Federal, Pa. grants to fund energy-efficiency upgrade of Philly apartments

Fueled by money from Washington, D.C., housing for the disabled in Philadelphia will be made more energy efficient.

A $3 million HUD grant will be coupled with tax credits supplied by Pennsylvania to retrofit more than 100 units of affordable housing in the city.

In addition to putting in better insulation, Walter Kubiak, executive director of 1260 Housing Corporation which owns the homes, says they will install equipment that monitors energy usage.

“The tenants will be able to keep track of how much energy they are using at any particular time,” he said. “We will do some training on how to use that and how to monitor that and through that training they will be able to use their utilities more intelligently.”

Jane Vincent, HUD regional administrator, says the energy monitoring is the most vital part of the plan.

“We are hoping that this will show if you can monitor your energy use you might say, ‘Let me turn off that light … or turn the heat down a degree or two,'” Vincent said. “And that’s what’s exciting about this particular project to me.”

The goal is to cut energy consumption by 20 percent.