NeighborWorks America Awards DHIC $30,000 Grant for Energy Audits

We are excited to announce that DHIC has been awarded a $30,000 supplemental grant from NeighborWorks America. The money will help fund our efforts to perform energy audits on some of the older properties in our portfolio. 

Our Director of Asset Management, Skip Jackson, will lead the effort, helping to facilitate the audits across the properties with the most room for improvement. We will start by performing an ASHRAE Level 1 audit, which is the basic starting point for energy optimization, and involves a simple audit of the properties. 

The goal of a Level 1 audit is to review the energy usage of key components on the property, such as HVAC systems and water heaters, to identify glaring areas of energy inefficiency. We will use this audit to create a benchmark of current efficiency levels and create a report on areas of improvement. 

Skip explains, “This is the first step in a larger effort to make energy-efficient upgrades to our properties and reduce our overall footprint. We are extremely grateful to NeighborWorks America for awarding us this grant money to help cover some of the costs of this initiative.”

Performing these audits can help prepare our organization to access potential funding through various Inflation Reduction Act opportunities as we prioritize energy efficiency across our portfolio of properties.

Most importantly, these energy audits will benefit our residents, as efficiency upgrades can help lower their energy costs and put more money back in their pockets. Skip goes on to say, “Our residents are our partners, and we’re most excited about how the impacts of these audits will benefit them.”

We hope to begin the ASHRAE Level 1 energy audits in Q1 of 2024, before moving on to the next phase of audits and updates.