9. September 2025

Social leasing of heat pumps: Bridging the affordability gap for energy-efficient housing

As Europe seeks to meet its climate and energy goals, transitioning to energy-efficient homes has become a critical step. However, for many households, the upfront costs of installing clean technologies like heat pumps remain a significant barrier. This is especially true for those in social housing, where energy poverty is a growing issue. With LIFE Street HP Reno, we’re focusing on a street-wide approach to retrofitting homes with heat pumps. But with the growing interest in social...

New York’s Real Climate Challenge: Fixing Its Aging Buildings

thomas409661
Feb 10, 2021
1 min read

Nearly 70 percent of the city’s total carbon emissions come from buildings. A project to retrofit nine buildings with green technology is pioneering a new solution.

Casa Pasiva was the brainchild of the architect Chris Benedict, a longtime partner on passive house projects with RiseBoro. She drew inspiration from Energiesprong, a Dutch process that uses standardized, premade building panels with built-in heating and cooling systems to upgrade older buildings. In the United States, and New York in particular, the wide variety of housing types, as well as differing climates, makes the standardized Dutch approach unfeasible.

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