Making Home Heating, Cooling Climate-Friendly: New Study

PEEKSKILL, NY — The author of a new study, "Making Residential Heating and Cooling Climate-Friendly in New York State," will be speaking in the Hudson Valley Wednesday.

New Yorkers can reduce the demand for fossil fuels — and make home heating more affordable — by changing the way our homes are heated and putting in the right policies, according to the study released Monday by Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., President of Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER).

The study compares the economics and climate impacts of a variety of heating and cooling technologies and concludes that New York State should adopt a policy of converting fossil fuel heating systems to efficient electric systems, such as cold climate heat pumps and geothermal heat pumps, which are widely available technologies.

“Heating and cooling buildings accounts for more carbon emission in New York State than its entire electricity sector – and the use of fossil fuels accounts for three-fourths of that,” Dr. Makhijani said in a press release about the study. “New York must convert fossil fuel use for space and water heating to efficient electric systems, like geothermal and cold climate heat pumps to meet its climate goals.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced a new $15 million rebate program by NYSERDA to begin subsidizing such a transition.

Take action: More information on the framework policy is available here. NYSERDA will accept written comments on the framework till March 10. It will also conduct a webinar on March 2, at 10 a.m. Parties interested in submitting comments on the framework or participating in the webinar, should contact NYSERDA.

Among other findings, Dr. Makhijani’s new study finds that converting from expensive oil and propane heat to efficient electric systems using heat pumps should be a higher priority since it would save more money.

At the same time new homes and retrofits in areas with no natural gas infrastructure should consist of efficient electric systems.

Expansion of the use of gas heat is currently contributing to the construction of new gas pipelines across New York, meeting widespread opposition as the pipelines threaten the environment and communities’ safety.

“Electrification also makes heating systems renewable grid ready – a gift that keeps on giving in terms of reduced emissions as New York adopts more solar and wind,” noted Dr. Makhijani.

Dr. Makhijani will be discussing the study’s findings, including how to make the transition to heat pumps accessible to all New Yorkers, at workshops in Buffalo, Peekskill, New York City, and Syracuse this week.

The events are organized by Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE), New Yorkers for Clean Power, FrackAction, and several local organizations to coincide with the release of the study and the launch of a new campaign to advocate for New York policy makers to adopt the recommendations outlined in the report.

“This report identifies two important areas where New York should be prioritizing assistance for conversion to efficient electric systems: for homes heating with propane and oil, and for homes receiving public assistance with their heating bills,” said Jessica Azulay, Program Director for Alliance for a Green Economy.

Dr. Makhijani’s upcoming schedule:

Peekskill -- Wednesday, February 15, 6:00-8:30pm BeanRunner Cafe 201 South Division St., Peekskill NY

New York City -- Thursday, February 16, 6:00-8:30pm 2nd Floor Environmental Loft, Patagonia Soho, 72 Greene St., New York NY

Syracuse -- Friday, February 17, 12:00 – 1:30pm Syracuse Center of Excellence, 727 E. Washington St., Syracuse NY

The full report and other resources can be found at www.renewableheatnow.org.

Image from the cover of "Making Residential Heating and Cooling Climate-Friendly in New York State"