Eight New York hospitals will share nearly $28 million for six energy-efficiency and electrification projects, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The awards support mechanical and control upgrades in operating medical facilities, where construction must be planned around patient care, ventilation standards and the need for reliable heating and cooling.

Three New York City recipients account for several of the hospital sites. Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens will receive more than $5 million for heat-pump chillers, modernized pneumatic controls and a central building-management upgrade. St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx will receive more than $5 million to replace a steam chiller plant with an electric system. Three Montefiore sites in the Bronx will share nearly $4.9 million for heat-recovery heat pumps.

Long Island Jewish Medical Center's Katz Women's Hospital in Queens was awarded nearly $4.3 million for a heat-recovery chiller, exhaust-air heat recovery, conversion from steam to low-temperature hot water and ventilation balancing. Outside the city, Geneva General Hospital and Phelps Memorial Hospital received awards for cooling, controls, heat pumps, heat recovery and thermal storage.

NYSERDA projects that the six projects together will reduce annual energy use by more than 213,000 million British thermal units and avoid more than 11,000 tons of carbon emissions each year. The agency compares the energy reduction with the annual use of nearly 2,600 homes. Those are forecasts based on project assumptions; measured performance after construction will be needed to confirm them.

The funded portfolio covers eight facilities because one Montefiore award spans three hospitals. Counting grants and counting buildings therefore produce different totals, an important distinction when monitoring completion and reporting results by site.

Projected operating savings vary considerably. Elmhurst's work is expected to save nearly $947,000 a year and St. Barnabas more than $561,000. The Katz Women's Hospital project is estimated near $386,000, Geneva General above $230,000, Phelps near $50,000 and the three Montefiore sites above $14,000 combined. Capital scope and operating conditions differ, so award size and savings should not be compared as if the buildings were identical.

Six of the eight hospital facilities are in communities the state designates as disadvantaged. Hospital energy projects can affect more than utility bills because temperature, humidity, air exchange and equipment reliability are clinical concerns. A retrofit that lowers energy use must still meet infection-control, emergency-power and continuity requirements throughout installation and operation.

The awards come through the Empire Building Challenge: Hospitals Program and are funded from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the state's Clean Energy Fund. The program is designed to produce approaches that other hospitals can replicate. Replication will require public information about design choices, commissioning, costs, downtime and actual performance, not only aggregate projections.

Heat recovery is a recurring element because hospitals can require cooling and heating at the same time. A system that captures heat normally rejected during cooling can use it elsewhere in the building. Low-temperature hot-water distribution and heat pumps can improve that exchange, while modern controls help match equipment operation to clinical zones and demand.

The awards begin a construction and measurement phase rather than completing the work. Hospitals and NYSERDA should report schedules, final costs, energy performance and operational lessons after installation. The public value will be strongest if the projects protect patient care, reduce recurring expenses and create practical retrofit patterns that other large, continuously occupied facilities can use.

Primary sources: NYSERDA hospital efficiency awards announcement. Reviewed November 12, 2026. Development: Awards announced November 9, 2026.