Advancing Energy Efficiency and Electrification at Hospitals

Governor Kathy Hochul announced today that eight New York State hospitals will receive a combined nearly $28 million for six projects to advance energy efficiency and electrification. These investments through the Empire Building Challenge: Hospitals Program administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) seek to affordably modernize facilities, reduce energy use and lower emissions.

“These awards will help ensure our hospitals continue to provide New Yorkers critical access to medical care while maintaining our commitment to the clean energy transition,” said Governor Hochul. “These investments allow them to operate more efficiently, manage rising costs and focus their resources on what matters most: providing quality care to patients and communities.”

The Empire Building Challenge: Hospitals (EBC: Hospitals) Program competitively awards funding to projects that demonstrate pathways for hospitals to overcome cost barriers and challenges to energy-saving investments while improving the resiliency of healthcare facilities. The selected projects span eight in-patient healthcare facilities, six of which are located in disadvantaged communities.

NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, “The awards demonstrate Governor Hochul’s commitment to maintaining quality healthcare, particularly in disadvantaged communities, and are a recognition of the work these hospitals are doing in creating blueprints for the transformation of existing spaces into energy efficient, low-carbon healthcare facilities, helping to inspire broader market adoption across the industry. The EBC: Hospitals Program shows how improving building performance through clean energy technologies is directly connected to the well-being and safety of the patients and communities they serve while achieving necessary cost savings and accelerating New York’s clean energy transition.”

The six projects granted awards are:

• Finger Lakes Health - Geneva General Hospital (Geneva, NY): awarded more than $3.5 million to install a new high efficiency cooling plant, update the central building management system, replace two aging air handling units with higher efficiency models, and upgrade a chiller plant by adding a heat recovery chiller. This project is expected to result in annual cost savings of more than $230,000 and a nearly 40,500 MMBtu reduction in baseline energy use annually, the equivalent of the energy needed to power more than 490 homes.
• Long Island Jewish Medical Center - Katz Women’s Hospital (Queens, NY): awarded nearly $4.3 million to install a heat recovery chiller and an exhaust air heat recovery system, convert steam distribution to low-temperature hot water (LTHW), and balance the facility ventilation system. This project is expected to result in annual cost savings of nearly $386,000 and a nearly 31,000 MMBtu reduction in baseline energy use annually, the equivalent of the energy needed to power more than 375 homes.
• Montefiore Medical Center’s Wakefield Hospital, Jack D. Weiler Hospital, and Westchester Square (Bronx, NY): awarded nearly $4.9 million to electrify hospital heating by installing heat recovery heat pumps in three hospitals. This project is expected to result in annual cost savings of more than $14,000 and a nearly 25,000 MMBtu reduction in baseline energy use across all three hospitals annually, the equivalent of the energy needed to power more than 300 homes.
• Northwell Health - Phelps Memorial Hospital (Sleepy Hollow, NY): awarded more than $5 million to install a heat recovery chiller, heat pumps, and a thermal storage system, and convert steam distribution to LTHW. This project is expected to result in annual cost savings of nearly $50,000 and a nearly 30,000 MMBtu reduction in baseline energy use annually, the equivalent of the energy needed to power more than 360 homes.
• NYC Health + Hospitals - Elmhurst Hospital Center (Queens, NY): awarded more than $5 million to install new heat pump chillers, modernize pneumatic controls, and upgrade the central building management system. This project is expected to result in annual cost savings of nearly $947,000 and a more than 33,700 MMBtu reduction in baseline energy use annually, the equivalent of the energy needed to power 410 homes.
• SBH Health System - St. Barnabas Hospital (Bronx, NY): awarded more than $5 million to electrify fossil fuel loads by replacing an existing steam chiller plant with an electric chiller plant. This project is expected to result in annual cost savings of more than $561,000 and a nearly 53,300 MMBtu reduction in baseline energy use annually, the equivalent of the energy needed to power nearly 650 homes.

Six of the hospitals are located in disadvantaged communities. They are: Montefiore Medical Center’s Wakefield Hospital, Jack D. Weiler Hospital, and Westchester Square; Finger Lakes Health - Geneva General Hospital; SBH Health System-St. Barnabas Hospital; and NYC Health + Hospitals - Elmhurst Hospital Center.

Together, the total awarded projects are expected to reduce the eight hospitals’ combined annual energy-use by more than 213,000 MMBtus — the equivalent of the energy needed to power nearly 2,600 homes. They will also save more than 11,000 tons of carbon emissions annually, the equivalent of removing 2,700 cars from the road.

These innovative energy reduction efforts, however, will also have a broader impact by developing and demonstrating scalable solutions for reducing energy-use and achieving needed cost savings that can be replicated in hospital buildings across the state.

For more information on the awarded projects, please visit NYSERDA’s website.

Public Service Commission Chair Rory Christian said, “This investment will support the efforts of these critical facilities as they take actions to reduce their energy use, which will lower their costs and reduce emissions. The Commission commends Governor Hochul and NYSERDA for this investment of Commission-authorized funding in innovative efficiency and electrification solutions that will benefit disadvantaged communities. Success through these initiatives will serve as a model for similar progress around the state.”

State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “It is critical that New York’s hospitals have up-to-date facilities in order to provide essential care to the patients they serve. I commend Governor Hochul and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for making these resources available to our communities as it will give them the opportunity to make upgrades that will enhance indoor air quality, energy efficiency and the overall patient experience.”

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton said, “Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, New York State is committed to advancing projects that accelerate energy efficiency and invest in electrification to reduce emissions and improve the health and safety of residents, particularly those in disadvantaged communities most burdened by pollution. These projects announced today will support hospitals with funding to invest in green technologies and improved infrastructure to help ensure our most vulnerable New Yorkers have access to the care and modern facilities they need while reducing the healthcare industry’s carbon footprint.”

Assemblymember Amy Paulin said, “These investments help our hospitals by cutting energy costs so that more resources can go to caring for patients, and they also help make hospitals less polluting. I thank Governor Hochul and NYSERDA for their leadership supporting our hospitals, the patients they serve, and the environment.”

Healthcare Association of New York State President and CEO Thomas J. Quatroche Jr., PhD, said, “HANYS is grateful to Gov. Hochul for her continued commitment to hospital sustainability and modernization. We look forward to the positive impacts we know these projects will have on these hospital awardees, the patients they care for, and the communities they serve.”

Montefiore Einstein Senior Vice President Facilities and Real Estate Edward Pfleging, PE, said, “Being selected in the first round of funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) Empire Building Challenge: Hospitals Program reflects the strength of our energy sustainability program and commitment to climate goals. With this funding, we will reduce our carbon footprint and continue to protect and promote the health and well-being of our community."

Northwell Office of Engineering Chief Engineering Officer & VP of Infrastructure Charles L. Cutchall, CHFM, said, “Northwell Health is proud to partner with NYSERDA’s Empire Building Challenge: Hospitals program. These awards will support our enterprise-wide energy program, which delivers energy savings, operational resilience, and long-term sustainability through our deep decarbonization pillars: education and training, energy conservation and operational efficiency, thermal re-engineering, emerging technologies, and sustainable energy procurement.”

NYC Health + Hospitals Chief Decarbonization Officer Omer Cabuk said, “Through NYSERDA’s Empire Building Challenge, we’re modernizing Elmhurst Hospital’s aging cooling systems with high-efficiency chillers featuring heat recovery, upgraded cooling infrastructure, and a transition to more advanced building management controls. Supported by $5 million in NYSERDA grant funding, this project will reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions while improving operational reliability. We see Elmhurst Hospital as a model for how other large, complex hospitals across New York State can modernize and decarbonize critical infrastructure while maintaining essential patient care.”

SBH Health System Vice President of Facilities Management Frank Conti said, “We are grateful to receive this grant from NYSERDA and the State of New York to upgrade our facilities. This $5 million investment will be used to replace and upgrade our current chiller plant, provide a stable environment for our facility, and reduce our carbon footprint. At SBH, we take great pride in providing critical care to our community, and this grant will help us continue to meet our mission.”

University of Rochester Medicine Finger Lakes Health’s Chief Operating Officer Lara Chatel Turbide said, “We are grateful to NYSERDA for recognizing the importance of investing in healthcare infrastructure. The Empire Building Challenge: Hospitals grant enables us to move more quickly to replace Geneva General Hospital’s aging HVAC system. We are thrilled to be able to make the capital investments in our health system to serve the community with greater efficiency and reinvest in our mission of exceptional care to the patients and families we serve. Once the upgrades are completed, we anticipate a significant reduction in our facility’s carbon footprint by reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency.”

NYSERDA’s EBC: Hospitals Program is an extension of the State’s successful Empire Building Challenge, which supported and demonstrated replicable, economically feasible, and scalable low carbon retrofit approaches in large existing buildings. These programs advance Governor Hochul’s commitment to reduce costs and affordably decarbonize buildings, which are one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions in New York State. Through NYSERDA and utility programs, more than $5.6 billion has been invested to decarbonize buildings and support high-efficiency all-electric heating and cooling technologies.

The awards announced today are funded through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and the Clean Energy Fund (CEF).

CHARGE Agenda

Governor Hochul’s Clean, Highly Affordable, Reliable Grid Expansion (CHARGE) agenda is a comprehensive plan to keep the lights on and costs down for New Yorkers while achieving a reliable, zero-emission grid. The five-pronged strategy focuses on driving down consumer costs, holding energy companies accountable, building clean energy at scale, modernizing the state's aging grid, and growing a clean economy with family-sustaining jobs. Through bold initiatives like the Ratepayer Protection Plan, historic transmission buildouts, and a new 8.4-gigawatt "Nuclear Backbone," the CHARGE agenda ensures an affordable, resilient, and self-sufficient energy future that prioritizes everyday ratepayers while building a cleaner, more sustainable New York.

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