Heard the news? Gradient has been named a winner in the Clean Heat for All Challenge with its proposed cold climate heat pump technology! Under the award, Gradient will provide 10,000 cold climate units to the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).
The award was announced August 2nd by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who joined NYCHA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) at a press event.
Overcoming the hurdles of mini-split installation
NYSERDA, NYCHA, and NYPA launched this Challenge to enable rapid, low-cost electrification of space heating in NYCHA’s occupied multifamily buildings.
Through its experience with mini-split installation, NYCHA found that electrical system upgrades, refrigerant piping, and drilling through walls – to name only a few hurdles – made its electrification goal nearly unattainable without significant costs and disruptions.
But the heat pump units Gradient is developing will respond to all of these obstacles. They'll offer a low-cost, user-friendly, and logistically straightforward solution for NYCHA residents.
Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, speaks about the Clean Heat for All Challenge. Photo credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr.
Designed and assembled in the USA
We’re proud to serve as the only vendor providing a window heat pump that’s designed and assembled in the United States. Being physically closer to our production facility gives us tight control over the manufacturing process, which is critical to ensuring that every unit that goes into a NYCHA home meets our standards and specifications.
Beyond that, this approach allows us to create jobs here at home while cutting down on ocean shipping – an even bigger emitter of greenhouse gasses than airplanes.
Gradient leadership at the Clean Heat for All Challenge announcement. Photo credit: Gradient.
“The sleek white machine”
Gradient was the only vendor at Tuesday's event to showcase a working window AC with heat pump.
“The sleek white machine straddles an apartment window in Queens, New York City, blowing cool air inside the narrow bedroom,” reporter Maria Gallucci wrote in a piece for Canary Media.
“Unlike the boxy air-conditioning units that drone loudly and drip water from buildings across the city, this device hums softly and spares passersby from overhead leaks. And when the sticky, sweltering August heat gives way to bone-chilling winter weather, the machine can warm the room instead.”
A Gradient AC with heat pump cools a room at Woodside Houses in Queens County. From left to right: Rod Mobini, Principal Technical Project Manager, Gradient; Miss Portia Waithe, Property Manager, Woodside Houses; Erica Hennes, Chief Revenue Officer, Gradient; Miss Diana Ross, Assistant Property Maintenance Superintendent, Woodside Houses. Photo credit: Gradient.
A beacon for the future of electrified heating and cooling
The partnership with NYCHA, NYSERDA, and NYPA is a huge validation of Gradient’s vision to advance building decarbonization in New York City and beyond.
While the initial investment includes 10,000 Gradient units, NYCHA’s 300+ buildings comprise 177,000 apartments. The agency has also gathered expressions of interest for bulk orders from agencies in Jersey City, Boston, and Seattle, together representing 24,000 apartments.
This historic effort is just the beginning. A bright future for electrified heating and cooling – and a cooler world – await.
