Increasing  Comfort,    Lowering  Fuel  Costs  for  Condos  and  Co-­‐ops  

Lessons  Learned  A  Presenta;on  

By  Robert  Thomason  of  GlobalResourcesNews.com,  

Past  president,  present  energy  chair  of  the  Boston  House  robert@globalresourcesnews.com  

Introduc;on  

•  Inexpensive  energy  lead  to  inefficient  design.  

•  Legacy  costs  

•  Challenges  can  be  overcome  

•  Start  where  you  are,  work  with  what  you  have,  do  what  you  can!  

Triple  BoMom  Line  •  People  pay  to  be  comfortable.            People  make  decisions    •  Fiduciary  duty            Money  maMers      •  Conserva;on  is  cri;cal  to  prosperity.  

People  

Purse  

Planet  

Take  a  top-­‐to-­‐boMom  approach  

•  Know  your  building  systems  comprehensively.  

•  Building  components  interact  with  each  other.  

•  BaMles  for  energy  conserva;on  are  won  or  lost  by  how  well  all  these  elements  work  together.  

The  Tao  of  Hot  Water  

•  Hot  water  is  more  than  just  efficient  boilers.  •  Storage  •  Piping  &  Insula;on  •  Balancing  water  flow  •  Pump  efficiency  •  Finding  and  fixing  leaks  •  Energy  Star  appliances  •  Encourage  conserva;on  •  Your  sewer  bill  is  based  on  your  water  bill  

Images  from  Crea;ve  Commons  Some  Rights  Reserved:  shower  head  by  anonymousthomas,  yin  yang  symbol  by  DonkeyHotey  

Know  your  energy  use  

•  Monthly  statements  show  how  much  you  spend  on  u;li;es.  

•  DC  benchmarking  laws  will  give  baselines  for  u;lity  use.  

•  Pepco  plans  to  provide  a  Web-­‐based  monitor  of  electric  use.  

•  Weekly  manual  readings  help.  

Crea;ve  Commons  Some  Rights  Reserved  by  Kai  Hendry    

Know  your  associa;on  procedures  

•  Reserve  studies  es;mate  life  span  and  replacement  cost.  Focus  on  what  needs  to  be  replaced  soon.  

•  Use  the  annual  budget  process  is  to  assess  your  energy  use.  

•  Your  bylaws  may  determine  how  you  can  add  new,  expensive  upgrades.  

People  Power  •  People  differ  in  a[tude  towards  energy  efficiency.  

•  Foster  energy  awareness  among  the  staff.    

•  Contract  with  qualified  specialists  to  make  your  building  more  efficient.  

Crowd  Some  rights  reserved  by  Andrew  Pescod  

Energy  Study  

•  Building  systems  are  complicated            enough  to  warrant  special  studies.  •  Engineering  firms  will  do  top-­‐to-­‐boMom  energy  studies.  

•  In  addi;on  to  providing  recommenda;ons,  these  studies  also  provide  a  good  basic  overview  of  how  energy  flows  through  a  building.  Directors  and  concerned  owners  are  well-­‐served  to  have  a  holis;c  acquaintance  with  all  the  systems.  

Useful  Links  DC  Benchmarking  hMp://green.dc.gov/energybenchmarking  Energy  Audit  informa;on  hMp://globalresourcesnews.com/ashrae2  537  Energy  Conserva;on  Measures  hMp://dailyhomereno;ps.com/energy-­‐conserva;on/  Stories  about  efficient  condos  and  co-­‐ops  hMp://globalresourcesnews.com/focus-­‐condominium    Stay  in  touch:  robert@globalresourcesnews.com