A New York City-based startup is partnering with the Syracuse public housing authority for a pilot program aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in Syracuse.
Hydronic Shell Technologies is a winner of $3 million from a national housing innovation competition run by Enterprise Community Partners and Wells Fargo. CEO David Goldstein said they've developed technology that can decarbonize and modernize a building from the exterior.
"This new insulated shell essentially gets installed around the building and includes all the heating, cooling, and ventilation infrastructure needed to really upgrade building," Goldstein said.
Goldstein said there's an urgent focus on decarbonization especially in older affordable housing buildings that have been neglected for decades.
"There's major quality of life issues in these buildings," Goldstein said. "Poor indoor air quality from lack of ventilation. Inadequate heating and cooling making people unable to maintain just basic comfort. As summers are getting hotter, it gets dangerously hot in these buildings. A lot of the residents don't even have air conditioning. So beyond decarbonization. This is also really about improving the lives of the people in these buildings."
The project is happening at the James Geddes Housing Development on the city's West Side and will focus on one wing of one of the four towers but could be expanded if they receive more funding. The pilot program is three years long and afterward, Goldstein said he hopes to deploy the technology in cities across the state and eventually across the country.
