Jersey City

JCHA 1st to Win Better Building Challenge Goal

Jersey City Housing Authority Recognized as 1st Public Housing Authority to Achieve Better Buildings Challenge Goal by the U.S. DOE and HUD

The Better Buildings Challenge Encourages Energy Efficiency and Cost Savings Among Public Housing Buildings

JERSEY CITY –– The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recognized Jersey City Housing Authority (JCHA) as the nation's first public housing authority to achieve its 20 percent energy savings goal as a partner in the Better Buildings Challenge. JCHA actually exceeded its goal, reaching 26 percent savings in only six years.

“We are very proud that the JCHA leads the nation as the first public housing authority to meet and exceed Better Building Challenge energy savings goals,” said Steven M. Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City. “Through its collaborations with stakeholders and strong commitment to innovative green strategies, JCHA offers a sustainability model that other multi-family affordable housing providers can follow.”

The Better Buildings Challenge (BBC) is a DOE and HUD program that works with market leaders to drive the acceleration of cost-effective and proven strategies to improve the energy efficiency of the nation’s buildings, multifamily housing and manufacturing plants.

“We’re incredibly honored to be recognized by the DOE for this achievement and remain thrilled to be a partner in this initiative, which has provided us the opportunity to improve our energy savings and sustainability practices, and enabled us to better serve residents and to demonstrate the types of innovation, leadership and collaboration housing authorities can achieve,” said Vivian Brady-Phillips, Interim Executive Director of the JCHA. “We are also grateful for the support and patience of our residents as we worked to make these critical improvements.”

JCHA made a public pledge through the BBC in 2013 to improve the energy efficiency of its building portfolio by 20 percent over the course of 10 years. JCHA is one of 43 public housing authorities across the country to take the BBC pledge.

Through its efforts, JCHA has reached 26 percent savings across its portfolio due to greater organization wide efficiency efforts. JCHA’s savings are now part of cumulative savings of $3.1 billion since the launch of the BBC partnership in 2011.

“Congratulations to Jersey City Housing Authority for achieving its energy reduction goal as part of the Better Buildings Challenge,” said Daniel Simmons, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Our goal achievers have demonstrated leadership, hard work and an impressive willingness to share ideas with their peers. We look forward to seeing the next set of goals they put into action.”

JCHA focused on agency-wide green initiatives and energy-efficient modernization of its properties as an opportunity to save energy and improve efficiency across its 1.5 million square foot portfolio. Specifically, through HUD’s Energy Performance Contracting program, the JCHA partnered with Siemens Industry, Inc. beginning in 2008, enabling JCHA to modernize units with HVAC controls, energy saving lighting and water efficiency improvements. These efforts enabled the JCHA to install a solar hot water heating system at Holland Gardens, the first solar hot water system installed in a public housing authority site in the state of New Jersey. More details on the strategies employed to achieve this goal can be found online in the newly-redesigned Better Buildings Solution Center.

“We are very proud to be energy efficiency partners with JCHA and continue to bring the best solutions to the table to ensure their goals are exceeded. Congratulations on a well-earned national reward and the recognition JCHA deserves for being a trail blazer in energy reduction” said David Turner, Siemens Regional Manager for Energy & Sustainability

Through Better Buildings, DOE and HUD aim to make multifamily residential, commercial, public and industrial buildings 20% more energy efficient over the next decade. This means saving billions of dollars on energy bills, reducing emissions, and creating thousands of jobs.

JCHA is New Jersey’s second largest public housing authority, serving over 18,000 residents and responsible for the administration of approximately 7,100 housing units, including approximately 2,500 public housing units and over 4,600 Housing Choice Vouchers. The JCHA has been lauded as a champion of energy efficiency and green building practices, policies promoting Section 3 hiring, and an impeccable track record of revitalizing distressed public housing. In addition, JCHA continually seeks to expand partnerships with community organizations to provide an array of services and programming to residents and establish strong referral relationships.

Siemens is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for 170 years. The company is active around the globe, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world’s largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of efficient power generation and power transmission solutions and a pioneer in energy efficient infrastructure solutions as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry.