NYCHA’s green future? Officials open ‘showroom’ apartment with sustainable features

This story was originally published by the nonprofit news site City Limits.

Want a tour of NYCHA’s climate-friendlier future?

On Monday, the city unveiled a model apartment in Brooklyn designed to show off new, green technology being installed at select public housing developments across the city—heating and cooking equipment that uses clean energy instead of polluting fossil fuels.

The showroom, opened at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, aims to “give NYCHA residents, design-build teams, property managers and other stakeholders an opportunity to see and experience the technologies firsthand as they plan and carry out future public housing renovations,” according to an announcement from the city.

The equipment includes triple-pane insulated windows, heat pumps and far-infrared radiant (FIR) heating panels—which use electricity to warm and cool apartments—as well as induction stoves to replace gas cooking appliances, which experts say reduce pollution from buildings and improve air quality in residents’ homes.

It comes five months after Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a multi-billion dollar, five-year sustainability plan for NYCHA, which aims to make the green upgrades a key part of renovations as the housing authority chips away at its roughly $78 billion repair backlog.

That plan—which so far, is only about half funded—calls for the installation of heat pumps at 20,000 NYCHA apartments and adding induction stoves in another 10,000 units, among other resiliency improvements, like electric vehicle charging stations.

“The technologies in this model apartment show how we are delivering a stronger, more sustainable future for public housing,” Mamdani said in a statement Tuesday. “Cleaner heat, better cooling and modern appliances can make homes more comfortable while helping us build a city that is ready for the climate challenges ahead.”

Pollution from buildings accounts for roughly 70 percent of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions, which drive climate change.

Several NYCHA developments have already gotten the upgrades: heat pumps are being used, or will be soon, at the Woodside Houses, Morrisania Air Rights, Claremont Consolidated, Beach 41st Street Houses, Bay View Houses and Campos Plaza II, while a pilot program will test out induction stoves at an initial 100 public housing apartments.

Both the stove and heat pump models were sourced through contests, launched in partnership with the state, that challenged companies to submit proposals for electric appliances that could be installed en masse in multifamily buildings.

Officials said the model apartment at the Brooklyn Navy Yard “will continue to be updated as new products become available, creating a living showcase for the technologies that can help modernize NYCHA homes.”

NYCHA residents who want to view the model apartment can arrange a tour through their tenant association, a spokesperson for the housing authority said. Others can contact NYCHA’s Asset & Capital Management Division’s Strategic Partnerships team.

This article was republished from City Limits, an independent, investigative news source.