Incentives and technical expertise from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) are driving down the cost of doing business in the commercial real estate sector in the state.
Whether through support for a combined heat and power system in New York City, a new building project in Buffalo, process improvements in Canandaigua or a deep building retrofit in Syracuse, NYSERDA plays an important economic development role, as it helps companies improve their bottom lines by reducing energy costs.
In 2010, NYSERDA supported 2,800 commercial and industrial energy efficiency projects statewide, helping businesses reduce operating costs by $40 million, enhance their competitiveness and make the cost of doing business in New York more affordable.
Businesses that partner with NYSERDA to develop more environmentally sustainable business practices demonstrate their leadership. They recognize that NYSERDA is the one-stop shop for credible, accessible information on energy efficiency.
Recently, NYSERDA partnered with Vornado Realty Trust on an innovative combined heat and power (CHP) project at 1 Penn Plaza in Manhattan. The system is designed to offset the building's electricity and steam demand during the most expensive and energy-constrained hours. This investment is expected to yield substantial long-term savings in utility costs and contribute to the electric reliability for building tenants and the electricity grid for years to come.
In existing facilities statewide, NYSERDA incentives can be used for lighting retrofits, upgrades to motors, heating and cooling systems, energy management systems and other operations. Payback on these measures is approximately three to five years.
For new construction, NYSERDA provides technical support to building design teams and financial incentives to building owners statewide for using green building practices.
Through cost-shared technical assistance services, NYSERDA also helps commercial buildings in New York City comply with the Greener, Greater Buildings law, which requires owners to benchmark their buildings' energy and water consumption beginning this summer.
NYSERDA's FlexTech program, which provides cost-shared assistance for comprehensive, customized energy studies for commercial buildings, can also provide cost-shared benchmarking services. FlexTech also offers cost-shared assistance for energy audits, energy performance studies for existing buildings (retro-commissioning) and greenhouse gas emissions inventories.
For information about how you can participate in NYSERDA programs for commercial real estate visit http://www.nyserda.org/cre/static/incentives.html.
Robert Callender is the VP for operations and energy services at NYSERDA, Albany, N.Y. Tags: