Innovative partnership uses aerial heat loss data to inform whole-home repairs, empowers low-income homeowners with visual energy insights.
A new pilot initiative with software platform MyHEAT will leverage high-resolution urban heat loss mapping to guide the Built to Last process.
Built to Last is PEA’s whole-home repair program, delivering coordinated health and safety repairs along with clean energy upgrades for eligible Philadelphia low-income homeowners.
MyHEAT’s advanced thermal imaging technology is informing how PEA will pinpoint homes suffering from the most severe thermal loss. This data-driven approach provides PEA with the option to prioritize households with greatest energy costs, speeding up targeted interventions — such as roof repairs, insulation, and high-efficiency HVAC installations.
The new data will also offer PEA the ability to streamline program waitlists. PEA will incorporate MyHEAT’s technology to identify homes suitable for rooftop solar and super high-efficiency heat pump systems, helping more households lower energy bills.
“Invisible inefficiencies cost low-income Philadelphians hundreds of dollars every summer and winter,” said Alon Abramson, PEA Vice President of Programs. “Partnering with MyHEAT adds a new, sophisticated approach to inform how we support residents on our Built to Last waitlist. Heat loss mapping can target energy savings and critical repairs to the households who need them most, faster than ever before.”
“We are thrilled to join forces with the Philadelphia Energy Authority to turn complex thermal data into actionable community insights,” said Tim Maslak, Senior Vice President at MyHEAT. “Seeing is believing. By providing clear visual insights to PEA planners, local contractors, and to the homeowners who are most in need of help, we are making energy efficiency tangible, trusted, and impactful for Philadelphia families.”
The joint initiative serves as a model for cities nationwide seeking to layer cutting-edge spatial technology into equitable home restoration and climate resiliency projects.
Media Contacts:
PEA: media@philaenergy.org (215)686-4483
MyHEAT Imagery, Inc: james@myheat.ca 647-460-3529
About MyHEAT
MyHEAT uses aerial heat loss mapping (thermal infrared) to measure building envelope performance for residential and commercial sectors at city-scale. MyHEAT’s proprietary machine learning and artificial intelligence creates a suite of insights and actionable data from thermal imaging, which can quantify the amount of heat loss in buildings, and identify where that heat loss is occurring. The resulting software platform is used by energy providers, municipalities, and program implementers to optimize customer engagement, target energy efficiency programs, and accelerate decarbonization efforts.
About the Philadelphia Energy Authority
The Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) is an independent municipal authority advancing projects and programs that deliver on the City of Philadelphia’s most urgent priorities—lower bills, stronger infrastructure, safer neighborhoods, and quality jobs. Since 2016, PEA has supported over $1.3 billion in investment, creating more than 10,000 jobs in Philadelphia and driving $2.4 billion in economic benefits across Pennsylvania.