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Solar-Powered Community Apartments for Impactful Change
Johnson Park Center (JPC) has taken a bold step toward sustainability by powering its new Johnson Park Green Community Apartments in Utica, NY, with solar energy. GreenSpark Solar’s C&I division installed four commercial rooftop solar energy systems totaling 158 kW across four buildings.
The new community apartment complex, co-developed by JPC and Rockabill, with design provided by SWBR and construction services provided by Pike, features a three-story complex with 51 one-bedroom apartments, two duplexes, and a community center that now houses an expanded food pantry.
Packing a Punch in Environmental and Community Impact
The Johnson Park Green Community Apartments provide residents with climate-friendly homes and deliver significant financial savings for JPC.
All apartments are affordable to households with up to 40 percent of the Area Median Income, with half reserved especially for households needing support services, including seniors and those struggling with homelessness and mental health challenges.
This affordable housing project meets Passive House standards and features Energy Recovery Ventilation systems, high-efficiency variable refrigerant flow air source heat pumps, and ENERGY STAR® appliances, all powered by rooftop solar arrays.
The solar energy systems on the Johnson Park Green Complex will save an estimated $300,000 in energy costs over 25 years while offsetting 134 tons of carbon dioxide annually—the equivalent of eliminating 300,000 miles driven by gas-powered vehicles, charging over 8 million smartphones, or recycling 5,247 trash bags.
Harnessing Affordable Housing Solar Incentives
Affordable housing solar projects like this one may be eligible for bonus tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act and $1/watt savings through NYSERDA’s grant and competition programs. This project, in particular, won NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence criteria in 2021. leveraged $1.2 million in NYSERDA funding and $15 million in Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.
Explore additional funding sources and project details in the HCR press release.
Projects like Johnson Park prove that climate-friendly housing is also affordable housing. When GreenSpark can support projects like this, our work becomes even more meaningful when we see the fruits of our labor have such an impact on our project partners and the community they serve.
