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Case Study
Property Type: Commercial Mixed Use
Location: Northeast United States
Owner Concerns: Excessive natural gas consumption, water and sewer usage.
Consultants Response: a) Recommend on-site inspection of mechanical equipment rooms and each rentable space.
b) Review last 24 months of utility bills and water and sewer charges.
Consultants Recommendations:
Heating System: Boiler room consists of three boilers. One for each floor. All three boilers are on one gas meter. There are three electrical meters. Recommend the following: Separate gas meters for each boiler. Boilers two and three which correlate floors 2nd and 3rd and are residential apartments pay for their own heat. First floor commercial space has three tenants. One boiler and two electrical meters. Use remaining boiler for one tenant. Cap off or remove radiators in the other two spaces. Retrofit electrical circuits so this tenant has its own meter which is existing. Create one additional electric meter, separate circuits so all commercial tenants have their own meters. Add electric heat in two rentable spaces. Now all tenants have separate metering and heat. The common area is very small. Add two sections of electric heat in the entry. Separate circuits for common area and add additional electric meter (house meter). Approximate cost $10,000/$12,000. Cost savings 35% to 40%. Payback one year based on information provided. Landlord may have to re-negotiate rents or freeze rent increases to compensate for separate meters.
Domestic Hot Water: All the plumbing is interconnected and can be a nightmare to separate spaces for separate metering. The commercial spaces do not require much hot water use. The concern is with the residential spaces. There are three hot water heaters with one gas meter. This is an overkill. I was told at one time that there was a hair salon in one commercial space. Recommendation is as follows: Shutoff two hot water heaters keeping one in operation. There are three bathrooms in the residential spaces and one water heater should cover. In the future if a commercial space is rented out to a tenant that requires hot water put them on their own electrical HWH. All plumbing is accessible from the basement to the first floor. Have a professional shut off the HWH’s and cap off where appropriate. All HWH’s are interconnected with separate valves which makes an easy transition.
Summary
If client completes all recommendations as noted, a cost savings of 35% to 45% can be realized. Most items will have a payback of one year.
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