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Hi,
I'm the president of the board of a self-managed coop of 40 apartments. We find ourselves in the situation where most shareholders have replaced old, single-glazed windows, but some have not. And the majority of our apartments still have flushometer toilets! We are interested in saving on heating and especially water costs and recognize that flushometers are costly in terms of water usage. But how do we get everybody's toilets and windows changed? How have other buildings handled this situation? Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.
Hi Lauren! HabitatReporter here with Bram Fierstein of Gramatan Mangagement to offer you his expert opinion.
"You have to look in your offering plan to determine if the building has responsibility for the windows or not. In most co-ops the windows are the co-op's responsibility but on occasion this is not the case. If they truly are the owner's responsibility then I would suggest trying to get a contractor to give you a discount if you bring them in as the recommended vendor. Write those who have not changed their windows saying the Board is looking for ways to be environmentally conscientious and to save on expenses. Explain the Board has found a window vendor that will give a discount. You might want to give a further incentive by offering to finance the cost of the installation over a few months.
I know of no co-op where the toilets don't belong to the shareholders. Accordingly, I would try to use the same suggestions as were made for encouraging shareholders to change their windows. In both cases try to be very specific as possible with regard to the potential savings the co-op would receive if the changes were made."
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Hi Lauren,
First off, is this a Cooperative? In the Proprietary Lease, if it is, are the windows the responsibility of the building to maintain or are the individual Shareholders responsible for their upkeep and replacement?
If the building is responsible, it is pretty easy to initiate a complete window replacement program once a contractor has been approved for the work. I think more specifics are needed.
Also, DEP does a free water inspection of residential buildings that will pinpoint each unit where there is water loss / leaks, etc. That might be useful for you to organize.
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