NYSERDA awards King + King Architects $75,000 contract in retrofit program

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — King + King Architects will use a $75,000 state contract for its work on a two-story, eight-unit building in Phoenix that is part of a five-building campus.

The architecture firm is working with Syracuse–based Rock PMC on the project, NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) said in a news issued Wednesday.

King + King, which operates at 358 W. Jefferson St. in downtown Syracuse, is one of six firms statewide using $75,000 design contracts under RetrofitNY’s “high-performance retrofit solutions” pilot program.

The contracts are the initial step for RetrofitNY, which NYSERDA describes as a “first-of-its-kind program in the U.S.” that Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched earlier this year.

The program seeks to “create standardized, scalable deep energy-efficient retrofit solutions that can be replicated” throughout the entire housing industry and support Cuomo’s goal to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 40 percent by 2030.

 “RetrofitNY capitalizes on the expertise of building owners and designers for identifying and creating scalable energy efficiency solutions for New York’s building stock that will reduce energy costs and improve the quality of life for residents,” Alicia Barton, president and CEO of NYSERDA, said.

The additional NYSERDA contracts target projects in Troy, Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and in Portville in Cattaraugus County in Western New York.

About the program

The six contracts are the first step in a two-step, competitive application process led by NYSERDA.

The authority awarded each firm $75,000 for the design phase of their project, which will last about six months. Designs are also required to exclude the use of fossil fuels onsite, and demonstrate that the designs are “cost-effective, standardized, scalable and aesthetically pleasing,” according to the news .

To initiate the design phase of the Phoenix and five additional projects, NYSERDA is holding “kickoff meetings” with the contract winners. Once complete, NYSERDA will offer additional funding for developing and installing the designs under a separate solicitation.

NYSERDA will then monitor the construction and performance of the products to incorporate findings from this first phase into future requests for proposals for “improved” designs, “ensuring the program will be rolled out on an ever-larger scale until a self-sustaining market is created,” NYSERDA said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com