While a heat pump is the visible technology, the invisible systems—trained technicians, high-road labor standards, and supply of flexible financing—determine whether low-income households are left behind.
Using a case study house and data from over 200 no cost retrofits, this session explores how the Community Energy Project is shaping the future by treating the low-income installation pipeline as a critical public utility. We will move beyond the limitations of tax credits and utility incentives to the necessity of 100% financing and "braiding" of funds to overcome "stop-work" barriers like deferred maintenance. Attendees will gain actionable insights on how to deliver measurable energy savings and health improvements to seniors and marginalized homeowners while simultaneously building community wealth through diverse workforce requirements.
Energy Efficiency Empowerment, based in PA, will present findings from their pilot phase of the Buildings Up initiative. We will focus on the challenges of electrifying space heating when electricity costs are much higher than gas, making predicting these costs essential when serving LMI households. EEE will share our method, which relies on NEEP's advanced heat pump sizing tools to estimate annual loads and supplemental heating, getting heating-load-weighted average Coefficient of Performance, and calculating projected utility costs.
Learning Objectives:
By attending this session, attendees will:
Analyze the "infrastructure of trust" model to identify how Community Based Organizations (CBOs) bridge the technical and financial gaps between high-level policy goals and the complex reality of low-income housing stock.
Evaluate the effectiveness of "braided funding" strategies and 100% low-income financing in overcoming common "stop-work" barriers, such as deferred maintenance, asbestos, and outdated electrical systems.
Understand when electrification may be increasing the energy burden. Be able to identify a few strategies to reduce it. Understand Coefficient of Performance, and how to derive and predict utility costs when deploying heat pumps using heating design loads, COP, and outputs from NEEP Cold Climate Product Database tool.
