According to Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA), Marc Zuluaga, a VP and the director of the firm's Multifamily Energy Services, has received the EBie Award from the Urban Green Council. Zuluaga, along with partners John Boehm and David Legow (Legow Management), were honored with a "Verdant Brainiac" award for the Carlyle Towers project. The "Verdant Brainiac" recognizes "the most innovative green renovation project, particularly one that overcame significant barriers (cost, institutional, technological) in a manner that is scalable."
Carlyle Towers in West Caldwell, N.J. was one of the first buildings in the country to undergo a comprehensive ventilation retrofit to improve both energy and indoor air quality performance. Results of this project have already been scaled up and implemented in 5,000+ apartments in the NYC metropolitan region alone. In August of 2008, the kitchen and bathroom exhaust ventilation system at Carlyle Towers in West Caldwell, NJ was upgraded with Constant Airflow Regulators (CARs) to balance ventilation flows and the AEROSEAL system to reduce shaft leakage. Implementing the retrofit resulted in a 30% reduction in gas use for space heating that has been consistent several years after the retrofit.
Zuluaga has directed energy audits on over 20,000 million s/f of existing buildings and leads a team committed to applying a rigorous technical approach to the evaluation and implementation of a wide range of building upgrades. Zuluaga was also the project manager for the Deutsche Bank / Living Cities Energy Efficiency Data Report Project. The primary goal of the project was to measure the actual energy savings of 100+ retrofit projects in order to develop the data necessary for underwriters to rationally lend against future energy savings.
The EBies are an array of awards conferred by the Urban Green Council on high performing existing buildings and the people who make those projects possible. Finalists competed in such categories as "The Smooth Operator," "Shine a Light on Me," and "The Reformed Drinker." Projects are awarded on the basis of "measurable improvements in performance," whether through renovations, retrofitting, retro-commissioning, upgrades, tenant or building operator education, or improvements in operation and management. The awards were presented on June 28 with a gala event at the Hard Rock Café Theatre in New York City.
The goal of the EBies is both to shine a light and to place a premium on the work performed on existing buildings nationwide that otherwise often goes unnoticed or is seen as pedestrian, in comparison to the glamour of designing and constructing new buildings. While awards and accolades for the creation of new high performing buildings are plentiful, the area in which the most energy can be saved is in improving buildings that already stand.
A non-profit organization established in 2001, Urban Green is funded by contributions from foundations, its 1,100 members, and over 50 corporate sponsors. The organization's goal is to help transform the built environment in New York City with models that can be replicated in urban centers nationwide.

About Steven Winter Associates, Inc.
Steven Winter Associates, Inc. provides research, consulting and advisory services to improve commercial, residential and multifamily built environments for private and public sector clients. We specialize in energy, sustainability and accessibility consulting as well as certification, research & development and compliance services. Our engineers and architects have led the way since 1972 in the development of best practices to achieve high performance buildings. As a matter of course, we collaborate with our clients to produce the most cost-effective and innovative solutions. For more information, visit www.swinter.com. Tags: