Analysis and Recommendation of Energy Efficiency Upgrades in New York City’s Upper West Side
Abstract
New York’s Upper West Side composes of hundreds of housing cooperative (co-op) apartment
buildings using No. 6 oil as their primary heating fuel. The use of No. 6 oil in
less than 1% of the building stock citywide provided 86% of heating fuel related soot
emissions for all of New York City. As a result, New York implemented a ban on No.
6 oil effective in 2015. Additionally, since a majority of these co-ops were built
before World War II, these co-ops provide an opportunity to implement energy efficiency
upgrades that reduce operating costs while improving air quality and reducing carbon
footprint.
Our analysis features a financial and emissions inventory model for switching from
No. 6 oil to cleaner fuels. The volatility of fuel and natural gas prices plays a
role in shaping our final recommendations. We show that short payback periods due
to significant cost savings make the switch to cleaner fuels economically viable today.
Additionally, we provide recommendations for a variety of other energy efficiency
upgrades and retrofits that co-ops can integrate into their buildings as well as suggest
mechanisms for their increased adoption. We also discuss the barriers to the adoption
of many of these upgrades and technologies and suggest ways to overcome them.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5204Citation
Shao, Xiao; Corsetti, Nicholas; Martin, Emily; Rigel, Adam; & Zaheer, Azhar (2012). Analysis and Recommendation of Energy Efficiency Upgrades in New York City’s Upper
West Side. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5204.Collections
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