Case Study
Stories about New Yorkers leading the clean energy transition in their own homes.
Financing
“A nice long runway”
An energy audit sets a ten-year path for compliance and savings at a Jackson Heights co-op
Efficiency
How do you replace 400 windows? One step at a time.
Behind the scenes in one co-op’s planning process for a major façade upgrade
Explainer
The value of a building wellness check
An energy audit team talks through the benefits of knowing where your building stands
reports on the clean energy challenge happening right now in New York, illustrating how New Yorkers are tackling decarbonization at home: In their apartments, co-ops, and houses.
Getting Started
Efficiency
Sealing in the benefits of energy efficiency
Project designers explain why air sealing is a crucial component of any energy efficiency project
Explainer
What is Local Law 97?
Skylight’s all-in-one explainer of New York City’s landmark building decarbonization law — and what it means for the city’s residential buildings.
Ask a Cooperator
“Read the F*cking Manual!”
A Q&A with Chris McGinnis, a former IBM worker and longtime co-op resident who made it his mission to learn how buildings work so he could make his own more efficient
How-To
Tenant power heats up
How one rent-stabilized building organized to demand heating upgrades
Going Big
Clean Energy
NYCHA makes a market: Here’s how
To develop a heat pump that didn’t yet exist, New York’s public agencies put up millions in investment, then challenged the market to develop a solution — a strategy that’s seen success before
Profile
Eric Bluestone talks solar strategy
Bluestone, president at the Bluestone Organization, is putting solar anywhere he can
Case Study
Pilot light: HDFC co-op pioneers a new strategy for air-source heat pumps
Inside the pilot program that helped this LMI Manhattan co-op lean less heavily on #2 heating oil
Profile
Small heat pump, big difference
Residents Maria Lopez and Tammy Reyes on the 2023 NYCHA heat pump pilot that brought more comfort and control into their homes
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Edition 7 May 2025
Case Study
Rent-stabilized tenants fight for an energy efficient retrofit — and win
Demands for efficiency pay off for tenants in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights in the form of brand-new heat pumps
How-To
Tenant power heats up
How one rent-stabilized building organized to demand heating upgrades
Clean Energy
All-electrics aren’t all created equal
What’s right for your building — heat pumps, or electric resistance heaters?
