Residential Financing

Participants may finance qualified energy efficiency improvements using the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Loan or New York Energy $mart Loan. Only work performed by a Building Performance Institute — Accredited Contractor participating in the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program will qualify for program incentives. Participants can choose from the following financing options to pay for the cost of work. Participants may be eligible for additional incentives including the High Efficiency Measure Incentives (HEMI) or the Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STAR subsidy (Assisted Subsidy).

Home Performance with ENERGY STAR

For those that want to take advantage of low interest financing, HPwES offers two options through Green Jobs – Green NY.* Both loan options offer up to $13,000 per household, up to $25,000 if the project meets higher cost-effectiveness standards, and repayment periods of 5, 10, or 15 years.

Option 1: On-bill recovery loans provide homeowners the convenience of paying for energy improvements on their utility bill.

• The current interest rate* is 2.99%
• Payments will be included in monthly charges from your utility
• Your annual loan payment is calculated to not exceed the anticipated amount of money you save on energy costs
• Requires a mortgage to be signed and filed by NYSERDA to provide notice to any subsequent purchaser of the property
• The mortgage is not subject to any fees or NYS recording tax and is subordinate to any current or future mortgage
  on the property
• When you sell your home you will have the option to transfer the unpaid balance of loan to the new owners
• Learn more about interest rates and how to apply at Energy Finance Solutions.

Option 2: Unsecured loans offer affordable interest rates, flexible terms and simple repayment options.

• The current interest rate* is 3.99% or 3.49% if you pay via automatic bank withdrawals
• Repaid monthly directly to NYSERDA’s loan servicer

For full eligibility requirements and instructions on how to apply for either loan, call 1-800-361-5663.

Residential Low-Interest Loan Features:

• Low-interest loans made available through the Green Jobs – Green New York* Act of 2009
• Finance up to $13,000 per household, up to $25,000 if the payback period is 15 years or less 
• Select a loan repayment period of 5, 10, or 15 years
• Can combine with the High Efficiency Measure Incentives (HEMI) or Assisted Subsidy

The expected energy savings over the lifetime of the upgrades must be greater than the project cost. In other words, your energy efficiency upgrades should pay for themselves with the savings they create.

Residential Loan Fund

Energy $mart Loans are offered through a network of Assisted Home Performance Program Lenders. Contact information and the lending areas served by the Assisted Lenders may be found below:

Assisted Home Performance Program Lenders

Home HeadQuarters, Inc.

990 James Street, Suite 100 Syracuse, NY 13203
Contact: Kerry Quaglia
E-Mail: info@homehq.org
Phone: (315) 474-1939
Fax: (315) 474-0637
Lending Area includes: Broome, Cayuga, Cortland, Jefferson, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, and St. Lawrence Counties

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc.

115 West Clinton Street Ithaca, NY 14850
Contact: Paul Mazzarella, Executive Director
E-Mail: pmazzarella@ithacanhs.org
Phone: (607) 277-4500
Fax: (607) 277-4536
Lending Area includes: The City of Ithaca and Tompkins County
Lending Restrictions: Owner Occupied

Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City Inc.

307 West 36th Street, 12th. Floor New York, NY 10018
Contact: Louis Kilkenny, Director of Lending and Program Services
E-Mail: louis_kilkenny@nhsnyc.org
Phone: (212) 519-2506
Fax: (212)727-8171
Lending Area includes: New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx, Richmond and Westchester Counties

Utica Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc.

1611 Genesee Street Utica, NY 13501
Contact: Julie Jalowiec, Homeownership Coordinator
E-Mail: jjalowiec@unhs.org
Phone: (315) 724-4197
Fax: (315) 724-1415
Lending Area includes: Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties
Lending Restrictions: Up to 120% HUD Median Income

The following conditions apply:

• Loans up to $20,000 may be obtained on a secured or unsecured basis, at the option of the Lender and the Borrower
• Your interest rate is brought down by up to 4.0% or 400 basis points, reduced as low as 3.0%
• Loan repayment period up to 10 years
• Procedures and conditions may vary by Lender, and by loan
• May be combined with Assisted Subsidy
• Cannot be combined with the High Efficiency Measure Incentives (HEMI)

High Efficiency Measure Incentives (HEMI)

To make energy efficiency even more affordable, you may be eligible to receive 10% of the cost of eligible energy efficiency improvements, up to a maximum incentive of $3,000. This incentive is available in conjunction with the Home Performance ENERGY STAR Loan, but cannot be combined with the Energy $mart Loan. Payment is authorized after you sign the Certificate of Completion and the Program Implementer reviews the project.

Additional incentives are available to income-qualified homeowners

Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STAR provides an additional subsidy (Assisted Subsidy) to assist income-qualified customers to pay for cost-effective energy efficiency improvements. However, customers that receive the Assisted Subsidy are not eligible to receive the 10% High Efficiency Measure Incentive (HEMI). The Assisted Subsidy payment is made directly to the contractor after you sign the Certificate of Completion.

* The loan repayment period cannot exceed the useful life of the financed measures. The minimum financing amount is $3,000 for Home Performance with ENERGY STAR and $1,500 for customers who qualify for Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STAR. Interest rates are subject to change. NYSERDA has the right to access a customer’s credit report, FICO score, and utility payment history, and perform similar credit-related activities for the purpose of evaluating an applicant’s creditworthiness. Financing, energy audits, and workforce development opportunities made available through the Green Jobs - Green NY Act of 2009.