For 27 years, the heat in Regina Fred’s Queens apartment building has come from noisy steam radiators that she can’t control and sometimes don’t work at all, leaving her shivering. At times, the radiators got so hot that residents had to leave their windows open to feel safe in the middle of winter.
That all changed a few months ago when she got a window-mounted heat pump as part of a pilot project by the New York City Housing Authority aimed at lowering energy costs and cutting emissions. Suddenly, Fred could raise or lower her body temperature with the touch of a dial, and she found herself enjoying “a very nice silence.”
“They did a demonstration for me and I was really excited,” Fred said. Now, her grown children call the heat pump in her apartment “the best thing,” and neighbors are knocking on her door to check out the unit.
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Heat pumps are a high-efficiency technology that has grown in popularity in recent years, rivaling gas furnaces, and are primarily an option for homeowners. However, new designs are making them practical for apartments that often rely on inefficient central steam boilers powered by oil or gas. This is a promising climate change solution for buildings, whose operations account for 26% of the world’s energy-related carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.
The IEA said last year that installing heat pumps in residential and commercial areas should become a “priority area” to sustain the growth needed to meet the world’s climate commitments. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, there are 23 million apartment buildings in the United States alone, representing a huge number of people who can reduce their energy usage by using heat pumps.
New York state law requires buildings to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next few decades. To comply, NYCHA is targeting heating and cooling, the largest source of emissions for the agency, which houses about 528,000 people in more than 2,400 buildings, said Shaan Mavani, the agency’s chief assets and capital management officer. He said this equates to about 1 in 17 New Yorkers. .
Centralized steam boilers, usually powered by natural gas or oil, provide the heat, but they are wasteful. NYCHA’s climate mitigation roadmap calls steam heat “a 19th century technology incompatible with 21st century needs.” Mavani said between 30% and 80% of the heat is lost through old and leaky infrastructure before it reaches the apartment. And this doesn’t take into account the waste when residents have to open windows to dissipate excess heat from systems they can’t control.
Queens resident Regina Fred touches one of the heat pumps installed in her window. The heat pump installation is part of a New York City Housing Authority pilot project aimed at reducing costs and emissions. (AP photo)
Eric Wilson, a senior research engineer at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, led a team that analyzed the performance of heat pumps in various grid scenarios, finding that even the least efficient pumps reduce greenhouse gas emissions. , found that operating costs can be saved in all scenarios. US state. The analysis did not include the type of pump being tested in Queens because it had not yet been deployed in the field, but Wilson said similar results could be expected.
Most heat pumps require ductwork, but for those renting a unit they don’t own, this isn’t an option. Ductless systems also typically require extensive installation, including wiring, drilling holes in the wall, and a large external compressor.
Gradient and Midea, the two companies making the units in the Woodside House pilot project, have miniaturized it all to make it look a bit like a window air conditioner, but much more discreet. The outer and inner halves are draped over the window frame, barely concealing the window. One of the companies, Gradient, says its units can be installed in 15 minutes and plug into a regular wall outlet.
Mr Wilson said the interior of the unit “occupies more space inside than usual”, but Fred described it as “very beautiful”.
“You know, I have it for decoration, too,” she said. Her three window units are usually decorated with flowers and decorative candles above them. In one room on a particularly sunny day, the morning light illuminated a rose, a jar of rose petals, a decorative box, and a “LOVE” sign above it.
Z. Smith, an architect with Esq. Dumes Ripple who is not involved in the Queens project, said such retrofits are “a carbon-smart way to improve occupant comfort.” That’s because one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions from buildings is to avoid constructing new buildings. Constructing a new building generates large amounts of emissions due to all the new concrete, steel, and wood used.
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He called low-profile heat pumps a “lightweight intervention” because they are very easy to install.
NYCHA plans to evaluate the results of the pilot project and, if all goes well, ultimately plans to install more than 4,000 heat pumps at the Woodside development over two years. Officials expect the heat pumps to save on operating and maintenance costs, but are awaiting initial results before estimating the savings.
Gradient was founded in San Francisco seven years ago with the goal of decarbonizing buildings using window unit heat pumps that are easy to install without technicians. Part of the company’s goal was to be a solution for people like the people in Woodside, people who live in old apartment buildings frustrated by window air conditioners and aging radiators with no temperature settings. , CEO Vince Roman said.
“If we don’t build solutions for the people who need it most, if we don’t build solutions for the people who are underheated (and cooled) today, we won’t truly solve climate change. We don’t think so,” Roman said.
