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by Tim Mensalvas, Associate Project Manager, TRC (PG&E’s ESA CAM Marketing, Education, and Outreach Lead)
Climate Change & Energy
Article
July 22, 2022
Topic
Energy efficiency retrofits at multifamily properties benefit several stakeholders from tenants and property owners to developers and contractors. Retrofitted building systems that require less energy to operate can reduce customer utility bills, lower property maintenance costs, enhance tenant quality of life, and make communities more sustainable and safer.
First, let’s start with the basics: what is energy efficiency, and why should I care? Simply put, energy efficiency is using technology that requires less energy to perform the same function. Building systems that require more energy to function increase costs, simply from inefficient and outdated technology. Think of the age of your property as well as your lights, appliances, windows, insulation, HVAC systems, and water heaters. Any of these building systems, while still operational, can contribute to unnecessarily high property maintenance costs and tenant utility bills simply because they are older or use inefficient technology. So, the next question is, how do I know what needs upgrading and how much can I expect to save?
Through PG&E’s Energy Savings Assistance: Common Area Measures (ESA CAM) Program – an energy efficiency incentive program for affordable multifamily properties – participating properties receive free technical assistance such as an energy assessment, benchmarking, and bid support. This technical assistance helps participants identify cost effective retrofits for the property that are eligible for the program. Between 2018-2020, program participants saved an average of $10,319.35 on their 1st year utility bills from the energy efficiency upgrades the program recommended and incentivized, which includes: efficient lighting, HVAC, water heating, appliances, and building envelopes (e.g., windows and insulation).
With savings waiting to be uncovered, why not assess your building systems to help both owners and tenants save money while also improving efficiency? Facility upgrades such as these are often deferred because of the high capital investments required, or they are only conducted when a system or appliance reaches the end of its useful life – which can lead to even higher repair and replacement costs. Thankfully there is a robust network of energy efficiency incentive programs in California, like PG&E’s ESA CAM, that are available to property owners and/or managers for funding for these type of facility upgrades. There are also services that can help identify what program is the best fit for your property, such as PG&E’s Single Point of Contact, that can assist multifamily owners and residents identify current program and financing offerings for energy efficiency upgrades and construction.
Lastly, the benefits of energy efficiency go well beyond cost savings. Here’s a list of some important energy efficiency benefits for multifamily property owners:
Cost Benefits
Tenant Benefits
Health and Safety Benefits
Multifamily energy efficiency retrofits not only reduce energy bills and save costs, but they can also help to improve the quality of life for residents and communities!
Follow Multifamily Energy Program Hub on LinkedIn for the latest multifamily property related incentive updates as well as resources, articles, and discussions about reducing costs and energy use. This page will share major program announcements and resources from across the multifamily incentive space.