A session on greening condo associations and building in Washington DC

1. 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

2. 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!

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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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