CASE STUDIES
McElwain School Apartments
The McElwain New Construction building achieved a whole-building air infiltration of 0.027 Cubic Feet per Minute per Square Foot of Enclosure Area (CFM/SF); this measurement is the lowest whole-building air leakage rate that New Ecology has observed in 23 years!
Soundview Landing
Washington Village was a public housing development in South Norwalk, Connecticut, originally built in 1941. By 2016, Washington Village had reached the end of its useful life, and needed extensive updates and repairs to meet modern construction standards, code requirements, and other needs.
Treehouse at Easthampton Meadow
The Treehouse at Easthampton Meadow (Treehouse) is an intentional, intergenerational community that integrates family housing for households who have adopted children out of the foster system with households aged 55+ who agree to mentor the children.
Nonantum Village Place Apartments
Nonantum Village is an apartment building in Newton, Massachusetts for low-income elders. Built in 2004 with support of the HUD Section 202 Elderly Supportive Housing program, the 23,953 square foot building includes 35 one-bedroom, fully handicapped accessible units that allow residents to age in place comfortably and in community.
Carrington Way
Carrington Way is an affordable, 165-unit multifamily apartment complex located in Newark, Delaware. By 2020, the nearly 50 year-old development was showing its age and in desperate need of some energy efficient upgrades. The owner, Capital Realty Group, enrolled the complex in the Energize Delaware Affordable Multifamily Housing…
Finch Cambridge
Finch Cambridge is an exciting, newly-constructed 98-unit affordable housing apartment building located in Cambridge, MA. It is owned by Homeowner’s Rehab, Inc. (HRI), a non-profit owner and developer supporting diverse communities by developing and preserving affordable, high-quality housing. The team began the project with a lofty goal—design and construct a new, affordable housing development in Cambridge, that is both climate hazard resilient and…
Plaza on the Green
Plaza on the Green is a 157-unit senior housing complex located in Waterbury, CT. In 2014 New Ecology (NEI) conducted an ASHRAE Level II audit on the property for SHP Management Corp., which was then updated in 2017 with another site visit and analysis of updated utility usage…
Delaware State Housing Authority Climate Risk and Resiliency Assessment
In 2019, New Ecology, Inc. (NEI) was selected by the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) to conduct a first-in-the-nation, comprehensive Risk Analysis and Resiliency Assessment of the state-assisted affordable housing portfolio of 215 funded properties. NEI partnered with Linnean Solutions to provide complementary skills and capabilities…
Climate Hazard and Resilience Masterplan for Statewide Housing Resource
The Climate Hazard Adaptation and Resilience Masterplan (CHARM) project was a unique opportunity for the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to assess the climate risk to the public housing portfolio and residents in 240 communities, develop resilience design guidelines, and advance a strategic plan for implementation…
Remote Monitoring Eliminates the Need for a Service Call in a Senior Housing Development During the Coronavirus Pandemic
New Ecology’s ReMO system recently helped a building operations team save over $4,000 on service calls and avoid having contractors visit an affordable housing development that was being vigilant about social distancing to protect their residents, seniors and the mobility-impaired…
Bellevieu-Manchester Apartments
Bellevieu-Manchester Apartments was built in 1906, was last renovated in 1995 and has 48 affordable apartments for seniors. Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development selected New Ecology to provide auditing and project management for the Customer Investment Fund—MF Housing Energy Efficiency Retrofit pilot…
Zumix Community Music Center
Zumix is a non-profit cultural organization that provides free after school and summer enrichment programs for youth in the Greater Boston area. In May of 2005, Zumix was awarded the rights to renovate the former Engine Company 40 Firehouse at 260 Summer Street in East Boston, a 9000 SF building, into a state of the art music center…
Windsor Valley Apartments I and II
Windsor Valley I and II comprise 290 affordable, occupied townhouses in Edgewood, Maryland. New Ecology conducted an ASHRAE II energy audit for the property, resulting in energy and water efficiency recommendations. NEI facilitated an integrated design process for the project and conducted a detailed review of the design development set of plans and specifications…
Our Lady of Grace Apartments
Our Lady of Grace Location: Newark, DE • Units: 60 • Project Cost: $12 million • Owner: Our Lady of Grace Home • Architect: Haley Donovan Architecture • MEP: Summit Engineers PROJECT BACKGROUND Our Lady of Grace Apartments is a new construction project composed of 60 affordable apartments in 12…
Margaret-Bennett Homes
Margaret-Bennett Homes was built in the 1780s, and was last renovated in 1999. It provides 30 rooms for formerly homeless women. Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development selected New Ecology to provide auditing and project management for the Customer Investment Fund—MF Housing Energy Efficiency Retrofit pilot…
Liberty Court Apartments
Liberty Court Apartments consists of 100 affordable, newly constructed apartments on existing slabs in Dover, Delaware. The Delaware State Housing Authority selected New Ecology through a competitive RFP to provide technical assistance during design and construction of this state-owned public housing development being creatively financed with tax credits through a newly-formed LLC…
MassHousing Portfolio Assessment: Resiliency Planning
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme storms, exacerbating flooding, shifting precipitation patterns, and causing more heat waves throughout the United States and around the world. These climate change-related conditions disproportionately impact low-income communities…
The Anne M. Lynch Homes at Old Colony
Built in 1940, the Old Colony public housing development in South Boston was the Boston Housing Authority’s (BHA) largest property, and one of the most distressed with aging infrastructure and high energy consumption. After years of collaboration with residents, BHA hired Beacon Communities to redevelop the site…
Bristol Commons and Lenox Green | Passive House Inspired Affordable Housing
Fairfax Gardens, built in 1951, was an isolated, 150-unit barracks-style public housing development in the middle of a low-density, single-family neighborhood in Taunton, MA. Due to limited operational resources over the years, the development’s infrastructure, utilities, and many building components were in poor condition and in need of complete replacement…
Villages of East River
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme storms, exacerbating flooding, shifting precipitation patterns, and causing more extreme heat waves throughout the United States and around the world. Climate change-related incidents disproportionately affect individuals least able to cope with extreme events…
Expanded Resilience Assessment for Washington DC Affordable Housing
Through funding from the District of Columbia’s Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) Solar for All program, New Ecology, Inc. (NEI) joined Enterprise Community Partners, the National Housing Trust and Clean Energy Group to develop a vulnerability and resilience opportunity assessment tool for affordable housing owners to promote sustainability and resilience in their properties…
808-812 Memorial Drive | Energy & Water Savings through the Auditing Process
808-812 Memorial Drive, owned by Homeowner’s Rehab Inc. (HRI) and located along the Charles River in Cambridge, provides affordable housing to over 450 low income residents. The building is aged and in need of significant capital upgrades to ensure its physical and financial viability in the years to come…
Scrivano Apartments | Squeeze Every BTU Out of Your Retrofit
The Chelsea Housing Authority (CHA) contracted NEI to perform customized energy and water audits of three public housing developments to identify utility performance improvements and to detail policies and procedures to create healthier living environments for residents. At Scrivano Apartments, NEI uncovered multiple opportunities for energy efficiency upgrades and outlined a path forward…
Powdermill Village | Deep Retrofit Yields Dramatic Returns
Peabody Property’s energy and water upgrades at Powdermill Village delivered better performance and major savings: they reduced the site’s utility expenses by more than 50 percent. The large site was a challenging one for the owner. Twelve buildings house 250 families, and each building was heated with a separate oil-fired boiler. Tenants paid to produce domestic hot water (DHW) through electric water heaters in each apartment…
Robert McBride House | Boiler Optimization Maximizes Savings
The McBride House is located in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood with superb access to transit, downtown, museums, green space, and Fenway Park. In 2012, the property manager planned to replace the original atmospheric heating and domestic hot water (DHW) boilers and enrolled McBride House in Massachusetts’ low-income utility efficiency program to access funding assistance…
Atwood Acres | Turning Crisis into Energy Savings Opportunity
After nearly 25 years, the original heating and domestic hot water (DHW) boilers at Atwood Acres were failing. The property’s owner, RCAP Solutions, contacted NEI seeking advice and enrolled the property in MAGRI. Combining building science expertise and familiarity with Massachusetts’ low-income utility efficiency program, NEI and LISC Boston enabled the owner to react quickly and decisively…
Brighton Allston Apartments | Energy Upgrades + Refinancing = Major Savings
The Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation (ABCDC) joined MAGRI to secure technical assistance to evaluate and improve the performance of its entire portfolio. Through the initiative NEI and LISC Boston helped ABCDC benchmark its buildings in WegoWise, an online energy tracking tool, and assess the energy performance of its properties…
1460 House | Opportunities Aplenty – Even in Efficient Buildings
1460 House was built in 2008 with an eye toward energy efficiency. The property earned an ENERGY STAR label, a HERS Score of 53, and was LEED Silver certifiable. The building envelope was well insulated and air-sealed; condensing boilers generated heat efficiently; the lighting and appliances were high-efficiency or ENERGY STAR labeled; and the roof supported two separate solar photovoltaic systems…