| |
|
| Info Request |
|
Lancaster Joint Venture Conserves Energy in Building Businessby Melissa P. Nelson Two Lancaster County companies are combining their expertise in architectural design and energy technology to help building investors save money while keeping their clients comfortable. New energy saving techniques developed by EIC, Inc., Lancaster and Lawrence Dinoff Associates, Strasburg, were introduced in the Central Pennsylvania area in 1985. Since then, the companies have been honing their skills in retrofiting existing buildings to save energy costs, as well as helping to design energy efficient buildings bent on keeping the apartment renter, home-owner, or office space leasor warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The results have proven successful with energy retrofits that have predictable payback periods. While most oftheir work to date has been with multi-family dwellings, such as apartment complexes, the two companies have begun work with developers of single family units, as well as some retrofitting on existing commercial buildings. "The multi-family dwellings projects have shown us very good results," says Lawrence Dinoff. "It is a market that is not well served for finding and correcting energy problems," he adds. Taking his energy conservation experience in building design, Dinoff saw that many apartment complex owners were having difficulties with keeping their renters comfortable along with having to contend with high energy bills. "One of the biggest problems with a complex that is experiencing difficulties in energy conservation is a high turnover of renters," says Dinoff. "That hurts an investor or owner." While Dinoff was able to offer such developers and investors consulting services on building design changes, he could not provide the actual physical services that went along with the retrofitting projects. That is when he teamed-up with H. Edward Carr of EIC, Inc. As president of EIC, Carr is a consultant who has worked for several years with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources and the National Research Center of the National Association of Home Builders. Together, the companies provide a combined service that enables a developer or investor to see where he may be having problems with energy efficiency and correct the matter through redesign or retrofitting. "Where once a developer or building owner may have looked at correcting problems through piecemeal projects, such as adding insulation or putting on storm windows, we analyze every facet of energy consumption and physical designs to see where the entire problem lies," says Carr. One of the most successful projects to date for the companies was a retrofit package for the Helfrich Springs Apartments near Allentown. In 1986 the complex of 27 buildings was using about 5.7 kilowatts of electricity annually. The cost was nearly $500,000. A retrofit project suggested by EIC and Dinoff Associates help drop the electricity consumption by 20 percent, saving thousands of dollars annually. Payback for the $160,000 project was achieved in less than 18 months. Building owners want to see a quick payback in such projects because of bottom line profits, says Dinoff. The apartment complex at the village of Olde Hickory in Lancaster was also the site of a successful retrofit project for the companies. Before the analysis and retrofit project began, the complex managers had been plagued by renters complaining about cold apartments and high heating bills. An energy audit of the complex by EIC utilized sophisticated testing equipment including blower door pressurization, infrared scanning, digital thermometry, and trace gas, along with other testing devices. A computer model of energy usages was also done. In at least one of the apartments, the monthly electrical bill dropped by nearly 33 percent. "Builders are becoming more conscious of providing energy efficient homes," says Carr of single family dwellings. "If their homeowners aren't comfortable and are spending a lot on electrical bills, then no one is happy." "In the 1970s when we were in the midst of an energy crisis, people were really thinking about energy saving alternatives, but that thinking has not been prevalent in the past few years," he says of new building construction methods. "But as energy costs go up, as they probably will sometime again in the future, people will be searching for ways to improve their overall building designs for efficiency," Dinoff adds. The companies have teamed up to help improve energy efficiency in projects that include condominiums in Hershey, Spring Walk at Hilltop in Lancaster, West Ridge in Phoenixville, Valley Stream Village in Wayne County, and the Village Oak Knoll in Lancaster. While the companies have not yet tackled many commercial building projects for retrofit, they are anticipating that more builders will be searching for help in that area as well. "Most commercial and industrial buildings are more driven by their internal energy consumption needs," Dinoff says. "Such buildings use a lot of electricity for machinery and cooling and heating." At least in larger manufacturing situations, Dinoff says that energy efficiency will probably have to come from efficient equipment rather than retrofitting buildings. But, he also notes that retrofitting projects such as the ones completed by his business and EIC are showing patterns of energy consumption that may well provide technical information for other types of buildings as well. "Developers are fine tuning for energy efficiency to use that aspect as a selling tool," Dinoff says. "Comfort for renters and buyers can become a standard of excellence," he adds. Since the introduction of their new technologies for analyzing buildings for energy efficiency in 1985, the companies have seen their combined business efforts steadily grow. Because builders and developers have taken advantage of retrofit programs for their new and existing buildings, EIC/LDA have seen a marked growth in their combined services. "Between 1988 and 1989, we saw close to a doubling in our sales growth," says Carr. "We anticipate continued growth this year with probably a 20-25 percent increase in the energy auditing/consulting side of the business." EIC also projects a 20 to 25 percent increase in growth in their radon testing services. The company will add two new radon testing laboratories to their services in Willow Grove and the Lehigh Valley. Both agree that the Central Pennsylvania area, in experiencing continued growth, has been a good place to see their projects prosper. Central Penn Business Journal -- April 1989 Reprint |
EIC Incorporated Contact webmaster@eic-corp.net for technical support. |