Tenants and landlords can join forces to get incentives from Con Ed

Tenant spaces in commercial properties in New York City offer a significant, and largely untapped, opportunity for energy savings. While common areas in many office buildings, multi-tenant, and other commercial properties have been upgraded by building owners and managers, a large percentage of tenant spaces contain older, inefficient equipment that often wastes electricity and gas. In fact, tenants are responsible for consuming between 55-60% of a commercial building's total energy use, according to a recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The Con Edison Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Energy Efficiency Program, www.conEd.com/energysavings, can work with both tenants and landlords to reduce energy usage in leased spaces in the N.Y. metro region. The two groups have increasingly been working together to upgrade electrical and gas equipment, for a mutually beneficial reduction in operating costs. Following are a small sample of the energy efficiency incentives available for tenant spaces, through the Con Edison C&I program: * Occupancy sensors: These low-cost devices yield high energy savings and can be self-installed, and are eligible for C&I prescriptive incentives. * T-12 phase-out: Replacing obsolete and inefficient lighting is "low hanging fruit" which usually has a short payback period, especially when a Con Edison C&I incentive helps to offset the project cost. * Data Center upgrades: Tenants with data centers or server closets can receive performance-based C&I incentives to upgrade their computing and cooling equipment. * Energy studies: The C&I program can pay up to 50% of costs for energy studies, giving landlords an opportunity to work with tenants to understand building energy usage. Direct-metered tenants can typically initiate their own energy efficiency projects, while sub-metered tenants often work with their landlord to agree upon equipment and project scope, and distribution of costs and benefits. Tenants can save money directly by reducing their energy costs, often in as little as a year from the project's completion date. Landlords can improve their bottom line by improving their building's marketability. As more corporate lease-holders are becoming increasingly mindful of sustainability initiatives and lean operations, a high-performance building can be a strong selling point. The Con Edison Green Team has an energy efficiency program available for almost everyone. To learn more about the C&I program or to find out which program is right for you, call the Green Team at 1-877-860-6118 or visit www.conEd.com/energysavings. David Pospisil is program manager of Con Edison's Commercial & Industrial Energy Efficiency Program, New York, N.Y.