The multifamily building evaluation project

In 1991 the New York State Energy Office embarked on a comprehensive multi-year study of multifamily housing in New York City. The principal objective of the evaluation was to determine the degree to which new windows and boiler/burner retrofits installed in 22 multifamily buildings located in the New York City region save energy and whether the savings persist over a minimum of two years. Window and boiler retrofits were selected because they are popular measures and are frequently implemented with assistance from government and utility energy programs. Approaches prospectively, energy consumption monitoring and a series of on-site inspections helped explain why energy savings exceeded or fell short of expectations. In 1993, the scope of the evaluation expanded to include the monitoring of domestic hot water (DHW) consumption in order to better understand the sizing of combined heating/DHW boilers and water consumption patterns. The evaluation was one of ten proposals selected from over 100 candidates in a nationwide competition for a US Department of Energy Building Efficiency Program Grant. The Energy Office managed the project, analyzed the data and prepared the reports, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory served as technical advisor, and EME Group (New York City) installed meters and dataloggers, collected data, and inspected the retrofits. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority collaborated with the Energy Office on the DHW monitoring component. Results did not always follow predictable patterns. Some buildings far exceeded energy saving estimates while others experienced an increase in consumption. Persistence patterns were mixed. Some buildings showed a steady decline in energy savings while others demonstrated a continual improvement. A clear advantage of the research design was a frequent ability to explain results