We just wanted to tell our readers how much we LOVE greening historic buildings.
We have really become the experts out in the field when it comes to greening historic buildings – it sort of happened by accident because most of the buildings being rehabbed in Buffalo are historic!!
But time and experiences in these amazing buildings have really helped us gather all of the tools and knowledge that it takes to successfully push through the energy efficiency process in conjunction with the historic preservation requirements. The two really come together quite nicely and it is always great to see a historic building brought back to life. Preserving and reusing our older structures is a great way to save energy and help maintain the wonderful historic fabric, character and intricate detail that is no longer found in new construction. They are built to last and contrary to what some people think – they are often more efficient than new buildings!
Here are a photos of just a couple buildings that we have been involved with that are historic and energy efficient! We also have a lot more in our pipeline that should be coming through very soon. We also added external news links (click on the green colored title) for a couple of the buildings.
There are incentives right now that can give you up to $1,200 per apartment unit for installing energy efficiency measures.This is a BIG deal. Not only can you reduce your bottom line but you can make your residents more comfortable, healthier and happier.
Give us a call for more info – 716.677.4899
Here is the multifamily program incentive breakdown!
NYSERDA Multifamily Performance Program: Available for buildings of 5 units or more
Existing Building incentive of $600/apartment – up to $1,200/apartment
New Construction/Gut Rehab incentives are $1.50/sf plus
GJGNY financing available – 50% rate buy-down
15% energy savings goal required
Here is an example of a multifamily building. This is located in Manchester, New Hampshire, we spend a lot of time there doing audits and energy efficiency implementation.
NYSERDA wanted to highlight our company’s success as a way to bring in more NYSERDA partners that help implement, support and promote the NYSERDA programs and general energy efficiency into both the existing built environment and new construction.
We wanted to put together a short list of basically every incentive program out there for residential and commercial buildings including federal, state and utility incentives. Here they are! Call us if you want to take advantage. 716.677.4899.
Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs – 2012
Federal Incentive Programs – Commercial
A tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot is available to commercial building owners that save at least 50% of the building energy use over ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001. Partial deductions of up to $.60 per square foot can be taken for measures affecting any one of three building systems: the building envelope, lighting, or heating and cooling systems. The subsystem energy saving targets are; 20% for interior lighting, 20% for HVAC, and 10% for building envelope.
State Incentive Programs – Residential
Home Performance with Energy Star – Available for 1-4 family homes
Existing Building only
Incentive is 50% of eligible measures up to $2,500 per unit for affordable housing
10% rebates for market rate homes
Low-interest financing is available at 3.49% and 2.99%
Free or reduced-cost energy audits are available
Multifamily Performance Program – Available for buildings of 5 units or more
Existing Building incentive of $600/apartment
New Construction/Gut Rehab incentives are $1.50/sf plus
GJGNY financing available – 50% rate buy-down
15% energy savings goal required
Energy Star Homes Program – Available for single and multi-family buildings
New Construction/Gut Rehab projects only
Incentives up to $2,500 per dwelling unit
Up to $2,000 tax credit for eligible builders
30% Co-Op advertising incentive for builder
Building receives EPA Energy Star Label
Green Residential Building Program – Available for buildings up to 11 units
New Construction/Gut Rehab projects only
Incentives of $3.75/sf
Typically combined with ES Home incentives
LEED or NAHB Silver Certification Required
State Incentive Programs – Commercial
Existing Facilities Program – Commercial buildings of all types
Fixed rebate amount for efficient equipment upgrades
Simple application process
Customized incentive amounts depend on total energy saved
Energy analysis required to document savings
Utility Incentive Programs – Residential and Commercial
The Utility providers (National Fuel, National Grid, NYSEG, and RG&E) have their own rebate programs for both residential and commercial buildings. There are generally two types of rebates: prescriptive and customized.
Prescriptive Rebates
Fixed rebate amount for efficient equipment upgrades
Simple application process
Equipment must meet Utility-defined efficiency levels
Customized Rebates
Rebate amount depends on amount of energy saved
Energy analysis required to document savings
Allows for rebates from measures other than equipment upgrades
Eligible Measures:
Although each program has a unique set of requirements, they generally provide incentives for high-efficiency equipment and other energy-saving upgrades to the building including:
Heating System Replacement
Insulation
Lighting Upgrades
Weather Stripping
Air Sealing
Hot Water Heater Upgrades
Low-Flow Water Devices
Energy Star Refrigerators
For more information about these incentive programs call (716) 677-4899
Buffalo Energy is now on Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Youtube. We want you to be our friend and connect with us!
Flickr- This is a great photo sharing site that we plan to add a lot of content to. Right now there is one file but it will get bigger and better, we promise!
We tweet using #energyefficiency or #energygeek A LOT.
Facebook - Everyone should join the facebook and start getting their friends/family to “like” the page. There is a lot of info on our facebook about what we are up to and building ideas/articles we like.
Pinterest- Pinterest is AWESOME. We can upload photos to our boards (think pinning photos on a pin board) and the whole world can see them. This is a great way to push energy efficiency as a whole which will make our industry more productive. We will be adding photos on building science stuff, funny things we see in buildings, home improvement ideas and more.
We have been working over the last six months to solidify our message, make over our website, make sleek, hip marketing materials and to really brand ourselves. It has been a lot of fun! We will continue to share things with you as they come online.
Here is our new postcard. (model cred: Bernice)
The back has all the “about us” on it. See below for the text.
About Buffalo Energy
Our mission is to identify and implement cost-effective solutions to reduce energy use in buildings while leveraging available incentive programs.
As building performance contractors, we specialize in air-sealing residential, commercial and historic buildings throughout the northeast.
For new construction projects, we help design teams evaluate the air barrier details then implement and verify building tightness levels. In existing buildings, we use diagnostic equipment like blower doors and infrared cameras to identify and prioritize air leakage zones. Then we seal these areas and re-test to document results.
Buffalo Energy specializes in air sealing because it:
Fred, Michael and I (Bernice) traveled to Boston last week to attend the NESEA Building Energy Conference. We had a blast. We learned a lot of information about air leakage testing in large buildings, why modeling is silly, exterior cladding, historic preservation, cool iphone apps to use on an energy audit and more! We also spent a lot of time talking and building relationships with a lot of the other professionals in our industry.
I was honored to be a part of the keynote experience along side with Robert Leaver, John Abrams and Chris Benedict. You can read my speech here. What an amazing experience. Next year for BE13, we are going to get Fred and Michael to do an all day training session of some sort.. details will follow soon.
If you haven’t been to a NESEA Building Energy Conference than you are really missing out. The conference covers all aspects of buildings including single family, multifamily, renewable technologies, energy saving results, financing energy retrofits.. and the list goes on and on. Its fun. Its hip. Its innovative. NESEA is a really first class conference.
This year, Buffalo Energy is proud to announce that we are sponsoring the multifamily track which is part organized by Bernice Radle, a young, enthusiastic lady who joined us just over a year ago. We are thrilled to be a sponsor of this track and are very pleased with the sessions which include historical retrofitting, a session on results seen across the Northeast, financing and more. It is really a slam dunk track!
We also have other big news about NESEA! Bernice Radle will also be a part of the Keynote Experience! She will be discussing the idea of cities and having a whole systems thought process when it comes to sustainability. High performance buildings are only one part of the equation… when will we begin thinking about how to address policy and proote high performance urbanism along with our energy efficient buildings?!!??
Bernice will be speaking alongside with Chris Benedict and John Abrams during this keynote experience. Both who are extremely smart and are doing amazing things in the building energy world. Its a big deal and we are excited!
We hope you will go to the conference. It will be super fun and is really worth going on so many levels.
People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) has announced their newest energy efficiency endeavor : PUSH Green!
PUSH is targeting low income areas to push for energy efficiency upgrades using the GJGNY legislation. They will explain the options and opportunities the home owners have to reduce their utility costs and improve the durability and safety of their homes. This is great news for the region and for the energy efficiency industry because of their ability to reach out and cover large ground. This work will also help to increase green jobs in the region!
Buffalo Energy is thrilled to be working with PUSH and to have been active in partnering with them over the years. We continue to work with them on their new projects, providing HERS Ratings for several projects on Mass avenue within the PUSH Green Development zone.
Here is an article from the Buffalo News explaining PUSH Green.
Lastly, here is a photo Bernice took of one of the buildings PUSH is currently working on. Great project! This will be a key focal point for the Mass Ave/Chenango neighborhood and it’s energy efficient!
We are working together with New Buffalo Brewing, HUNT real estate and Preservation Studios to get the most incentive dollars to make this project work. We are excited and thankful to Chris @ Hunt real estate for bringing us all to the table.
We love energy efficiency and historical buildings and we also LOVE beer. We are thrilled to see Buffalo finally getting local micro breweries and be a part of Buffalo’s progress.
This picture was taken a few weeks ago. We swear we have more growlers now. A new growler picture will be posted soon.
The Touraine: Downtown Buffalo, NY
