Some apartment managers are usually not waiting until the last minute to get their buildings ready for Local Law 97, which comes into force at the tip of the yr and requires major changes to heating systems.
As we reported, the law requires most city buildings to cut back their greenhouse gas emissions to certain levels or face hefty fines.
Argo Real Estate manages 130 buildings with 13,000 apartments in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. Executive Vice President Gustavo Rusconi said they “were collaborating with [co-op and condo] since 2019, when the law was passed.
Today, Rusconi said: “I’m completely satisfied to say that only six of our buildings are usually not yet compliant.”
He said that while LL 97 compliance will not be easy or inexpensive, it will not be unimaginable.
No buildings managed by Argo have switched to electric heating. “It’s unprofitable,” said Rusconi. However, he helped clients find ways to significantly reduce emissions by adapting old boilers to latest requirements. The goal was to avoid purchasing a complete latest boiler, which might cost $250,000 for a 100-apartment constructing.
In some cases, the trick was to adapt the boilers to dual fuel systems using each oil and gas.
Or: “Where the boilers were in good condition, we modified the burners from No. 6 oil to No. 2 oil.” Rusconi explained, “No. 6 is extremely polluting, very just like tar. No. 2 is less polluting.”
Argo worked with engineers “to ensure the boilers were operating properly,” which is essential to reduce emissions. One of the steps was to put in temperature monitoring sensors and reduce the variety of boiler starts and stops.
Rusconi said many of the improvements were paid for through rankings. “But we also worked with district heating firms to finance a part of the installation and in some cases refinance mortgages.”
