New Initiative Leverages Cutting Edge, Real Time Energy Management Services to Reduce Energy Use in Tenant Spaces

April 15, 2021

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the $25 million Real Time Energy Management + Tenants Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy efficiency in commercial spaces as office and building capacity begin to increase during the COVID-19 economic recovery. Today's announcement supports the Governor's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050 as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

"As we continue to confront climate change head on, it is important to remember that buildings are one of the largest sources of harmful greenhouse gas emissions in our state and therefore represent the greatest opportunity to reduce their future impact," Governor Cuomo said. "Our economy is rapidly changing post-COVID and the commercial spaces market will never be the same again, so it is imperative that we use this time to evaluate our commercial workplaces to ensure they are safe, energy efficient, and sustainable."

The RTEM + Tenants program will support replicable approaches for commercial office buildings to cost effectively reduce energy consumption by better aligning energy use with occupancy, while also creating a healthy and sustainable workplace for tenants, who are the key to decarbonizing commercial office buildings. The program will offer a 33 percent project cost-share to solution providers, with a maximum of $400,000 per project. Proposals should demonstrate how providers will use innovative responsive technology that continuously collects and analyzes data to work with both commercial tenants and building owners to optimize energy efficiency opportunities in their spaces and better align energy use with occupancy conditions. To be eligible for cost-sharing, projects must coordinate with building owners and tenants to provide real-time energy monitoring for at least 75 percent of the total building energy consumption, including leased tenant spaces. Commercial office buildings with two or more tenants, the majority of which are located in New York City, are eligible for the program and cost-sharing includes up to three years of ongoing services. In New York City, commercial buildings account for nearly 26 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, and tenants control over 60 percent of commercial office building energy consumption.

Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO, NYSERDA said, "As we continue to reimagine our existing commercial building sector and post-pandemic economic recovery, it is crucial that we work with leading solution providers, building owners and commercial tenants to integrate energy efficiency into these spaces. We are aggressively looking to implement state-of-the-art energy monitoring in commercial buildings through our new RTEM + Tenants program, which represents another tool in New York's ambitious building decarbonization plan to help reach our emission reduction and energy efficiency goals."

The RTEM + Tenants Program provides a cost-effective avenue for building owners to effortlessly measure energy use in real time and improve the operations of their building. It supports cloud-based energy monitoring systems that use a series of strategically placed sensors and devices to allow buildings owners, managers and service providers to effortlessly control and manage energy on a granular level, and in real time, within tenant spaces as occupancy changes through the business day. This program supports leading solution providers that are creating successful demonstrations and setting a new standard for energy management practices in the commercial building industry, thereby spurring at least $100 million in private sector investment in at least 30 million square feet of commercial office buildings over the next four years.

Implementing RTEM services for commercial tenants is expected to result in energy savings of roughly 10 percent and lead to increased comfort and improved indoor environmental quality inside buildings. To date, NYSERDA has provided $60 million in funding through the RTEM program, which has supported nearly 1,000 energy efficiency projects in more than 250 million square feet of real estate across the commercial, institutional, multifamily, and industrial sectors. Projects supported through RTEM cost-sharing have catalyzed $160 million of private sector investment in building optimization and controls technologies and services in New York State. The RTEM market has seen significant growth since the onset of the program, with hundreds of companies providing services to New York's market and creating new job opportunities for New Yorkers. To help support the growing sector, NYSERDA will work with leading RTEM vendors to advance workforce development training and new job opportunities for New Yorkers in disadvantaged communities.

Through NYSERDA and utility programs, over $6.8 billion is being invested to decarbonize buildings across the State to address the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency and electrification measures in existing buildings combined with onsite storage, renewables, and electric vehicle charging equipment, is integral to making progress toward the State's ambitious target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs by 2025, the equivalent of powering 1.8 million homes.

The program is open through 2024 with applications being accepted on a rolling basis while funding is available. Solution Providers who have been prequalified under NYSERDA's Real Time Energy Management + Tenant Request for Qualifications are eligible to submit project proposals. For information on how to qualify for this program please visit NYSERDA's website.

Funding for this initiative is provided through the State's 10-year, $5.3 billion Clean Energy Fund.

New York State's Nation-Leading Climate Plan

Governor Cuomo's nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieving its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented ramp-up of clean energy including over $4 billion invested in 91 large-scale renewable projects across the state, supporting more than 150,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector in 2019, a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035, and 1,800 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011. Under Governor Cuomo's leadership, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities and advancing progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.