Fast Path to Clean Indoor Air

September 25, 2024

350 Bay Area Quick Start Grant project aimed to address the health burdens that low-income renters face in the Bay Area by retrofitting heat pump HVAC units and air purifiers. Low-income renters in the Bay Area are disproportionately likely to experience greater health burdens as the number of high-heat days and significant exposure to wildfire smoke increases.  While the state is driven to electrify all homes in the coming decades, there is a clear need for a solution to support the health and well-being of these populations in the interim. As a potential solution, this Quick Start Grant distributed 26 portable heat pump HVAC units and air purifiers to renting households in the Bay Area in order to investigate the effect of these units on the household’s indoor air quality and temperatures, and the approach’s cost effectiveness.

Retrofitting the homes of low-income renters in the Bay Area is frequently prohibitively expensive and time consuming, and these residents often lack the resources or decision-making authority to install beneficial technologies in their homes. Portable heat pumps, while less expensive than HVAC system retrofits, are still expensive enough to be out of reach for most low-income households. Another barrier is the lack of consumer awareness that heat pump units also have heating capabilities and are more efficient than gas alternatives.

The project team focused on temperature vs. comfortability, cost effectiveness, and indoor air quality demonstrating that the portable heat pumps and air purifiers retrofit approach was effective at improving residents’ health and comfort. As for next steps, the CalMTA program is currently developing an expanded version of this project to further improve product design and expand access to these critical technologies in underserved communities.

To learn more about this Quick Start Grant, read the full report.