A $2 million project at a Huntsville public housing community is expected to benefit the community but also a larger study that extends the program to rural areas.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is providing a $1 million matching grant to the Huntsville Housing Authority as part of a pilot program "designed to help limited-income customers lower their utility bills while providing 'non-energy benefits' to improve their quality of life," according to Huntsville Utilities.

The heating and cooling units are being replaced in more than 200 residences in the Northwoods public housing development along University Drive in Huntsville by the end of the 2019 fiscal year.

While residents get new HVAC systems - and Huntsville Housing Authority gets a buy one, get one free deal through the grant - TVA gets a field study not only of energy efficiency but also of air quality that could ultimately improve the health of residents.

Examples of improvements could be in fewer missed days of school or less problems with asthma, according to Scott Harrell, TVA project manager for energy efficiency demand response.

"This work is important because it improves the lives of the residents who live here," he said. "We care about the community and we care about their livelihood. It's about making their homes more energy efficient but it's also being able to learn and study the non-energy benefits as a result of the work that goes into the home."

Similar TVA studies are also ongoing in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville, Harrell said.

That's the focus for this year," he said. "We plan to expand and go into the rural areas. We can get a holistic approach view of what were the energy efficiency impacts and what was the non-energy benefits. Then we could work with these partners again to roll something out holistically to everybody."

It was an easy decision for the housing authority to join the program, according to Mike Norment, HHA's capital fund coordinator and facilities manager.

Northwoods has 264 apartments and Norment said the program will provide new HVAC systems for more than 200 of those units.

"What this allowed us to do, we would never be able to do as much as we are with their grant," Norment said. "It's giving us a buy one, get one free. We're matching the $1 million. We're getting a freebie from them and we're paying for one. That's a win-win situation all the way around."