NY's Climate Challenge: Fixing Old Buildings


A plan to upgrade a cluster of nine unremarkable apartment buildings in Brooklyn typically would not merit a second look. But this isn’t a quick fix; the project, called Casa Pasiva, aims to be a new model for the sustainable transformation of the city’s housing stock.

Sleek new skyscrapers that incorporate the latest energy-efficient building materials like mass timber may look impressive, but when it comes to solving the climate crisis in New York, the real challenge lies in the city’s decades-old structures.

More than 90% of the buildings in New York today will still be standing in 2050, and nearly 70% of the city’s total carbon emissions come from buildings. Taken together, these facts suggest that the fate of those nine nondescript Brooklyn buildings, and others like them, is essential to cutting emissions.

Instead of demolishing older buildings, owners and developers are devising ways to retrofit them with the latest green technology.

Casa Pasiva, a $20 million retrofit project in the Bushwick neighborhood, aims to be a pioneer. The developer behind the project is pushing an aging collection of buildings to the cutting edge by essentially turning them inside out, all without tenants needing to relocate. Interior pipes, radiators and heating ducts will be removed or sealed, and a new facade on each building will cover a new all-electric heating and cooling system.

The project is being overseen by the nonprofit RiseBoro Community Partnership, which owns the structures. When Casa Pasiva is finished next summer, the buildings will meet a strict passive house standard, a modern building convention that substantially reduces heating and cooling costs, thanks to their airtight exteriors. The fading brick and concrete walls of the Casa Pasiva buildings will be buried under a white, sculptural surface that will help slash energy costs by 80%, according to RiseBoro.

“Our mission is long-term affordability, and low energy use is a stabilizing force,” said Ryan Cassidy, director of sustainability and construction at RiseBoro. He estimates the retrofit project, which is the first of its kind in New York, will cut energy costs by $180,000 a year. “It’s good for the environment, but it’s also good for our budgets.”

Casa Pasiva received $1.8 million in financing from RetrofitNY, a program funded by the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority. The agency is investing about $30 million in RetrofitNY projects. The effort to help kick-start the development of low-cost, scalable retrofit technology and build a market for energy efficiency upgrades comes as strict city and state laws trying to reduce the carbon emissions in buildings go into effect.

Location: New York, NY, USA

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