Update on ICAST’s Heat Pump Training Program Audrey Knox | Workforce Training Manager Ms. Knox manages the implementation of ICAST’s workforce training initiatives in collaboration with ICAST’s partners across the country. Stakeholders across the country recognize that heat pumps are the future of HVAC and domestic hot water. Thankfully, we see growing awareness and adoption of these technologies—note, for example, …
Tapping Grants, Loans, and Incentives to Cut Project Costs
by Ravi Malhotra How should the multifamily affordable housing market ensure it maximizes its benefits from the various federal, state, and local government resources on offer? Government programs typically do not consider or emphasize strategic and meaningful leveraging and collaboration with other programs, much less provide valuable guidance to do so. The lack of coordination within and between agencies and …
ICAST Experts Weigh In: Housing Policy Priorities for 2024
By Kristen Cheriegate: Senior Policy Analyst | Ms. Cheriegate navigates ICAST through the policy world to obtain real-world solutions, funding resources, and networks with potential partners to provide more services to low- and moderate-income households. ICAST’s mission never falters, and we continue to scale the delivery of green solutions to positively impact vulnerable households in low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDACs). In …
How Programs Can Navigate Aggressive Change to Achieve Deep Energy Savings in Multifamily
Rapid market, regulatory, and policy evolutions are creating opportunities for utilities to coordinate with key stakeholders to identify and harness untapped methods of achieving their program goals. The U.S. is beginning to see a slow transition away from natural gas-based efficiency measures as electrification has emerged as a leading decarbonization strategy and a growing pathway for utility energy efficiency programs. …
Clean Energy for All: Optimizing Beneficial Electrification for Customers
Originally published in AESP’s Energy Intel Magazine – Q4 2023 Issue “Beneficial electrification” involves transitioning customers away from energy-inefficient and harmful appliances such as gas- and propane-based HVAC, water heaters, cook stoves, and clothes dryers (and even resistance electric systems), to better, high-efficiency, solutions such as heat pump HVAC and Water heaters and induction cook stoves. While this can reduce …
January 2024 Policy Blog
Kristen Cheriegate | ICAST Policy Analyst New York Opens States First Publicly Funded Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Using federal funds from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, Kingston New York opened the state’s first public electric vehicle (E.V.) charging stations. This is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda to build a reliable E.V. network connecting …
ICAST Sets New Record for Its Heat Pump Work with Rocky Mountain Power
ICAST is pleased to announce that in September, it processed over 1,000 multifamily heat pump rebates for Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), thus setting a new monthly record. ICAST has managed RMP’s custom multifamily program in Utah since its launch in 2018, and this program is one of the nation’s most successful for electrification in multifamily properties. It covers the entire …
ICAST Team Members Attend NASEO Annual Meeting
In October, ICAST sent three representatives—CEO Ravi Malhotra, Director of Grant Programs Ryan Kristoff, and Senior Policy Analyst Kristen Cheriegate—to the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. During this event, our team engaged with State Energy Office officials from various states, delving into crucial topics such as emerging EPA initiatives like Solar for All, …
ICAST Empowers Multifamily Affordable Housing: New Resources Unveiled for Clean Energy Upgrades!
ICAST (International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology), a national 501c3 nonprofit, has spearheaded a transformative initiative to empower Multifamily Affordable Housing (MFAH) communities to take advantage of the windfall created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). With support from experts across the housing, energy, and financing fields, ICAST has crafted three comprehensive Resource Guides that …
Electrification Upgrades
A New Generation of Heat Pump Systems Increases Efficiency By Ravi Malhotra Tax Credit Advisor, July 2023 More and more states have regulations and mandates requiring multifamily affordable housing properties to decarbonize (i.e., replace the use of natural gas, oil, or propane with electricity). This can be accomplished by upgrading systems for space and water heating. Electric heat pumps are …