survey asks you to indicate how likely you are to employ various cost reduction strategies in your home energy projects and to estimate how much they could save.
  • The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
  • If you are one of the first 250 respondents to complete the survey, you will be compensated with a $50 eGift card upon completion of the full survey.
  • Your responses to the survey questions will remain anonymous.

If you are interested in contributing to this research, please follow this link to the survey.

For information on LBNL’s recent home energy upgrade costs research, please visit the project website. You can also email us at homeupgradecostsurvey@lbl.gov. Please forward this information to others in your network who you think could contribute to this work.

Thank you for your consideration.

Geographically Eligible Territories

To: EmPower, AHP Contractors, HUBS
Regarding Programs: EmPower New York
Summary: Geographically Eligible Territories
Contact: If you have any questions, please reach out to your account manager or contact us at hpwes@nyserda.ny.gov.

In response to questions from stakeholders and participating contractors, NYSERDA is providing clarification on EmPower New York’s Geographically Eligible Territories:

  • Geographic Eligibility can only be used for determining income eligibility for single-family residences.
  • Two- to Four-unit buildings and Multifamily properties with five or more units are not eligible to be income qualified as geographically eligible and will need to provide alternate income documentation to determine program eligibility.

The following language has been added to Section 5.15a of the Program Manual.

Geographically Eligible Territories

As part of the Combined Residential Application, NYSERDA developed an income-eligibility tool to allow for low-income single-family households to qualify for Program incentives based on their location in geographically eligible territories where census data reports that 50% or more of the population of the Census Block Group have a household income that is below 250% of the federal poverty level.

If an applicant’s address is located within a geographically eligible territory, and is a single-family residence, they will be deemed eligible for EmPower and will not have to provide documentation of household income. An eligible single-family household can be owner occupied or occupied by a renter. Two- to Four-unit buildings and Multifamily properties with five or more units are not eligible to be income qualified as geographically eligible and will need to provide alternate income documentation to determine program eligibility.

An interactive map can be referenced on the EmPower Geo-eligibility Tool webpage, and shows the geographically eligible territories in blue. Enter an address in the search address box to determine if it is in a geographically eligible territory.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your account manager or contact us at hpwes@nyserda.ny.gov.