SOLAR THERMAL, P.2

As Dascoli learned from Quixotic, the building was a good candidate for solar thermal. "The part of the roof that the solar thermal panels reside on is at the very back of the building, and it's basically dead space," says Dascoli. There are no tall buildings around 176 Sterling Place, no trees, and no water tower on the tar roof. In short, the building receives an abundance of sunlight. 

"The board liked the idea," says Dascoli, "and with Quixotic's help we made a detailed analysis of cost/benefits and put the plan to the shareholders." In 2009, Quixotic installed the system. The building's basement contains two 100-gallon hot-water storage tanks, and Quixotic brought in three more for the solar thermal unit. Quixotic ran the pipes outside, along a side of the building, Dascoli says, "that no one accesses, so there are no problems."

Sterling Place's solar thermal system cost about $60,000; today it would probably cost around $50,000 because of declining price tags for equipment. The whole energy project, including PV installation, came to more than $100,000, which the building financed with a line of credit at National Bank (headquartered in Virginia). Currently, says Dascoli, the building is paying that down "in chunks, with the help of the savings from energy, a New York City property tax credit, and a lump-sum check from National Grid."

Benefits, Bureaucracy

The solar thermal system at 176 Sterling Place heats roughly 70 percent of the building's hot water. When the system began running, Dascoli reports, the building saw its gas bill go down "at least $200 per month. It was almost instantaneous." Quixotic monitors the system from a remote reader, but there have been no technical snafus — although the tornado that tore through Brooklyn in September 2010 left two cracked glycol tubes in its wake. (The tubes have a five-year warranty.)

The only thing that has kept Dascoli awake at night is the city's red tape, largely related to a tax abatement that was painfully slow in coming for the PV installation and ultimately drove up the costs of the entire project.  As all of us at Quixotic and CEC have learned, getting a solar thermal system up is sometimes faster than getting it approved. We usually say that a system will be up and running within three months.

Robert D. LiMandri, commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, is concentrating on reform in this area, and Quixotic has an in-house expediter. Assuming that the red tape can be untangled, Dascoli of Sterling Place avers that "every co-op should consider doing this if they can sustain the up-front costs." 

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