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Page 18 — Property Management Quarterly — January 2017
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The Denver rental market is
experiencing incredible growth,
and we’re helping our clients
make the most of it. But our
business isn’t built just for
the good times. For 25 years,
we’ve weathered our industry’s
boom-and-bust cycles, and
we’re prepared for the inevitable
correction that lies ahead.
Our strategy? Keep residents
happy and in place. It’s a game
plan that has worked for our
investors time and time again,
from minor downturns to the
Great Recession. Call Elkco
today and discover how we can
help you navigate whatever lies
ahead.
Elkco is committed to deliberate, steady growth. We’ve
carefully planned our expansion to make the most of
our years of expertise, allowing us to give each asset the
attention and focus it needs for maximum results.
Discover the difference a strategic, focused management
company can make for your bottom line.
Services Offered
Full service Senior/Retirement
Communities including housing
options for independent, Assisted
Living and Alzheimer Care
Conventional apartment
communities financed by HUD,
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, banks
and insurance companies
LIHTC communities
SEC8 based HUD communities
Boom Or Bust,
Our Leadership
Stays Strong.
energy retrofit achieves greater
energy savings by using a more
holistic, design-centered approach.
These projects are more extensive
and involve significant overhauls or
replacements of building systems.
Chartering Projects
A key step to chartering energy
projects is an integrated team char-
rette where key stakeholders and
experts are involved in an informa-
tive workshop to create realistic
and achievable energy goals and
objectives based on the building’s
life cycle and the individual energy
project’s life-cycle cost analysis.
Stakeholders may include the fol-
lowing individuals or disciplines:
• Ownership
• Building management
• Building engineers
• MEP engineers
• Structural engineer
• Utility representative
• Automation contractor
• Fire alarm contractor (Important
to include this group when develop-
ing scope for chiller retrofits related
to refrigerant release detection and
monitoring and BAS upgrades relat-
ed to smoke control.)
Discussion points for the work-
shop may include:
• Three-, five- and 10-year capital
plans.
• Ownership energy and sustain-
ability initiatives.
• Ownership anticipated invest-
ment term and return on invest-
ment expectations.
• MEP systems that are facing
impending failures, at or near the
end of their useful life expectancy,
or where parts are becoming obso-
lete and hard to find.
• Utility incentives.
• The building’s energy consump-
tion trends and benchmark data.
• Analyze energy and cost eco-
nomics.
• Individual project prioritization
and integration.
• Lessons learned from past proj-
ects.
Once the team has clearly defined
the projects, four important pro-
cess groups need to be considered
to ensure that the project meets its
performance and energy goals.
1. Plan. At the onset of a potential
project, it is important to gather
input from all key stakeholders to
determine existing capital plans in
place, challenges faced by opera-
tions and maintenance staff, and
related building concerns such as
comfort and indoor air quality.
The energy use should be bench-
marked and analyzed early in the
process to determine the potential
energy-savings opportunities. An
initial energy assessment will iden-
tify potential opportunities, includ-
ing the energy savings and cost
expectations. Goal setting in this
phase will help prioritize opportuni-
ties and focus the remaining phases
of the project.
2. Design. To finalize the scope of
the energy-upgrade project, detailed
energy savings and cost estimates
should be performed to confirm the
project budget and the expected
economics. For large upgrades, a
computer-simulated energy model
can be used to capture interactions
between various systems. An inte-
grated design process is key to pull
together information from team
members such as a contractor to
confirm the budget and the com-
missioning agent to begin reviewing
the system design. Having licensed
professionals design and engineer
system upgrades is important to
capture the whole system picture
and implement the best long-term
strategy.
3. Implement. Once the project is
developed and financing is in place,
implementation of changes can
begin. Modifications may occur in
one upgrade or in multiple phases.
Commissioning should be included
in this process to coordinate across
contractors, review submittals,
perform site observations, test
equipment operation and monitor
operation. Any necessary metering
upgrades should be installed at this
time along with integration of the
building automation system with
monitoring software to set the stage
for ongoing optimization.
4. Performance. With an integrated
design process, well-coordinated
implementation and thorough com-
missioning, the upgraded build-
ing will be ready for ongoing high
performance. To help confirm and
maintain this performance, ongo-
ing commissioning and monitoring
should be incorporated. If the BAS
has been integrated with monitor-
ing software during commission-
ing, ongoing commissioning can be
cost-effectively executed over the
first year of operation to confirm
operation during changing weather
and occupancy conditions.
Energy consumption also should
be monitored throughout the year
using demand interval data to eval-
uate the energy use post upgrade.
At the end of the first year, the
energy savings can be documented
and a new baseline set for com-
parison in future years. Throughout
operation, executing a proactive
maintenance plan will help ensure
the building stays on track with
project goals. s
Sustainability
Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado
The four process groups for a retrofit project