By Pat Coleman, Director of Special Projects
New Ecology, Inc. (NEI) recently performed an analysis of residents’ utility data in the first new construction property served by the Energize Delaware Affordable Multifamily Housing Program: Our Lady of Grace Village in Newark, DE. The analysis shows metered property-wide energy savings of 23% relative to the modeled performance of these homes meeting the baseline energy code. This improved performance delivers lower utility bills to households, enabling them to meet other critical needs.
Our Lady of Grace Village is composed of 60 affordable apartments in 12 townhome-style buildings plus a community building. With the support of the Energize Delaware program, which NEI manages, staff worked with the development team from the design phase in 2017 through completion of construction in 2020. All homes were awarded ENERGY STAR certification.
NEI enabled the design team to incorporate the requirements of the ENERGY STAR program into the project’s construction documents, and then served as the ENERGY STAR Rater to provide testing and verification services that helped contractors meet these objectives on the jobsite.
Each home is served by a gas-fired condensing furnace and central AC. Instantaneous gas-fired units provide hot water. A supply-side fresh air ventilator is also provided for each home, a rarity in the local market. After construction completion, NEI conducted a series of training sessions with management staff and created educational materials for residents regarding the operation of their homes.
The utility analysis focused on April 2020 to March 2021 and was relatively straightforward given that the property manager tracks utility usage through WegoWise. Of course, the current inflationary market, and the escalation of utility costs in particular, underscore the importance of building efficient homes from the start.
In addition to the savings delivered to tenants through the ENERGY STAR program, NEI was pleased to facilitate the procurement and installation of a solar PV system which offsets the owner-paid electric costs at the property. It is among the first renewable energy systems installed on affordable multifamily properties in Delaware.