Solar panels at Bowdoin Street Apartments in Malden.
With the cost of home heating oil at more than $3 per gallon and electric bills rising, some of the region’s largest apartment owners are scrambling to winterize their apartments.
Winn Development, manager of 8,000 units in Greater Boston, is installing more than 1 megawatt of solar power in a pair of its developments in Malden and New Bedford. The Boston firm has set a goal of 50 percent energy savings by 2009.
“Like any homeowner, our utility costs are going through the roof, so we’ve examined our inventory and committed to do a better job at energy savings,” said Lawrence Curtis, Winn’s managing partner.
Saving energy is no longer just for the socially conscious. Today, the issue is on the front burner as businesses are hit by volatile energy prices. The benefits of going green offer property owners a source of low-cost power, stable rents for tenants, improvements to the property and a cleaner environment, according to proponents. It is estimated that retrofitting existing buildings can reduce energy consumption by 50 percent – and in some cases by as much as 95 percent.
Gregory Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, whose members include more than 7,500 real estate professionals, said big landlords such as Avalon Bay Communities and Equity Residential are building green from the ground up or retrofitting existing units.
“In 2002, the concept of green development was looked at as a great idea, but owners worried about cost,” said Vasil. “But in the last few years, developers who retrofitted older units are very cognizant of energy efficiency because it affects the bottom line. The cost of energy has increased so much, and landlords are trying to save money.”
‘The Little Things’
Michael Roberts, Avalon’s vice president of development, said while none of his buildings meet the stringent Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System certification, the Real Estate Investment Trust’s 51,118 apartments nationwide are built to green standards with Energy Star appliances and weather-tight windows with high insulation factors.
“We do the little things like having common-area lights on automatic timers, low-flow showers and toilets,” Roberts said. “But we also do the big things like energy-efficient HVAC systems.”
At Winn, Curtis said the company began a systematic examination of its properties two years ago to find ways to save energy. But the firm’s efforts were fast tracked when energy prices soared in the last year.
“The shocker of higher energy prices brought the issue center stage,” he said. “We’ve seen a dramatic payback by doing the low-tech stuff like replacing attic insulation that was ripped out by the cable guy and higher tech initiatives such as solar.”
Winn has spent $10 million for 850 kilowatt solar rooftop panels at 12 apartment complexes in New England that will heat common areas. Proponents say the panels can trim up to 80 percent from electricity bills.
Curtis said thanks to the Federal Energy Credit that offers tax incentives for improving the efficiency of commercial buildings and matching grants by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the state agency for renewable energy, the final bill for the panels was $4 million.
“It’s prudent to be sensible from an energy savings and a cost savings point of view, and we’ve done that,” Curtis said.
