There are lessons we can learn from New York City, which was the first major city to have an energy benchmarking rule, requiring owners of large buildings to report (not necessarily, reduce) energy usage. Several years of data confirm what most New Yorkers know: most residents live in multifamily buildings 50 or more years old (built when energy was plentiful and cheap), using steam-generating boilers for heating. These systems are complex, not designed with efficiency in mind, and old, a bad combination. Many potential upgrades are complex and expensive, so most owners wait for the system to virtually break down before upgrading. In addition, many years ago there was very bad publicity about certain managers who intentionally withheld heat from tenants to get them to leave (to re-rent units at higher rates). To avoid such publicity, most owners now willingly incur the cost of inefficiency to give too much heat to tenants. It is not unusual to walk around NYC and see open windows when the outside temperature is well below freezing!

With this large housing stock and together with NYC Sustainability Office’s goal of reducing GHG emissions by 80% by 2050, there is impetus to promoting upgrades of cranky, ancient steam systems. Other cities are taking note. The USDOE estimates that 2.5 million multi-family buildings are steam-heated nationwide.

The key to achieving success in making steam systems in so many buildings more energy efficient is to convince owners to invest in them and demand results, a difficult matter to educate them on.

NYC’s Office of Sustainability estimates that if every large, steam-heated building in New York City performed only fairly simple upgrades, its building-based GHG emissions could be cut by about 5%. This includes annual tune-ups for boilers and burners and insulating pipes in steam or hot water service (including condensate return pipes). NYC has rules which mandate steam production when the outdoor temperature drops below a certain point. As a result, many control systems regulate boiler operation based on outdoor temperature only. However, more efficient control systems can react to indoor temperatures pinpointing areas to deliver steam in apartments that need it, closing certain radiator valves, if unnecessary. Some valve systems can be controlled by the tenant, allowing residents to control the steam flow to the unit rather than receiving full load and opening windows to the cold outdoor air.

Such simple actions to improve a steam system’s efficiency can reduce heating fuel use by about 15%, saving building owners $10,000 to $30,000 annually.

But besides the money savings, it’s important to show building owners that such upgrades are quite achievable and risk-free; teaching them that these simple steps have worked for others and will work in their systems. It’s important to counter the defeatist attitude of: “Oh, my system is so old, nothing will ever work to make it better!” Emphasize these steps are simple and will work successfully. While we, as engineers, understand that, it is difficult to express this to clients, as it is part of our nature to be careful and not overpromise, while they do not want to hear about risk.

CCES has the experts to help you evaluate your steam boiler system and recommend small or large upgrades to be more efficient, save utility costs, and provide assurance of comfort to your tenants. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.