Programs: EmPower+ To: Participating Contractors, Hubs Summary: IRA and EmPower+ Funding Flow Charts Questions: Please contact Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069.
NYSERDA has produced new flow charts to help Contractors and Regional Clean Energy Hubs identify the IRA and EmPower+ funding a customer could be eligible for as well as helping guide the process for determining what measures a house may be available for installation.
These guides are meant for use by the contractors and Hubs in educating their personnel and are not for public distribution or use in promotional materials. They can be found in Section 8 of the Program Manual on the contractor support site. These flow charts were discussed on the September 6th contractor check in webinar, a copy of the recording can be found here.
If there are any questions, please contact Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069.
Some contractors are experiencing an error message when contacting the Contractor Support phone line as a participating contractor. This is being worked on and updates will be posted as they become available. As a temporary workaround for calling the support line, please select the either approved or past customer IVR option (option 2 when calling 800-284-9069).
Other communication channels are unaffected: Contractors may submit a case by emailing [email protected], clicking the ‘Submit a Case’ button on the homepage of the contractor support website, or start a messaging session using the Chat bubble on the bottom right of the contractor support website’s homepage. Thank you for your continued support and patience.
Program/s: EmPower+ To: Participating Contractors Summary: Building Airflow Standard Calculator Questions: Please contact Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069.
In response to a recent suggestion from a program contractor, for EmPower+ Contractors using the Comfort Home Building Airflow Standard Calculator, an ACH50 calculation has been added to the tool. The inputs remain the same as the prior version; however, the calculated values now include the number of air changes per hour at 50 pascals. We hope that you find this addition helpful. A copy of the tool can be found on the contractor support site, in Section 8 of the Program Manual.
Programs: EmPower+ To: Participating Contractors Summary: Heat Pump Project Requirement Changes Questions: Please contact Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069.
Section 5.10 of the EmPower+ Program Manual has been updated to provide additional clarification on the project requirements for heat pump projects. Participating Contractors installing heat pumps should review the updated guidance in its entirety. A summary of the significant changes is provided below.
Manual D is only required if substantial (50%) new duct work is installed
Drawings of the house should be accurate enough for verifying the Manual J but, exact window locations don’t need to be shown- only sq/ft and type per side. Room by Room or block drawings are acceptable. Location of heat pumps are required at final project submission.
The proposed heat pump system may include use of a supplemental heating source to reach 100% of the building heating load. Supplemental heat sources may be designed to provide up to 20% of peak heating load up to 5kw or equivalent supplemental.
Customer attestations will be allowed when delivered fuel bills are not available.
Photos requiring the location of the heat pumps are not required until final project submission.
CLEAResult is now reviewing to these standards. They will be reaching out to contractors who have had projects returned more than once to assist with project submittal. They are also working up a list of common roadblocks that they are seeing and will distribute to contractors.
If there are any questions, please contact Contractor Support at 1-800-284-9069.
Program/s: EmPower+ Contractors To: EmPower+ Contractors Summary: Launching of Quality Home Contractor Contact with Questions: Amy Kasson-Muzio at [email protected]
Dear Stakeholders,
NYSERDA is in the process of establishing a Quality Home Contractor (QHC) designation aimed at highlighting exemplary performance among Single Family Residential EmPower+ participating contractors.
The Quality Home Contractor designation will help New Yorkers during the contractor search and selection process, by identifying EmPower+ contractors who consistently achieve high standards of quality. The designation will help lessen the search and selection burden on customers and lend confidence that the job will be well-done when a QHC is chosen. The designation will also help contractors to differentiate themselves by the quality of their work.
Eligibility criteria for determining which contractors will receive NYSERDA’s QHC designation are:
Must be an active full status EmPower+ contractor,
Must complete at least 12 full comprehensive projects within the past calendar year (2024 for the initial designation), and
Must have at least a 4.0 (no rounding up) average in-field inspection QA score for the past calendar year.
Must not have been on any disciplinary action, either probation or suspension, within the past calendar year.
The designation will be valid for one calendar year and will be re-evaluated annually using the same criteria.
Contractors that meet the eligibility criteria will be identified on NYSERDA platforms (e.g., website) and listed as a NYSERDA Quality Home Contractor. These contractors will also be provided with a NYSERDA Quality Home Contractorlabel/logo to use in their own marketing and customer communications as a third-party differentiator and validation of their work quality.
With the addition of the QHC designation, we do not anticipate any other changes to the Quality Assurance inspection guidelines within the overarching Quality Assurance program for EmPower+.