RenewableNY: Bringing Manufacturing Businesses the Power to Retrofit

In 2005, the New York Industrial Retention Network (NYIRN), now a program of the Pratt Center for Community Development, launched RenewableNY, an initiative to encourage industrial companies in New York City to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, including solar electric and thermal installations, lighting replacements, and boiler upgrades.

The success of the program is now documented in a report from the Pratt Center, "RenewableNY: Bringing Manufacturing Businesses the Power to Retrofit." With a combination of project management and nearly $1 million in strategically timed small grants, NYIRN helped 39 NYC companies, employing more than 3,000 people, to implement energy efficiency projects. The projects leveraged an additional $2 million in private and public investment.

RenewableNY demonstrates that a simplified grant program that provides both upfront commitment of funds and project management support can be successful in addressing a long-acknowledged obstacle in energy efficiency: how to get businesses to invest in energy-efficiency capital improvements now that will save them money in the long run.

RenewableNY was made possible through the generous support of Rep. Jerrold Nadler, City Council Christine Quinn, the U.S. Department of Energy, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the City of New York, the Gimbel Foundation, the Heron Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and the New York Foundation.