A tale of persistence.
What do you do when you are a retiring baby boomer, with adult, professional children, a good income and a good health?
No need to keep a 4,500 sq. feet suburban house since all the kids are married, have their own houses and jobs. And when it is time for vacations, you want to be able to just close the door and not worry about something going wrong. So you and your husband hatch a plan to downsize, simplify your life, have less stuff and be able to get to the airport with little preparation.
The idea is that a 2,500 square feet condo close to public transportation and to a shopping district would be cheaper and easier to live in and maintain than the suburban family house. That is in summary the logic of Steve and Jean Ettinger when in 2007, they bought a condo in a turn of the century residential building located in Elkins Park. Steve and Jean were puzzled when they discovered that the cost of utilities in their newly acquired apartment was higher than the large suburban family home they had just sold.
That is the premise of the story that transformed Steve Ettinger and the co-owners of the apartment building in Elkins Park live in into early adopters of solar heating technology in the Philadelphia area.
Why were the Condo fees so high?
Steve worked in the Financial Industry and has a long experience of making sense out of numbers. He decided to dig into the accounts of the Condominium Association. The building was managed by a local Real Estate Management Company whose management of the Elkins Court residence seemed to be limited to paying utility bills and grounds and building maintenance. With the help of two other condominium owners: Rosalie Frudakis and Sally Krohn, Steve engineered a “Coup d’Etat” by taking over the Board of the Condominium Association.
The takeover was followed by a few months of discovery during which Steve would patiently inquire with the Real Estate Management Company about specific building expenses and insist until he would receive complete answers. During his due diligence, beside the blatant lack of consideration from the personnel of the Management Company for his efforts, Steve’s uncovered a number of symptoms that were reflecting a lack of pro-active management of the building on the part of the Management Company. Some of the more grievous examples of this lack of attention were:
- $75 a month for regional and long distance service contract for each of two phone lines assigned to the building fire alarm system, to call the local fire company located less than two miles away. The phone bill included long distance access charges and a charge to keep the number unlisted.
- A close examination of the water bill for the building revealed a leaky faucet. The cost of the Real Estate Management Company not monitoring the building water usage wasted 10,000 gallons of water per month at a yearly cost of $1,200 to the Condominium Association.
The condo fees were high because there was no attention to the details that make up the cost of running a residential building. The Management Company was operating the building “as is”, oblivious to the rising costs of energy and without taking any initiative to improve the building energy efficiency.
Changes
Beginning of 2008, the Real Estate Management Company decided to break the contract with the Association. For the Condominium Association, moving to a self managed model meant moving from a passive to a pro-active stance. It meant addressing the question of what else could be done to further decrease utility bills and heating costs which are the largest costs of running the building. The three Condominium Association Officers took a stand: they decided to work on making the Elkins Court a “Green Residence”.
Soon Steve realized that self-managing the building also implies the active participation of the members of the Condominium Association in the life and decisions of the Association. That meant building a community of condominium owners who actually care about the building and each other.
After further research, Steve uncovered that installing a solar water heater for the twenty one units in the building is the project that made the most economic sense. Through the combination a 30% Federal Tax Credit and State subsidies and PA State tax credits for alternative energy projects, the whole project would cost $1,100 to $1,300 per household residing in the building and have a six year payback period.
Several contractors came to inspect the property and bid on the project.
The Board decided to retain Rushford Solar Inc. of Bryn Mawr PA. (See www.RushforthSolar.com).
Rushforth Solar is the only certified Solar Thermal installer in the Philadelphia area that had a $6,250 grant from a Sustainable Development Fund created by the Public Utility Commission available for another two large solar hot water residential building projects.
Reaching agreement.
Fact: Seventy percent of the building residents are over sixty five years old.
The true challenge of this project was in moving the mostly retired residents of the twenty one units to:
- Agree to the project,
- Agree to the project funding and
- Agree on the selection of the contractor who would modify the building hot water generation equipment.
Although the Condominium Association bylaws allowed the Officers of the Condominium Association to push any resolutions through, the Board was determined to use this project to build and strengthen the community of residents.
The process of reaching agreement between the members of the Condominium Association took the form of three Condominium Association General Meetings and a constant communication effort with the residents by answering all the residents’ questions and objections one by one via email, over the course of three months.
One of the Condominium Association General Meetings included a presentation of the projects by the installer – Rushford Solar.
Reaching agreement also included agreeing to the request of one main opponent of the project to hire an expert to evaluate the selected vendor.
Funding the Project
According to Rushforth Solar, the cost of a residential solar hot water system is between $100 and $150 per square foot., depending on the size of the array.
The total cost of this project was a little over $46,000. This cost includes the cost for the services of a structural engineer and a roofing company to ensure that the roof structure could support the weight of the 17 solar water heating panels and address any existing roof leaks.
Of the total cost of the project, $6,250 was covered by a grant from the Sustainable Development Fund created by the Public Utility Commission. Two Condominium Board members agreed to pre-pay their condominium fees. That provided the difference between the accumulated reserves and the total cost of the project.
In return, each Condominium Association member receives:
- A 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit.
- A 15% State tax credit liability.
Components of Solar Hot Water Heating System
1. The solar collectors which collect the heat from the sun.
- The technology of solar thermal collectors is been well proven over multiple generations.
2. Storage tanks to store the heated water until needed.
- The rule of thumb for solar hot water storage is to store at least one day’s worth of solar pre-heated water. Because the Philadelphia area has substantial cloudy periods, Rushforth Solar suggests planning for 2 days or more of hot water storage. For a 20-units apartment building where each resident requires 50 Gal of hot water/day, this translate into a 2,000 to 2,500 Gal tank. You will need room in the basement or on a first floor concrete slab to hold a large tank containing water by the solar panels
3. System piping & controls. That include:
- Pipes between the solar collector arrays installed on the roof and the solar drainback tank in the basement.
- The pump that circulates hot water from the solar collector arrays to the pressurized heat exchanger tank.
- Temperature sensor
The installation:
From the initial inspection of the building and from the subsequent review by a structural engineer, it became apparent that the Elkins Court building was well suited to support a solar water hearting system:
- The flat roof provided ample space and enabled to install South facing solar panels. 
- The roof beams were oversized and well capable of supporting the additional weight of the solar panels.
- Rushforth Solar determined that an unused incinerator flue that links the basement to the roof could be used to run the pipes carrying the water heated in the solar arrays to the basement storage tanks.
- One of the key elements of a solar water heating system for a residential building of the size of Elkins Court is finding a location for the large water storage tank where the heat exchange between a heat carrying fluid and the water distribution system occurs. It turns out that right next to the basement room where the existing boiler is located, there is another sizable unused room perfectly suited to house that storage tank.
All the structural Components required for installing a solar water heating system were in place.
How does a Solar Hot Water systems works?
The solar collector arrays mounted on the roof are oriented to absorb as much heat from the sun as possible. When the solar collectors on the roof are hotter than the water in the solar drainback tank, the pump turns on to circulate water through the solar collectors.
When the collectors are no longer hotter than the tank, the pump turns off and the water in the collectors drains back into the insulated solar drainback tank.
As hot tap water is drawn in the building, water in the heat exchanger tank that has been warming up for a while, flows to the existing hot water heater. The existing gas, oil or electric heater which stays in place, gets fed with water pre-warmed from the sun, so it needs less fuel to do its job. The water in the water drain back system stays in the solar drainback system, and never mixes with the potable water in the domestic hot water system.
For more details on solar hot water systems see:
http://www.rushforthsolar.com/nuts.html
Installation high level tasks:
- Securely install the Solar Arrays on the roof
- Run the pipes that bring the fluid (in this case water) heated by the solar arrays to the heat exchange storage tank in the basement through the unused flue
- Insulate the flue where the pipes carrying the water heated by the solar arrays from the roof to the storage tank located in the building basement.
- Install the heat exchange and hot water storage tank in the basement.
- Connect the pipes carrying water heated by the solar arrays with the existing gaz hot water boiler to the plumbing system of the building.
Outcomes and next steps:
The installation process took about 45 days to complete from the beginning of work to when residents could turn on their hot water faucet and enjoy the benefits of solar heated water.
A realistic fuel saving goal for a large size solar water heated system is a reduction in hot water fuel use by 50 to 55%. Rushforth Solar shows that one of their installations produced a 79% reduction in a year to year comparison of hot water fuel use.
The next step for the Elkins Court building was to insulate the existing hot water tank and pipes. Since the building was built in the 1920’s the existing knob and tube electric wiring will need to be replaced with new wiring before we can insulate under the roof. That would be a logical next step in the Condominium Association pursuit of increasing the energy efficiency of their residence.
Three questions remain:
- Why should you care at all to make your residence green?
- What do you do when your Condominium Real Estate Management Company is not proactive in reducing the building energy and heating costs?
- How will the residents of Elkins Court continue building their community?
Why Should I care?
If the raising cost of gas and the economic crisis are not enough reasons for your Board to want to get more for your money, then consider this:
In January of 2011, utility rates in Pennsylvania will be totally deregulated. According to an article in the Pottstown Mercury News quoting a PECO Senior Vice President, we should expect an 18 to 20% jump in PECO’s electricity rates ( see Peco Rates Hike). That estimate of an 18 to 20% increase was before the financial crisis.
The time to prepare for this energy cost increase is now.
Your Real Estate Management Company is actively resisting your efforts to go Green
When it comes to improving the energy efficiency of Condominium Residences, Real Estate Management Companies are actively passive aggressive.
Here is an interesting fact reported by Steve Ettinger:
A 2008 a Condominium Management Conference that took place in Valley Forge had a session that Steve partly attended, lead by a lawyer on how to actively resist a Condominium Association that wants to go Green!!!
On the question of what to do when your Condominium Real Estate Management Company is not proactive in reducing the building energy and heating cost, I hope that the tale of persistence of Elkins Court Condominium Association will be an inspiration for you.
My suggestions are:
- Do your due diligence first – and be persistent asking for the information you want.
If it is clear that your Real Estate Management Company is busy maintaining the status quo and missing significant opportunities to keep your costs low,… - Get organized, strategize, consult outside advisers, plan
- Get rid of them and take over the day to day management of your residence.
That will mean lots of work for the Board and an incredible opportunity for the residents to come together as a community.
There is nothing that a Real Estate Management Company does that a dedicated team of residents with the support of their community cannot do at least as well. That is one of the key lessons of the Elkins Court story.
Building Community
I think the Elkins Court residents have felt that the power of being and acting together and I expect that they will keep on improving their residence and enjoy each others’ company.
What does building Community means?
It means building relationships that extend beyond the fact that a bunch of people happen to live in the same building. Building community requires physical proximity, frequent communication and multiple positive interactions as a group.
As to the communication aspect, consider opening a Yahoo Group or a Google Group that will provide you with the facility for tracking email discussion threads, sharing documents and schedule meetings. It is easy to setup and it is free.
Remember, answering every question from Condominium Association members via email on the solar water heater project was key to getting all of Elkins Court residents to support the project.
As to the multiple positive group interactions simple events such as potluck dinners, discussion groups, ride sharing, etc… work. Give it a try.
Steve likes to contrast the two German concepts of “Gesellshaft” vs. “Gemeinshaft”.
Company vs. Community. What happened in the Elkins Court story is that the Community realized it could better serve its common interest than what the Company they were paying was doing for them. We spend the past three hundred years dismantling Community and building prosperous Companies. It is time to build Community again.
February 8, 2009 at 9:29 am |
My daughter will be attending grad school at the Univ of Penn. Could you tell me are there any “green apt buildings” near this University? Perhaps a short trolley ride from the school. We’re from Chicago and we now have many greenbuildings in our Loop.I’ve attempted to find them onmy own and have had no luck.
February 16, 2009 at 12:13 am |
Hello Nancy:
Great question.
I do not know of any green apt building nearby UPenn.
I do know that UPenn is aiming to have all new buildings to be Silver LEED certified.
I would look for UPenn newest on campus housing.
Here is an interactive map of all of UPenn new building projects:
http://www.pennconnects.upenn.edu/interactive_map/interactive_map.php
Check out the projects in the Residential category.