New Construction FAQs
1. What is the New Construction Program?
The New Construction Program (NCP) offers incentives for energy efficient new buildings and qualifying gut rehabilitation projects in New Jersey. Eligible projects include commercial and industrial buildings, single-family homes, and multifamily buildings.
Four pathways offer different approaches to meeting program requirements:
High Performance PathwayStreamlined PathwayBundled PathwayAlternative Performance Pathway
2. Which pathway should I use for my project?
Residential projects use the High Performance Pathway through an approved building certification.
Non-residential projects may use the Bundled, Streamlined, or High Performance pathway, depending on their building type and design.
Qualifying energy-intensive facilities may also use the Alternative Performance Pathway.
Contact the Outreach Team early to discuss your project and available options.
3. When should I apply?
Apply before or early in the design stage so energy efficiency improvements can be incorporated into the project. A project that has begun construction may still qualify if the proposed energy efficiency components or equipment have not been installed before application submission. Measures installed while the project is under review are installed at the applicant’s risk, and equipment that does not qualify will not earn incentives.
4. Can I receive incentives for a completed project?
No. NCP does not offer retroactive incentives for completed projects.
Submit an application through a Partner before the proposed energy efficiency components or equipment are installed.
5. Can I receive both NCP and utility incentives for the same equipment?
No. An energy efficiency measure included in an NCP application cannot also receive an incentive from another NJCEP or New Jersey utility-sponsored energy efficiency program. If a gut rehabilitation project qualifies for more than one program, choose one program for the applicable scope of work.
1. What is the Partner Network, and what do they do?
An approved Partner is an energy professional who works under contract with you to guide your project through the program.
Depending on the pathway, a Partner:
- Evaluates efficiency opportunities
- Prepares energy models or certification documentation
- Submits the application and documents installed measures
- Provides the information needed for incentive approval
For example, a Partner may compare HVAC and envelope options to help your design team meet the selected pathway’s energy performance requirements.
Use the Partner Network directory for find a firm approved for your project’s pathway.
2. Why do I need a Program Partner?
An approved Partner must submit projects for the High Performance, Streamlined, and Alternative Performance Pathways. These pathways require technical analysis or certification documentation, and the Partner helps demonstrate that the project meets program requirements.
Bundled Pathway projects are not required to use a Partner, but they can use one.
Visit our Partner Network for more details.
3. Does the Bundled Pathway require a Partner?
No. You may apply directly, choose an approved Partner, or designate a third-party representative.
If someone who is not an approved Partner will represent you, submit the Authorized Representative Form available on the program website here. All Bundled eligibility, documentation, and verification requirements still apply.
4. Can my contractor, engineer, or energy consultant submit my application?
For Streamlined, High Performance, and Alternative Performance projects, the firm must be approved as an NCP Partner for the selected pathway and complete the required orientation and training before submitting projects. Approval in another NJCEP program does not transfer to NCP.
For Bundled projects, an approved Partner is optional, and an authorized third party may represent you.
If you would like more information about becoming an approved Partner, visit the Partner Network website for required qualification and application information.
5. How do I choose a Partner, and what will their services cost?
Use the Partner Network directory to find a firm approved for your project’s pathway.
Ask the Partner about:
- Relevant project experience
- The services included
- Documentation responsibilities
- Fees
You negotiate the service contract and fees directly with the Partner. Program incentives are paid to the participant unless the participant authorizes payment to someone else.
6. How can my company become a Program Partner?
Visit the Partner Network webpage for required qualifications and application information. Firms may be approved for one or more pathways. Approved firms must complete program orientation and required training before submitting projects. There is no fee to become a Partner.
Questions about applying can be sent to NCP-Partners@trccompanies.com.
1. What types of projects qualify?
NCP supports new construction and qualifying gut rehabilitation projects that meet the selected pathway’s requirements. New construction is a ground-up building with plans prepared and certified by a licensed architect or engineer. The project must also meet utility service, construction timing, scope of work, and other program requirements.
The legacy Pay for Performance demand and 50,000 sq. ft. thresholds are not NCP eligibility criteria.
2. What qualifies as gut rehabilitation?
The guide identifies three types:
1. A change of use and reconstruction that makes recent utility data obsolete; reconstruction of a vacant structure or portion of a building where recent utility data is unavailable
2. Work requiring the building or affected portion to be out of service for at least 30 consecutive days
3. The last category typically includes heating and cooling replacement, electrical replacement, significant envelope work, and occupant relocation.
Contact the Program Team at njcep_ncp@trccompanies.com if you are unsure whether your scope qualifies.
3. Does my building need to pay the Societal Benefits Charge?
Generally, the building must eventually receive electric and/or gas delivery or supply service from a participating New Jersey investor-owned utility and pay the monthly Societal Benefits Charge (SBC).
Participating utilities are:
- Atlantic City Electric
- Elizabethtown Gas
- Jersey Central Power & Light
- New Jersey Natural Gas
- PSE&G
- Rockland Electric Company
- South Jersey Gas
Buildings served by a municipal or cooperative electric utility that does not collect SBC may be eligible through the SEP Non-IOU Program.
Contact the Program Team at njcep_ncp@trccompanies.com for guidance.
4. Can one application cover several buildings?
Each NCP application generally covers one building. A single-family application covers one home. A townhome application may include multiple units under one roof, for campuses, garden-style communities, or other projects with multiple buildings.
Contact the Program Team at njcep_ncp@trccompanies.com before applying and plan for separate building applications.
5. Does accepting NCP incentives require payment of prevailing wage?
Certain construction projects receiving BPU financial assistance are subject to prevailing wage requirements.
The guide states that, where applicable, the requirement covers the entire construction project described in the construction contract, including incentivized and non-incentivized work. Customers self-certify compliance by applying to the Program and receiving incentives.
Contact the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development for guidance on applicability, contract thresholds, wage rates, and compliance.
6. Are any residential projects exempt from the BPU prevailing wage requirement?
The guide identifies an exclusion from the definition of BPU financial assistance for incentives for new construction or weatherization of a single-family home, townhome, or row home, or an apartment building, condominium building, or multifamily home of four stories or less.
This exclusion does not depend on who receives the incentive.
Ask the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development how this provision and any other applicable wage requirements apply to your project.
1. What are the minimum incentives for non-residential projects?
Qualifying non-residential projects have minimum total incentives of:
- $5,000 for Bundled Pathway
- $10,000 for Streamlined Pathway
- $15,000 for High Performance Pathway
These minimums do not apply to residential projects or the Alternative Performance Pathway.
If the earned total, including applicable bonuses and additional incentives, is below the Pathway’s minimum, the minimum is paid. The minimum is not added to the earned incentive. All program requirements and the cap limiting incentives to the cost of measures installed or performed still apply.
2. How does the minimum incentive work for a smaller project?
A qualifying 10,000 sq. ft. non-residential Bundled project earns $2,500 at the $0.25-per-square-foot base rate. Because that is below the $5,000 Bundled minimum, the project would receive $5,000, subject to all program requirements and the measure-cost cap. If the earned total exceeds the minimum, the earned total applies instead.
3. What are the base incentive rates?
Base rates are:
- Bundled Pathway at $0.25 per eligible square foot
- Streamlined Pathway at $0.50 per eligible square foot
- High Performance Pathway rates are:
- $1.00 for the ASHRAE modeling approach, LEED, or ENERGY STAR
- $1.75 for DOE Efficient New Homes
- $2.50 for Phius or PHI
Rates depend on building and pathway eligibility.
Alternative Performance Pathway incentives use estimated energy savings at $0.16 per kWh and $1.60 per therm saved instead of square footage.
4. Which square footage is used to calculate incentives?
Bundled, Streamlined, and High Performance generally use total conditioned square footage. Residential projects that calculate savings only for tenant spaces receive incentives on those spaces. Common areas may also qualify when their efficiency measures and measurable savings are documented, and the approach is pre-approved by the Program. Single-family homes and townhomes have a 2,000 sq. ft. calculation floor and a 4,000 sq. ft. ceiling.
5. What is the greenhouse gas reduction bonus?
Eligible Streamlined and High Performance projects can earn a GHG bonus when calculated savings reduce emissions by at least 0.7 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per 1,000 square feet.
Bonus rates are $0.25 per square foot for 0.7–0.99 tons, $0.50 for 1.0–1.99 tons, $1.00 for 2.0–2.99 tons, and $1.50 for 3.0 or more tons. Program tools calculate the reduction. For townhome and multifamily projects, the calculation uses total building savings rather than an average of unit savings.
A project may earn either the GHG bonus or an electrification bonus, not both.
6. What electrification bonuses are available?
Eligible Streamlined and High Performance projects may earn $1.50 per square foot for an all-electric building, $1.00 for heat pump space heating, or $0.25 for heat pump domestic water heating.
The two heat pump bonuses may be combined for up to $1.25 per square foot. The $1.50 all-electric bonus cannot be stacked with them. Partial-building heat pump bonuses are prorated by the share of total building load capacity served.
Electrification and GHG bonuses cannot be combined.
7. What does all-electric mean for the bonus?
The building must use no on-site fossil fuel combustion for its primary end uses. These include space heating and cooling, domestic water heating, kitchen and laundry appliances, process heating, refrigeration and chilling, and motor systems.
8. What qualifies as affordable housing?
Affordable housing is a residential building identified in an official document as participating in a federal, state, or local affordable housing program.
Examples include documentation associated with the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, or HUD. Submit the official documentation for Program review. A project’s description as affordable does not by itself establish eligibility.
9. How much is the affordable housing incentive, and which spaces qualify?
Qualifying residential High Performance projects can receive an additional $0.25 per eligible square foot under the Affordable Housing/OBC category.
The area used is subject to NCP’s general square-footage rules:
- Tenant-only savings calculations do not automatically include common areas
- Common-area incentives require documented efficiency measures and savings and prior Program approval
- Ask the Program Team to confirm eligibility and the calculation area for a mixed-income building
10. Are additional incentives available based on location or energy use?
Eligible non-residential projects in an Urban Enterprise Zone, Opportunity Zone, or Overburdened Community can earn an additional $0.15 per square foot through Streamlined or $0.25 through High Performance.
Buildings meeting the Industrial/High Energy Intensity definition can earn an additional $0.60 per square foot through Streamlined or $1.00 per square foot through High Performance.
A non-residential project meeting both the location and industrial criteria can earn both additions. The residential Affordable Housing/OBC category provides $0.25 per square foot through High Performance.
These additions do not apply to Bundled or Alternative Performance projects.
11. Who receives the incentive payment?
Incentives are paid to the Program Participant by default. The participant may authorize payment to a Partner or another third party using a written Third Party Incentive Authorization Form signed by an authorized representative. The participant may also reassign payment by submitting a new signed form.
12. When are incentives committed and paid?
Incentives are committed after the Program approves the design documentation. Payment follows completed construction, approval of final as-built documentation, completion of applicable inspections and quality reviews, and financial approval.
13. What tax and payment documents are needed?
A valid New Jersey Business Tax Clearance Certificate is generally required in the participant’s name, even if payment is assigned to someone else. The guide exempts local and county governments, public schools, and homeowners with owner-occupied single-family projects from this requirement. A W-9 is required for the incentive recipient and must be signed within 12 months before application submission.
1. What replaces the legacy Energy Reduction Plan in NCP?
NCP uses pathway-specific design documentation and the BASIC Workbook to document proposed measures, savings, and incentives. Requirements may also include energy model files, plans and equipment schedules, certification documentation, and a commissioning plan.
The application portal identifies required documents, and Appendix B of the Program Guide provides the checklist for each pathway.
2. Do I have to improve every building system?
Requirements depend on the pathway. Bundled generally requires at least two eligible measures and the required points total. Streamlined and the High Performance ASHRAE modeling approach must address the envelope, heating, cooling, and lighting. Alternative Performance Pathway must address at least two of those systems.
The Program may grant specified exceptions, including for systems that are not present or improvements that are impracticable in substantial renovation projects. Certification projects must meet their applicable certification and NCP requirements.
3. Can solar panels or other generation help my project qualify?
NCP primarily supports energy efficiency. On-site renewable energy and distributed generation are generally not eligible measures, but limited contributions are permitted under the High Performance certification and ASHRAE modeling approaches. They cannot be the sole or majority basis for meeting certification requirements; modeled renewable contributions are subject to the guide’s limit, generally 5% of the baseline. Their savings or generation do not qualify for the GHG bonus.
Contact the Program Team at njcep_ncp@trccompanies.com before including these contributions.
1. What are the main steps from application to payment?
- Submit the application
- Receive eligibility approval
- Submit design documentation
- Receive design approval and an incentive commitment
- Document construction and measures before they become inaccessible
- Submit final as-built documentation
- Complete applicable inspections and reviews
- Receive payment after financial approval
Contact the Program Team at njcep_ncp@trccompanies.com or your assigned Program Specialist for project questions.
2. What are the main deadlines?
Design documentation is due within six months of application approval. After the commitment letter is issued, the incentive commitment is valid for one year for Bundled and Alternative Performance projects and three years for Streamlined and High Performance projects. Submit extension requests in writing before the applicable deadline, explaining progress, the reason for the request, and the time needed.
Approval is subject to the guide’s extension provisions.
3. Are the Partner’s site visits the same as the Program’s inspections?
No. The Partner documents installed measures and submits required photographs and supporting records, including measures that will be hidden when walls close. The Program separately performs quality assurance and quality control reviews on a sample of projects. Construction inspections are primarily virtual, but the Program may require an on-site construction or final inspection. A project not selected for an on-site inspection still must provide required documentation.
4. What if equipment or the design changes during construction?
Contact your Program Specialist and update the BASIC Workbook and other required as-built documentation to reflect the actual installation. Revised models, schedules, product certificates, or calculations may be needed. The final installation must meet the selected pathway’s requirements to receive incentives.
1. Do I need 12 months of post-construction utility bills before NCP pays incentives?
NCP’s payment process is based on completed construction, approved as-built documentation, and applicable inspection and quality reviews. The guide does not require the legacy Pay for Performance 12-month post-construction benchmarking period. A recent electric utility bill is required as part of the final documentation.
2. What must be documented after construction?
Provide the final BASIC Workbook and the applicable pathway documents, which may include photographs, installed equipment schedules, product listings or certificates, revised model files, final building certification, and a commissioning report. Appendix B lists the final requirements for each pathway.
1. Does every project need a whole-building energy model?
No. Bundled uses eligible prescriptive measures and a points system. Streamlined uses SketchBox. High Performance uses either approved whole-building modeling or a qualifying certification approach. Alternative Performance uses energy savings calculations, with program calculators available for certain indoor agriculture measures.
2. What savings must the model demonstrate?
Streamlined requires at least 5% of the site energy savings above the project’s relevant code. The non-residential High Performance ASHRAE modeling approach requires at least 5% site energy savings against an ASHRAE 90.1-2019 Appendix G baseline. Certification routes have their own conditions, including additional savings requirements for certain ENERGY STAR MFNC and DOE certification versions.
The legacy 15% source-energy rule is not a universal NCP requirement.
3. Which modeling software and baseline should my Partner use?
For the High Performance ASHRAE modeling approach, software must meet ASHRAE 90.1-2019 Appendix G Section G2.2; examples include eQUEST, EnergyPlus, and Trane Trace. Streamlined uses SketchBox. Residential ERI approaches use Ekotrope as specified in the guide. The applicable baseline and documentation depend on the selected pathway and certification route.
1. What is an Industrial or High Energy Intensity building?
For the additional incentive, the guide defines this as a building where at least 50% of energy use comes from process-based loads. Process and receptacle loads include machines and industrial processes and are distinct from traditional building heating, cooling, and lighting loads.
2. What is the Alternative Performance Pathway?
This pathway serves qualifying energy-intensive facilities such as indoor agriculture operations, manufacturing facilities, and data centers. Incentives are calculated from estimated energy savings rather than square footage.
Projects must address at least two building systems from envelope, heating, cooling, and lighting, subject to Program-approved exceptions, and must be submitted by an approved Partner.
3. Can an indoor agriculture project receive incentives for more than lighting?
Yes, however, the Alternative Performance pathway requires at least two building systems, subject to approved exceptions. Program savings calculators address common indoor agriculture opportunities including lighting, dehumidification, and HVAC.
A Partner may use custom calculations when the prescribed savings do not fully represent the project, subject to technical guidance, Program review, and pre-approval of the approach.
4. Can I combine Alternative incentives with another pathway’s bonuses or minimum?
No. Alternative Performance incentives are standalone and cannot be combined with the base incentives, bonuses, or additions in Tables 1 and 2. The guide lists minimum non-residential incentives for Bundled, Streamlined, and High Performance only.
A project may pursue Alternative or another eligible pathway, but not more than one pathway at the same time.
1. Which pathway serves multifamily housing?
Multifamily housing uses the residential High Performance Pathway through an eligible certification:
- ENERGY STAR Multifamily New Construction
- DOE Efficient New Homes
- Phius
- PHI
Your Partner must confirm the required certification version and any additional energy savings conditions.
2. How are mixed-use buildings classified?
The guide’s decision tree treats a building as residential when at least 50% of its total square footage is used for dwelling units, sleeping units, and associated common spaces, unless it is a hotel, motel, or nursing/senior care building. Those building types follow the non-residential route.
Ask the Program Team to confirm the classification of a mixed-use or unusual project.
3. Can I include common areas in my multifamily incentive?
If the residential savings calculation covers tenant spaces only, incentives initially apply to those spaces. Common-area square footage may qualify when common-area measures and measurable savings are documented. Improvements must be comprehensive where possible and applied throughout the common areas. The approach requires prior Program approval, and eligible common areas are paid at the tenant-space incentive rate.
4. How should I apply for a garden-style apartment community?
Generally, submit a separate application for each building. NCP does not use the legacy P4P approach that automatically aggregates an entire garden-style community into one application.
Consult the Program Team before submitting a project with multiple buildings.
1. Where do I submit applications and check project status?
Use the New Construction Application Portal at https://njncp.customerapplication.com/apply
Approved Partners can submit projects, check statuses, upload documents, and respond to action items through the dashboard. Bundled participants applying without a Partner should contact the Program Team for help with portal access and submission.
2. How long does payment take after final approval?
The Program submits approved incentive invoices to the State twice each month. The guide estimates approximately 45–60 days for checks to be mailed after an invoice is submitted to the State.
This is a payment-processing estimate, not a timeframe measured from the initial project application.
3. Is Workforce Development reimbursement tied to a project incentive?
No. Workforce Development reimbursement is separate from NCP project incentives, and eligibility for one does not depend on the other. The guide describes reimbursement of 75% of the cost of completed, pre-approved training and certifications, up to $3,000 per person per course and four courses per person per fiscal year.
Review the Workforce Development Reimbursement User Guide for full eligibility and application requirements.
4. What if the certification I want is not on the Workforce Development list?
Reimbursement is available for pre-approved training and certifications. Review the Workforce Development Reimbursement User Guide and approved course list before enrolling, and contact the Program Team if your course is not listed. A certification’s relevance to energy efficiency alone does not establish reimbursement eligibility.
5. Can approved Partners receive marketing support?
Yes. Approved Partners may use the Partner badge for pre-approved uses and may qualify for Coop Marketing support for pre-approved co-branded paid advertising. The guide provides cost-sharing of up to 50% of advertising costs, with a $50,000 fiscal-year cap per applicant.
Review the Coop Marketing Guidelines and obtain approval before proceeding.
6. Who can help me choose a pathway or resolve a project question?
Visit the New Construction Program webpage, connect with the Outreach Team here, or call 866-657-6278 for general program guidance.
Once a Program Specialist is assigned to your application, direct project-specific questions to that person.
Send prevailing wage interpretation and compliance questions to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.