Boston is racing to decarbonize its public housing by 2030. The latest tool it’s deploying to reach that goal? Window-straddling heat pumps.
Last week, the Boston Housing Authority announced that it’s piloting the electric technology at Hassan Apartments, a 50-year-old public housing community with 100 units for older people and adults with disabilities. The modular appliances, made by California-based startup Gradient, plug into a typical 120-volt wall outlet and will replace the apartments’ outdated, much less efficient electric-resistance system.
“We believe that low-income people and the families and individuals who live in our buildings deserve access to 21st-century technologies and home comforts, just like anyone else out there,” said Joel Wool, the agency’s deputy administrator for sustainability and capital transformation. “We’re also doing our part to reduce air pollution and combat climate change.”
The Boston Housing Authority has ordered about 100 window heat pumps for the project. Two other Massachusetts housing agencies are also piloting Gradient’s appliances, the company announced last week: the Chelsea Housing Authority, which is testing about 400 heat pumps, and the Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development, which is trying out roughly 200 heat pumps, about half of which are already installed.