Overview
The facility at 271 Madison Ave in Manhattan is fully heated and air‐conditioned. All heating is provided by a single Rockmills MP200 steam boiler rated at 8000lb/hr and fired on #6 oil. It was installed in 1980. Steam radiators distribute heat around the building. Within the boiler, there is a domestic hot water core (manufacturer: Lindy Coil, Inc., installed in 1990) and Holby mixing valve that maintains water temperature to the building around 120°F. The underground fuel oil tank has a working capacity of 4500 gallons.
Cooling is mostly provided by many different air‐cooled split systems. There are also several water‐cooled packaged air handlers serving about 25% of the building that receive water from a rooftop evaporative cooling tower.
There are no sub‐meters in the building. All energy use is paid by the owner and a fixed cost is assigned to tenants based on square footage. The owner also owns all HVAC equipment within the tenant spaces. This provides a big incentive for the owner to reduce energy costs by upgrading systems he owns and maintains. In addition, the owner would like to transition to natural gas for heat if it can be shown to be financially attractive.
Building Information
271 Madison Avenue is located in Midtown Manhattan, two blocks south of Grand Central Terminal, and is a multi‐tenant commercial office building occupied during normal business hours Monday through Friday. The building was constructed in 1927 and is 104,431 SqFt according to DOB records. The building is 22 stories. The building abuts 2 other buildings on the North and East walls.
Assessment Highlights
A benchmarking was performed under Local Law 84 and produced the following results:
- Electricity (kBtu): 4,714,019
- #6 Oil (kBtu): 4,463,750
- Total Energy(kBtu): 9,177,769
The benchmarking revealed a source EUI of 201.5 kBtu/SqFt annually. This was 34% higher than the national median source EUI of 150 kBtu/SqFt for a professional office building. Moreover, the client pays systems benefit charge for electric and was as high as 0.53¢/kWh in November 2012.
Benefits & Savings
Date Completed: Jul 2013 2013