by: AIA New York
The Buildings of Excellence program, administered by the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA), is a $40 million competition that champions the design, construction, and operation of decarbonized multifamily buildings. Buildings remain the largest source of greenhouse gases in New York State, responsible for one third of annual statewide emissions. Launched in March 2019, Buildings of Excellence has already awarded over $31 million to 42 exemplary new construction and adaptive reuse projects to date (see the winning projects here).
The program’s third round of funding was announced on April 7 during an event held at New York City’s Engine 16, a Buildings of Excellence Round One winner designed by Baxt Ingui Architects (watch the on-site presentation here). In a shift from previous issuances, Round Three will provide funding to design firms at very early design phases, to reduce the firm’s upfront risks and support achievement of building designs that are beautiful, carbon neutral, functional, resilient, desirable for occupants, and profitable for developers. NYSERDA will provide up to $250,000 per project in direct funding to design firms for early stage design support (applications due July 12) for multifamily projects that are setting these new standards of excellence. Similar to previous rounds, up to $1 million will be awarded to demonstration projects by developers (applications due July 14). Learn more and apply here.
The Buildings of Excellence Competition advances carbon-neutral multifamily buildings that are profitable, affordable, beautiful, and great places to live. The program supports New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which includes a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050. Signed into law in July 2019, the Climate Act places the State on a path to carbon neutrality across all sectors of the economy, including transportation, buildings, industry, electricity, and land use.
Earlier this year, Governor Hochul underscored the importance of achieving carbon neutrality at her State of the State address, when she set a new goal to create two million climate-friendly homes by 2030, targeting a minimum of one million electrified homes and up to one million electrification-ready homes by 2030. Governor Hochul is committed to ensuring more than 800,000 of these homes are for low-to-moderate income (LMI) residents. Accordingly, over two-thirds of the past Buildings of Excellence awardees serve the affordable housing market.
Each awarded project successfully demonstrates how it will achieve low-carbon performance and can be widely adopted, while offering financial benefits for owners and providing a comfortable, healthy, and safe living environment for occupants. Additionally, the projects are tasked with capturing cost and performance data associated with their design, construction, and operation that can be disseminated out to the market to serve as an essential building block of a carbon-neutral future and will be leveraged to advance the design and construction of multifamily buildings in New York State.
Get updates on the Buildings of Excellence Competition by completing this form.