Program Overview

This program is temporarily suspended as of December 6th 2011

If you wish to receive an email when this program resumes click here

The San Francisco Boiler Systems Incentive Program was developed to promote the replacement of inefficient hot water and low pressure steam boilers located in multifamily properties such as apartment buildings, condominiums and residential hotels. Many of these multifamily properties have original boilers as old as the buildings themselves, dating from the 1930s.

The primary barrier to retrofitting a heating system is the high up-front cost of new equipment purchase and installation. Our incentive program provides financial relief to the property owner for energy efficient upgrades funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 along with no-cost complementary technical assistance to identify and implement energy efficiency improvements.

The Program's primary purpose is to reduce energy use in San Francisco. The City has adopted long-range plans to make San Francisco more sustainable by cultivating clean energy sources to reduce costs and fossil fuel emissions. As part of those efforts the new ARRA-funded Boiler Program expects to reduce natural gas usage by approximately 399,000 Therms and Green House Gas Emissions by 2,122 Metric Tons of CO2e during the 2010-2012 program cycle. We plan to accomplish these goals by assisting businesses in adopting a variety of heating system upgrades of: heating boilers, hot water heaters, steam traps, air vents, pipe insulation, radiators, thermostats, premium efficiency pump motors, and variable frequency drives (VFD's).

IMPORTANT: To receive financial incentives from the program, contact the Department of the Environment prior to starting your project(s). A pre-installation inspection is required and an incentive application must be submitted for approval before installation work begins. Upon completion of the project a post-installation inspection must be conducted.