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EN-POWER GROUP is proud to announce its new website. Our all new site features  a host of new features to better help our users explore our services.

• Entirely redesigned, responsive site
• Interactive hierarchical menus, so that every service is instantly accessible from anywhere on the site
• All new Case Studies section, instantly searchable by market
• Completely re-written Services section, with interactive accordions making it easy to drill down into detailed information about all our services
• And much more!

Designed by Seltzer Creative Group, our new website is the spearhead of a brand-new identity design for EN-POWER GROUP, which marks the start of a new era for our fast-growing business.

“Energy audits of multifamily buildings, now mandated in New York City for structures over 50,000-sq.-ft., typically identify a common set of cost-effective retrofits and operational modifications to reduce energy consumption. “This not about green roofs and solar panels,” Padian says. ‘It is about taking an existing building and making it work right.’ …The 20-story, 151-unit co-op at 180 East End Avenue, New York, is replacing antiquated steam boiler controls with Heat Timers with outdoor temperature resets. The old controls were causing boiler short cycling, which increased fuel consumption, says Michael Scorrano, managing director at the En-Power Group, Katonah, N.Y.

Alternatively, apartments can be outfitted with temperature sensors that communicate with the boiler. The controls adjust the hydronic loops better by either running the system longer or turning off pumps when the system has satisfied internal temperatures, Scorrano explains.”

To read the full March 1, 2010 article in Engineering News-Record New York >>>> click here 

A deep energy retrofit may seem daunting due to its required capital investment and time. Yet, a holistic, integrated retrofit plan was the key to The Fairview saving $503,000 annually on its energy bills. To share the challenges and solutions of this retrofit project, EN-POWER GROUP produced The Fairview: Deep Retrofits in Multifamily Residence forum at Building Energy Exchange (BE-Ex) on May 8th. This panel consisted of representatives from the building, engineering company, NYSERDA, and contractor, who worked on the facility’s gas conversion and installation of high efficiency chiller plant, pumps, domestic hot water heaters, building-wide and exterior lighting, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, and cogeneration (CHP). Speakers included:

• Greg Carlson, Property Manager, Fairview Owners Corp
• Michael Scorrano, PE, Managing Director, EN-POWER GROUP
• Dean Zias, Project Manager, NYSERDA
• Jeff Glick, Vice President of Sales, Tecogen

Moderated by Elizabeth Engoren, a Senior Energy Engineer and Business Development Associate at EN-POWER GROUP, the speakers discussed how to:

• Engage residents to support the project
• Select suitable, cost-effective equipment and technologies
• Tackle technical challenges of incorporating new equipment into existing building systems
• Identify applicable rebate and incentive programs for deep energy retrofit project

New York City recently passed the ambitious Climate Mobilization Act, a package of bills and resolutions that aims to significantly reduce the City’s greenhouse gas emissions and fight against climate change.

The Climate Mobilization Act includes the following local laws, introductions, and resolutions:

Local Law 97 (Intro. 1253) – Reducing Building Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Starting in 2024, buildings over 25,000 square feet will be mandated to meet carbon emission limits. Buildings that exceed their designated emission limits will face financial penalties, which can be significant depending on the facility. This law will also initiate an emissions trading system, which will be studied and outlined by January 1st, 2021. Such a study will examine pricing mechanisms and credit verification. In addition, the law will develop a system of renewable energy credits (RECs) limited to NYS electric generation for up to 10% of compliance with the emission limit of a building.

Local Law 96 (Intro. 1252) – Establishing a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program
NYC will establish a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program, which is a voluntary financing mechanism that provides low-cost, long-term funding for energy efficiency projects. Such a program will enable more building owners to implement clean energy measures and thus reduce NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Local Law 95 (Intro. 1251) – Adjusting Energy Letter Grade Ranges
Starting in 2020, buildings over 25,000 sqft must display their energy letter grades at all public entrances. The grade ranges have now been changed so the majority of buildings fall into the “D” grade category. The new letter grade ranges are:

Local Law 94 (Intro. 1032) – Requiring Green Roofs on NYC Buildings
New constructions and buildings undergoing certain major renovations will be required to include a green roof system or rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system.

Local Law 92 (Intro. 276) – Installing Green Roofs on Smaller Buildings
This bill will adjust requirements of Introduction 1032 for smaller buildings.

Local Law 93 (Intro. 1031) – Posting Information on the Installation of Green Roof  Systems
A newly established Office of Alternative Energy will be required to post on its website and share information regarding the installation of green roofs and other materials relating to green roof systems.

Resolution 66 – Green Roof Tax Abatement Resolution
This resolution calls upon the State Legislature to pass legislation that would increase property tax abatement for the installation of a green roof, incentivizing building owners to install green roofs.

Local Law 98 (Intro. 1317) – Clarifying the Inclusion of Large Wind Turbines
Department of Buildings (DOB) now has authority and obligation to develop clear standards for the design, construction, maintenance, and removal of large wind turbines in New York City.

Introduction 1318 – Replacement of Gas-Fired Power Plants
This bill mandates a feasibility evaluation of replacing NYC’s gas-fired power plants with battery storage systems powered by renewable sources.

Resolution 845 – Williams Pipeline Resolution
This resolution calls upon the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to deny the Water Quality Certification permit for the construction of the Williams pipelines.

Introduction 1527 – Imposing Fee for Paper Bags
Starting March 1, 2020, the City will require a 5-cent fee to be imposed on paper bags distributed by stores.

The Climate Mobilization Act is the largest legislative initiatives any major city has exerted efforts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, showing New York City’s commitment to combat climate change. The result of this Act is expected to be the equivalent of taking over one million cars off the road by 2030.

EN-POWER GROUP’s Managing Director and Founder, Michael Scorrano, was featured in Habitat’s June 2019 Issue.

Michael spoke about the importance of project management responsiveness, which is crucial when unexpected delays hit projects. He highlighted a recent building-wide gas conversion project that had been affected by the construction of NYC’s Second Avenue Subway and service delivery by Con Edison.  “… Delays happened, and the Board had to make a very big decision before the cooling season arrived; take a chance that we would be able to bring the new chiller onto the roof, or use the old equipment (and steam) for one more season.” To avoid service disruptions, EN-POWER held charrettes with all stakeholders: Con Edison, the Second Avenue Subway construction team, and the Board to ensure transparency between all parties and that a realistic timeline could be established and met. These stakeholder meetings lead to the creation of a contingency plan, which was ultimately adhered to in order to protect the building’s utility service and successfully avoid any service disruptions.

If you have a subscription to Habitat magazine, click here to review the article.

“1 Big Thing: Real Time Energy Management.

Say what? Also known as RTEM, it’s at the beginning stages of becoming something every co-op and condo will want. It’s a cutting-edge technology that collects live performance data about your building’s energy systems and equipment levels in real time. This data is continuously pushed to the cloud, where it is used to help reduce energy consumption and provide alerts about potential equipment anomalies.

And the point? To make sure your building is running right. Going beyond a typical fixed schedule of maintenance and on-the-fly fixes, RTEM can identify problems before a fix is required. It can also combine predictive forecasting and artificial intelligence so that a building’s systems can react to dynamic events, such as weather.

… Finding your ROI. As with any energy upgrade, the cost of RTEM has to be justified. The goal, says Thomas Morrisson, director of energy management at EN-POWER GROUP, is to monitor systems that will have the biggest impact on the bottom line of a building – usually heating and cooling. ‘That’s where you have the ability to make the most changes and drive the most energy savings,’ he says.

How it’s playing. 308 West 103rd Street has hopped on the RTEM bandwagon. This 73-unit co-op has just about finished converting its boiler from oil to gas, and in the process it had to upgrade its 40-year old boiler-control system. Halstead Management’s Barry Chafetz, the co-op’s property manager, ran the numbers: the central control system was going to cost about $34,000. When he added RTEM capabilities to the central control system, the cost rose to $50,344. But incentives of $15,000 from NYSERDA brought the cost back down to $35,241.

… About those incentives. The program – and the incentives – are vendor-based, rather than performance-based  This means that you will hire an approved vendor who specs out the needed RTEM hardware and software. NYSERDA’s basic plan for multifamily properties offers a cost share of up to 30 percent of the total project cost, plus an ongoing cost share for RTEM service contracts for up to five years. NYSERDA requires that you have at, the minimum, a one-year service contract. This covers monitoring, advising and general tweaking of your building systems from your vendor. NYSERDA has vetted and approved 75 vendors (you can find a list here), but only about 45 of them are active. If a vendor doesn’t submit at least two projects per year, it is de-activated from the list. To learn more about the program, click here.”

To read the full April 23, 2019 article in Habitat >>>> click here

Thomas Morrisson, Director of Energy Management at EN-POWER GROUP, spoke with Habitat Magazine about the benefits and challenges of residential building submetering.

“…when owners start to see accurate electric bills, they start to think twice about how much they are paying. Generally speaking, we find that residents reduce their electrical usage anywhere from 20 to 25 percent as a result of a submeter conversion.” Thomas outlines some of the logistical and physical installation challenges of submetering, including resident education.

“Once the meters were installed, the board began fielding questions from residents. ‘What does this all mean? What is a kilowatt/hour, and what is a kilowatt? How is the bill calculated? How do I read this bill? How do I read my meter?’ We scheduled several educational sessions to answer these questions, and we also explained what kind of things affected electrical consumption. We went over the items that were easy to change – like switching from incandescent to LED bulbs – as well as the more costly upgrades that would save electricity.”

To read the full June, 2019 article in Habitat >>>> click here