Phius Building Certification Manager & Policy Specialist Zoe Rader details how team members on Phius projects can take advantage of financial incentives offered by a new program in New York.
“Hey Alexa, play ‘Welcome to New York’” (seriously, put it on in the background while you read this, it’s quite fitting!).
Anyway, I’m excited to share that I am still hanging out on my policy soapbox. I like to think of it as my emotional support soapbox at this point, and my soapbox and I have a bit of good news to share with you today.
If you’re in New York and looking to do a Phius project, then you’re in luck, because there are loads of funding opportunities available to you! One of those opportunities is the new Building Cleaner Communities Competition for commercial buildings. Admittedly, I can’t promise as many pretty pictures as my past blogs, but if we’re being honest, all the financial incentives make it worth the read this time.
Funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Building Cleaner Communities Competition aims to support the design and construction of clean and resilient buildings by allocating up to $25 million to projects, both old and new, across the state of New York. The main focuses of the competition are carbon neutrality, innovation, and healthy and resilient building practices. Third-party certifications such as Phius are listed as one of the fundable activities.
At this point you just might be wondering, “I came here for a Phius blog; where does Phius fit in?” And I’m glad you wondered that! Not only are teams hoping to win the competition encouraged to design to a third-party certification, they are rewarded for doing so! The base incentive for all applicants is $35 per square foot (or $45 per square foot for projects owned by a 501(c)(3) or government entity).
Now, I hope you’re sitting down for this, because a project seeking to achieve Phius Certification will be eligible for an additional $150,000 with a limit of up to $1.5 million for a single building or $3 million for a group of buildings. And guess what? We’re not even done yet!
Picture this: you’re a really cool architect working with a private developer in New York, designing an even cooler 25,000-square-foot office building with a total project cost of $6 million. You think to yourself, “Wow, I really miss the Phius Certification staff (for the record, we miss you too). I’m going to get this project Phius Certified.” You get a design started, you submit to the Project Review Queue, and after a round of design review, you really start nailing down what systems to use on your project. You decide to utilize a ground-source heat pump for the heating and cooling of your building.
Just like that, your project is eligible for the flat Phius incentive of $150,000 AND an additional incentive of $200,000 for utilizing a ground-source heat pump in your design. Before even calculating the square footage incentive, your project is already eligible for a flat $350,000.
Now, when we calculate the square footage incentive of $35 per square foot, we get a total of $875,000. With both the flat incentive totals on top of the square footage incentive, you realize your project may be eligible for a grand total of more than $1.2 million! Even better? Your grand total is less than the max cap (the lesser of $1.5 million and 25 percent of the total project cost) that NYSERDA has placed on a single-building application.
Word to the wise? Don’t wait, because applications are due on Aug. 14 at 4 p.m. EST. For more information, please visit their website.
