EIS Sustainability Audit Uncovers $750,000 Billing Irregularity
An EIS Sustainability Audit performed for the Leonori Condominium on Manhattan’s Upper East Side revealed uncommonly high electricity charges for the building’s public spaces. Investigating further, EIS found the culprit to be a subsidiary of cell phone giant AT&T. The company had rented cell tower space on the building roof since 1992 but never got around to installing its own electricity supply line. Instead the company was consuming about 70 percent of the building’s electricity each month at a cost to the residents, EIS estimates, of $40,000 per year, or a whopping $750,000 over the past 20 years. The oversight went unnoticed until current building agent Rudd Realty Management brought EIS in to examine energy use in the 113-year-old building. The 13-story Leonori, home to Hollywood stars and Wall Street titans, is suing AT&T to recover unpaid charges in full. The New York Daily News and Habitat Magazine are following the story.
Save Money & Reduce Your Carbon Footprint by Switching to Natural Gas
EIS has long been a proponent of switching buildings from heating oil to natural gas. Cleaner burning and less expensive, natural gas is an excellent option for buildings looking to substantially lower energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint. There has never been a better time to make the switch than right now. Habitat Magazine details the EIS role in a conversion at an upper east side condominium and supplies a project budget and timeline.
New York City regulations will phase out #6 oil by 2015 and #4 oil by 2030. Incentives and rebates are currently available from New York State and utility programs to defray the costs of conversion. As an approved partner with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) Multifamily Performance Program and Con Edison’s Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency Program, EIS is up to date on incentive program opportunities and requirements. Don’t let New York City’s requirements catch you off guard.
Talk to EIS today about the benefits your building can expect from converting from oil to natural gas.
Lewis Kwit to present at 32nd annual CNYC Housing Conference this fall
EIS president, Lewis Kwit, is scheduled to present again at this years Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums. Last year at the conference Lewis led two workshops dealing with sustainability as it impacts New York cooperatives and condominiums today and in the foreseeable future. Both sessions offered practical advice to buildings wishing to develop their sustainability portfolio, presented technologies that contribute to a sustainable living environment, and discussed public incentives available for implementing these protocols. Session panelists included Harry Vyas, New York City Department of Buildings, Michael Colgrove of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Greg Elcock of Con Edison, and Isabelle Silverman of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
CNYC 32nd Annual Housing Conference
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Baruch College, 55 Lexington Avenue @ 24th Street, New York, NY
Previous Presentations from Lewis:
CAPTURING GRAVITY: THE ENERGY IN YOUR ELEVATOR
BEING ‘GREEN’: THE NEXT GENERATION