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Building Energy Management Systems - Eric Michaels Aug 10, 2011

Con Edison will pay 70% of the project cost for the installation of an approved BEMS in buildings with 75 or fewer units. The incentive amount is capped at $20,000.00. Average out of pocket for a building in this range is about $7,500.

They are covering 50% of the project cost for installations of BEMS's in buildings with 76 or more units. There is no cap on this, yet most projects result in out of pocket expenses of less than $18,500.00.

If buildings under the same management company pursue similar projects the cost per system is reduced thus enhancing the impact of the investment.

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very confusing posting.

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Con Edison has a program called the Multi Family Energy Efficiency Program (http://www.coned.com/energyefficiency/residential_multifamily.asp). To qualify for this program, (1) the building must be between 5 and 75 units and (2) they must be a Con Edison gas and/or electric customer. Similar in nature to NYSERDA offerings, this program offers cash rebates for the installation/replacement/upgrade of various energy-related items in the building such as: boiler replacements, light bulb replacements and building/pipe insulation.

The "big ticket" incentive item is the installation of an Energy Management System. This Energy Management System will run the boiler (or other heating/cooling equipment) by a control that (a) can be controlled via an Internet interface and (b) that has indoor temperature sensors within at least 25% of the residential units (with a minimum of 5 sensors). By using these indoor sensors, the boiler can now skip cycles entirely if the building is retaining heat well. You can conservatively save 10% annually in fuel costs with this technological tool.

A good sample product is from Heat Timer:
http://www.heat-timer.com/En/ProductDetail.aspx?ID=4
http://www.heat-timer.com/En/ProductDetail.aspx?ID=24

I hope this clears up any confusion. Any questions can be directed to Calray Gas Heat Corp (yes, that's an advertisement).

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template to start court proceedings for refusal to provide shareholder list, access to books - escapefromyonkers Aug 10, 2011

as stated in proprietary lease i am allowed to look at the books with notice. i have requested in writing, and i have also requested the name and contact info of shareholders. The Managing agent has refused me and the board president has also. The rest of the board are puppetry and do- say nothing. i also requested a contact info of board members and have been refused, and some of the board members do not , and never have lived in the building, even though fraudulently they say they live here.
i need to start the process, i don't have money for a lawyer, i am sure i can do it myself at this level. The managing agent also wrote and stated that i cannot have any more dealings with him since i asked for the shareholder list and asked questions about the mortgage in 2008. since no BOD contact info and MA saying go away, i will just be knocking on doors, calling apartments if possible when i have a question.
i do want to start the subpoena process , i am not sure what court in westchester that this goes before. i am also disabled, maybe there is a help unit. i have to finish writing my politicians to see if they can help, i did send 7 pages to the AG office and i need to mail in about five more, A lot of shaneggians i uncovered. I have the proprietary lease and by laws scanned and on my computer now.
It should be law that they provide the annual financial report in a spreadsheet, the same way they do it at their office. Much easier to find the Pig with lipstick. I "ll ask the judge for it in a digital format

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Amanda's law and carbon monoxide and smoke detectors - escapefromyonkers Aug 09, 2011

Are all your apt units built over garages or connected to a garage in multistory buildings being told to install carbon monoxide detectors? Also years back the co-op installed a smoke detector in one hallway in every apartment.
this month we received a letter stating that we had to install a smoke detector inside every bedroom and outside every sleeping quarter in accordance with NYS law, it said this was the residential code of NYS and fire code of NYS. The co-op installed the first one, and now is saying it is now the share owners responsibility. I bought two new smoke and a CO detector long before i got this letter. I know this building would go fast, had a FF tell me that. Knew a whole family that got killed thanksgiving weekend due to a clogged flue in their Pocono country house. However I still cant see how CO could get up 6 floors , i know the areas by the radiator pipes it could, i sealed all mine off for proactive pest control, the keyhole on the interior closet door frames have a pretty powerful breeze coming out of it, it must be from the roof. On a windy day i can really feel it, i am going to seal that off too. weird though, don' t remember that breeze for the first twenty years here. I am on the 6th floor the garage is under the first floor. If i lived on the first floor i would have had a CO years ago
On the form we have to sign and initial all kinds of stuff, that we agree to test it once a month,They don't check the smoke detectors in the hallway once a month and during blackouts, many of the emergency lights don't work. i guess i will check all the emergency lights and when i return the papers give them a list of the emergency lights that fail the self test. people complained about that at Junes annual meeting, see if they did anything yet. New batteries are needed and spares should be on standby.

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Laundry Companies - Gerald Benson Aug 09, 2011

Do any of the Vendors sub-meter the electic service and pay Con Ed directly?

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i was thinking the same thing, there is an item called tweet a watt that measures the actual KW usage and if you enter your cost of electricity it will tell you the exact cost for X hours of usage. most likely all the machines are on one meter, you have a bill and can compare the price of what the laundry company pays for the concession and see what your bottom line is.
Anyone else have credit-debit card only laundry debit card machines?
i follow internet credit card scams, i used mine once , changed cc # and will not use them. There are so many ways they find to read the mag card and make copies. Debit cards have a lot less financial protection for the owner..
i see amex is offering cash cards for free, so that may be a solution, and some rebates come on visa cards

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> Join the conversation Comments (1)

the kill a watt EZ has the added feature of telling you how much the appliance is costing you in$$. You have to put in your con ed kwph charge into its memory. On the older one you have to do the math yourself. They are only good for 15amps, and i bought mine for $20and $25 , costco even had the EZ in two packs. i recommend a 6 inch extension cord,since they are like a big wall wart. They are only good for 15amps, but tell you a lot about your incoming electricity and your usage, great to see how much vampire power drain cost you per year. The EZ is newer and better, it will tell you the daily,weekly. yearly cost.
I found out that a newer LCD monitor and i5 PC used 0.3w with a power strip that turns off the peripherals when your computer hibernates. my 3 year old PC with LCD drew 67 watts at sleepwalker EZ has the added feature if telling you how much the appliance is costing you in$$ when you put in your KW hour cost. the other , you have to do the math yourself. They are only good for 15amps, and i bought mine for $20and $25 , costco even had them, but their price was higher then on line. They are only good for 15amps, but tell you a lot about your incoming electricity and your usage, great to see how much vampire power drain cost. The EZ is newer and better, it will tell you the daily weekly yearly cost. I found out that a newer LCD monitor used a lot less power then my older LCD I have a power strip that turns unneeded items off when my PC hibernates and the draw is 0.3w compared to 67 watts before. my 3 year old PC with LCD monitor was drawing 67 watts at sleep/hibernate. Changing from a 3 year old PC to s new i5 with better energy management.
It also tells you your ac cycles and voltage, Last week during the heat wave i was only getting 116 volts. I wont get on the elevator when i see that.
There is also a micro PC home brew that cost under $50, you put it on your power meter,no seals or any damage to the co ed meter. It transmits to your receiver and you can see your total energy usage. Not sure if it would work in a apartment building,unless you tapped into a unused telco house cable to the apartment.
i am looking or an area to move too, I'd rather live in a trailer than dealing with this crappola, i don't live with sheep .

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@ GB - I don't think so. But if they did, it would affect the income your building is getting from the Laundry company.

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Verizon Concierge Services - Gerald Benson Aug 09, 2011

Has anyone signed up for this service? If so, your comments please.

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I'd like to know more about this too. It seems like the incentives have vanished.

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We haven't used it yet but I saw a live demo at the Co-op Condo expo. It was pretty neat in that you can order food, find local businesses and they mentioned they can also hook up cameras so you can for example look in your laundry room for your couch to see if anyone is in there before you lug your laundry to the laundry room and find that it's full.

We are completely wired for Fios and they said we had the option of adding this service at no cost, but the problem is none of our residents show up to meetings so it would be pointless to have a rep come to do a demo and the same 4 residents come out and at least 3 won't even have Fios. I still have the Concierge rep's info and can inbox it to you if you would like to speak with her more in depth.

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Thanks for the update. Do you know whether FIOS supports a general security system for the building and it this can be part of the Verizon package? Please send me the rep's info.

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Our contact is: Carolyn Smith, Verizon Enhanced Communications
carolyn.j.smith@verizon.com

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Habitat writing needs your help on story - Frank Lovece Aug 09, 2011

Habitat is working on a story about "full-service" vs. "a la carte" management companies -- those with higher flat fees that cover most things, and those with lower fees that charge extra for specific services. We've heard of firms charging boards $1 for every letter they send.

If you have anecdotes that could help other boards avoid mistakes or just know what to expect, please contact me at flovece@habitatmag.com. Thanks!

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Gas Conversion Projects 2 - Eric Michaels Aug 05, 2011

My recent post was about Con Edison. On the flip side if your building is in National Grid territory the turn around time on a load request submission is less than 1 week....compared to Con Edison's minimum 6 to 8 week turnaround time.

If you want to convert from #6 oil to gas and/or #2 oil and you are in National Grid territory there is a good chance that the entire project can be completed before those in Con Edison territory even know if a conversion is possible.

Have a great weekend.

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Gas Conversion Projects - Eric Michaels Aug 05, 2011

Please be advised: If you are contemplating making the switch from #6 heating oil to natural gas; either as your primary fuel or as a backup to #2 oil and your building is in Con Edison territory you will wait a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks for a response to your load request submission. At this point, if they confirm the availability of sufficient gas and pressure, and can bring it your building at no charge, this conversion project will not get underway at the earliest until late October.

Here's what you need to do:
1) get the load request in asap.
2) get 3 to 5 gas conversion proposals NOW so that when Con Ed. does render a decision you are all set to take action...as opposed to first starting the proposal process.
3) Work with a company that is an approved market partner in Con Edison's Multifamily energy programs...it is not required, yet it gives you peace of mind that the companies financials, licenses and professional history has been screened and vetted by a 3rd party.
4) Don't worry....gas conversion projects can be executed in the winter. Service will be interrupted for about 3 hours when the transition is formalized.

Do what you can now in anticipation of Con Ed. approving your project...even if it takes them until October.

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Balcony Repairs - Ken Aug 03, 2011

You recently ran a story in "Ask the Engineer" about balcony repairs. Our building (132 units) just went through a 3 year rehabilitiation of our balconies, facade and garage deck. A previous board had installed the aluminum cladding over the balcony curbs and this was a big mistake and did nothing to solve the problem.
When our engineers, Lawless & Mangione began their survey, the removal of the cladding showed serious deterioration of the concrete curbs and aluminum posts. The building, a 1960 brick structure had the aluminum posts set in steel sleeves in the concrete curbs. The water got in, the sleeves rusted and blew out the curbs as exemplified by radial cracks from each of the posts. Working with L&M, our contractor, AM&G Waterproofing suggested a better repair.
We brought the curbs up to code height by installing new railings and glass and leveling the curbs. The posts were welded to square alumimum plates. Each plate took 4 stainless threaded rods that were screwed and epoxied into place so that no water could enter and eliminated the rust problem.
We used a Decothane coating on all the curbs and balcony surfaces after all were checked for proper pitch. Boards should understand while this material is not officially toxic (see the Material Safety Data Sheet) it created a serious odor problem that caused several shareholders to have to vacate their apartments while the material was applied. Keeping the windows closed and not running A/C units created great unhappiness but it eventually came to an end.
We were midway through the balcony repairs when a co-op on the West side experienced an accident with a deficient railing causing the DOB to shut all balconies subject to inspection. We were glad we were ahead of the curve and had repair prices set as part of our contract.
We have established new house rules about no carpeting and the use of floating wood floors on the balconies. As the story pointed out, the elimination of the porous surface does increase the ponding somewhat, but our standard requires the water to be gone in 24 hours, partly through drainage and partly through evaporation.

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Hi Ken,
Thanks for the heads up. We are in the process of planning a facade and terrace renovation - expensive to say the least. We are in the process of updating our house rules, can you email me what you added that protects your terraces, we want to update accordingly. Proper maintenance always improves the durability of the property – especially terraces.
Can you share any of your experiences – we are also looking to replace our metal railings with glass.
My email david_gassman1023@yahoo.com.
FYI - we are leaning to L&M, but won’t make that decision until we can confirm funding for our project.
I appreciate your feedback.
David

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treadmill above in pre-war condo - noise and quiet enjoyment - Sam Jul 28, 2011

New neighbors upstairs with a treadmill! VERY loud and shakes the ceiling and four walls - which are old and prone to cracks - plus very old electrical wiring in ceiling. They seem determined to keep it. What to do?

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coop not condo.

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If you haven't done so already, forward your complaint to the board and management company.
The property lease states that all residents have the right to a peaceful, quiet and healthy enjoyment of their unit.

Your last option is to hire a lawyer.

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coop not condo.

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I know what you mean as we had a sublet on top of us. Notify them first as they are liable for any damage cause in you apartment from the vibration; then talk to your management company. They did to put a heavy duty rubber cushion under it -- or just go to the gym!

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