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APRIL 2019 $3.95

The Beresford

The El Dorado

TheEnergy

Pioneersof West DREAM TEAM: (left to right) William Zoha, president of Prescient Energy Corporation; Alex Kalajian, COO of Solstice Residential Group; Frank Simuneic, board treasurer of ; John Phufas, board president of the Beresford; and Mario Dusevic, resident manager of the Beresford.

The Beresford

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GrandesThe of ForwardDames Thinking The Beresford and the El Dorado Install Cutting-Edge Technology to Shave Electricity Bills

BY FRANK LOVECE • PHOTOS BY LORENZO CINIGLIO

WWW.HABITATMAG.COM April 2019 | HABITAT 21 hey don’t look the so. As you drive down part. The Beresford energy costs over a period and the El Dorado, of time, you’re going two prewar jewels on recover the cost of the Central Park West investment you made.” Tdesigned by the famed architect Those sound business , look more like grandes fundamentals have saved dames than forward-thinking energy millions of dollars over pioneers. But don’t be fooled by the past decade. The lat- these buildings’ regal appearances. est upgrades, including After installing energy-saving LED LED lighting and cogen lights, cogen power plants and other systems, have added to upgrades, the Beresford and the El the savings: $175,000 Dorado are now taking the ultimate a year at the Beresford step into energy-efficiency: they’re and $375,000 at the installing battery energy-storage sys- El Dorado. And those tems, known as BESS, cutting-edge numbers are about to get technology that will help them shave much, much bigger. a big chunk off their electricity bills. For these two storied old co-ops, How It Began new is good, and the future is now. Nearly 10 years ago, ENERGY MISER: John the Beresford switched Phufas, board president No More Tired Excuses from using No. 6 fuel of the Beresford, with the “The driver for all this is that we oil to natural gas. That building's cogen system. wanted to create a way for co-ops alone, says Phufas, and condos to be able to reduce their a corporate and tax predominantly set energy costs,” attorney, has saved says Alex Kalajian, chief operating millions of dollars in heating costs that drives a cooling system – “and officer and co-founder of the Solstice over the years. The El Dorado, whose installing a second cogen unit,” says Residential Group, which manages landmarked exterior had undergone Kalajian, the property manager. The both buildings. “The only way you a particularly expensive window- result is free air-conditioning after can really attack that is by not accept- replacement project late last decade, payback on the initial investment. ing the traditional answers about converted from oil to gas around 2014. Upfront costs for the second cogen energy: ‘It’s a prewar building, it’s a A year or two later, both co-ops unit and the absorption chiller were steam-heat building, there’s not much installed gas-fired cogen units to high, however – $1 million, before you can do.’ We just kept hearing generate some of the buildings’ elec- incentives, says William Zoha, presi- these mundane responses.” tricity and produce heat for hot water. dent of Prescient Energy, a consultant And the co-op boards at the 183-unit The Beresford’s unit has a payback hired by both co-ops. The Beresford Beresford and the 203-unit El Dorado, time of three years. “The base cost went into contract for trigen in to their credit, rejected those tired old was around $550,000, but the net February and expects to have it operat- excuses. Instead, they have embraced cost was around $320,000,” Phufas ing by late 2019. The El Dorado is in technology that has already sliced says. The contracts required Aegis the process of installing it, with testing costs widely regarded as “fixed.” Energy, the manufacturer, to also act to follow before full implementation. John M. Phufas, president of the as the contractor and take on the risk Beresford’s board, estimates that the of obtaining the incentive from the BESS Choices steps the two co-ops are taking will New York State Energy Research and The innovative next step was add- ultimately reduce energy costs by a Development Authority. ing a battery energy-storage system, significant amount – “from 10 percent “You don’t want to be in the posi- which can store energy either from [of the budget] to under 5 percent.” tion where it’s, ‘Sorry, you paid half the Con Edison electrical grid, solar “Very sound business fundamentals a million, but you didn’t do this one panels on the roof, or a cogen plant in support these initiatives,” says Cathy little technical thing and you’re not the basement – then release it for use Klema, the El Dorado’s board presi- entitled to the incentive,’” Phufas says. during peak electrical-demand peri- dent. “We want to do the right thing in After both co-ops had installed ods, when electricity costs the most. terms of environmental sustainability cogen, the boards took an innova- It’s similar to how some people set while driving energy costs down. tive next step: trigeneration. “Trigen their dishwashers to run in the early- The goal is not just to do good for the means taking an absorption chiller” morning hours, when energy demand sake of doing good but to derive dis- – a refrigeration unit that converts is low and electricity costs less than cernible financial benefit from doing heat from the cogen unit into energy during peak hours.

22 HABITAT | April 2019 WWW.HABITATMAG.COM The El Dorado is paying for these projects from its reserve fund, Klema, the board president, says. Each of the two cogen units benefited from a roughly $150,000 NYSERDA incentive. At the Beresford, says Phufas, “it’s all been financed out of cash flow,” meaning maintenance, flip taxes, and alteration fees. “We didn’t do any dedicated loans,’’ he adds. “We refinanced the underly- ing mortgage three years ago, and we’ve always had a more than adequate line of credit.” Building a Consensus Was it hard to gain a board con- sensus for such pricey projects? The El Dorado board has a seven- EL DORADO DUO: Bill Minihan, (left) member facilities committee, resident manager, and Alex Kalajian, made up of both board members COO of Solstice Residential Group, in and other shareholders. “Cogen the basement of the El Dorado. was vigorously debated at that committee and unanimously endorsed,” Klema says. That recom- 30-minute period is during a lower- mendation went to the full board, BESS technology itself is actually demand, less-expensive time of day. which reached consensus to approve. pretty simple: A battery energy-stor- “If you can shave that peak, “I provide a community letter to age system is just a metal cabinet with you can reduce that bill,” says Lee shareholders every quarter, and cogen a rack of rechargeable batteries, simi- Vardakas, head of Aegis Energy has been heavily covered in that.” lar to those in a cellphone, only bigger. Services, the manufacturer, which It was a little tougher at the There are many types, but generally installed the cogen systems at the El Beresford. Speaking generally about only two that the Fire Department of Dorado and the Beresford and will co-op and condo boards, Phufas says: New York (FDNY) allows: lead-acid, connect them to their battery arrays. “Boards for the most part are com- as in most cars, and lithium-ion, as in Though the co-ops have yet to posed of individuals who often lack most laptops. Per FDNY regulations, apply for permits from the FDNY real-world business experience, so buildings can install lithium-ion bat- or the Department of Buildings, the they look to management companies teries only outdoors, while lead-acid technical end is proceeding apace. for guidance. Management companies batteries can be kept indoors. A battery “We’ve piqued the interest of the are good at collecting maintenance array for a building of these sizes costs conglomerate Siemens, and they’ve and paying bills, but most have little about $300,000, with an estimated agreed to develop a microgrid for us expertise in transforming to a 21st- payback period of about two years, at the Beresford, to be duplicated at century industry. I think there’s a says the Beresford’s Phufas. the El Dorado,” says Kalajian, the real need to educate board members Here’s how the savings work. Con property manager. That will create a throughout the city.” Edison built the electrical grid, and programmer – a software algorithm Phufas adds that educating his fel- so it charges for delivery even if a – to deploy the system at the most low directors involved a process: building gets its electricity through efficient rate. “Doing your homework, producing an energy service company, known The Beresford board is meeting with accurate spreadsheets, giving them as an ESCO. Each month’s charges engineers from Siemens as well as expert testimony. Before you convince are based on the building’s highest from the cogen and the BESS equip- them, you have to educate them.” 30-minute period of demand. In other ment manufacturers to finalize the Once educated, the boards of these words, what Con Ed charges per kilo- interconnections between these compo- storied co-ops quit making excuses watt hour is based on the price of the nents and the controller – the electronic and became energy pioneers. Other 30-minute period when a building used brain that coordinates their functions. boards can now follow the trail they the most electricity. Since that’s usu- “Only then can we calculate the sav- blazed. In terms of both environmen- ally during the highest-demand – and ings, get final pricing from Siemens tal conservation and money in the most expensive – period, it’s possible for the controller, and look to see what bank, that trail leads to a place that is to save money if the building’s peak incentives are available,” Phufas says. very bright green. n

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