Less Energy, More Comfort

There was a time, not so long ago, when residents at Howard Avenue Houses in Brooklyn weren’t happy with their drafty windows, but thanks to $1 million in energy-efficient upgrades recently completed at the development, the drafts have been replaced with pleasantly controlled temperatures, regulated heating and cooling costs, and even safety improvements.

Howard Avenue Houses Residents Close the Window on Drafty Discomfort

There was a time, not so long ago, when residents at Howard Avenue Houses in Brooklyn weren’t happy with their drafty windows, but thanks to $1 million in energy-efficient upgrades recently completed at the development, the drafts have been replaced with pleasantly controlled temperatures, regulated heating and cooling costs, and even safety improvements. 

All 382 residents of Howard Avenue Houses benefited from NYCHA’s participation in its first New York State Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) project, in which low-income single-family or multi-family buildings are provided with energy-efficiency upgrades.

Every apartment at Howard received new windows, air-conditioning draft prevention inserts, modern Energy Star refrigerators, low-flow showerheads, new bathroom ventilation fans, energy-efficient LED bulbs, and combination carbon monoxide/smoke detectors. In addition, all of the boilers were replaced and energy-efficient LED lighting was installed in lobbies, corridors, and other common spaces. These new, efficient features typically reduce energy use by 15 to 20 percent, lowering heating and cooling costs as well as carbon emissions.

“I’m really happy NYCHA did this. We needed it,” Ms. Clifton, the development’s resident association president, said. These are the first comprehensive building improvements made since Howard Avenue Houses opened its doors in 1988, the year Ms. Clifton moved in. “Residents are so happy because everything is so much better around here.” 

As part of its Sustainability Agenda, NYCHA will implement the weatherization upgrades in other stand-alone developments like Howard Avenue Houses.