The first full-building heat pump retrofit of a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) property was recently completed on Woodside Houses by Midea, a leader in the HVAC industry.
Midea installed 150 packaged window heat pumps at Woodside Houses, marking a major milestone in NYCHA’s Clean Heat for All Challenge, which aims to accelerate the transition to heat pump electrification and fossil-free heating and cooling sources. The new fully electric, cold-climate-ready solution at Woodside Houses replaces the aging steam heating system at this NYCHA property.
Initially launched in 2022, the Clean Heat for All Challenge involves the installation of cold-climate heat pump solutions that improve comfort for tenants, reduce carbon emissions and avoid costly building upgrades across over 300 NYCHA developments, including this Woodside location.
The program, which was launched by NYCHA, the New York Power Authority and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, designated Midea to be the primary manufacturing partner to design and deliver the plug-and-play window heat pump units to the properties.
The packaged window heat pumps from Midea encompass an all-in-one inverter-driven system engineered for fast, low-impact retrofits in buildings that were not designed for central HVAC. It is installed through basic windows, gets plugged into standard electrical outlets and includes self-contained condensation management.
In addition to being the first NYCHA building to undergo a complete retrofit, Woodside Houses was the launch point for Midea’s role in the program. A 36-unit pilot was installed there in 2023. This resulted in a reduction in energy use of up to 87%, leading to dramatic improvement in residential comfort as well.
Rollout of the packaged window heat pumps from Midea will continue at Bay View Houses, with 300 installations planned there in 2026. Midea is contracted to deliver over 20,000 units across New York City.
