Chelsea Ridge Apartments to Become a New York Energy $martSM Building

November 10, 2009

The New York State Energy and Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced today that Chelsea Ridge apartments in Wappingers Falls, NY earned the New York Energy $mart^SM distinction for reducing its energy consumption by more than 20 percent. NYSERDA’s Multifamily Performance Program is providing more than $634,000 for the project.

Aimco (Apartment Investment and Management Company), which owns the 835-unit complex, invested more than $4 million to make the complex more energy efficient through various measures, including installing new hot water and heating boilers, low-flow showerheads, high-efficiency lighting and other measures. The Daylight Savings Company, a NYSERDA-approved contractor, completed energy analysis related to this work. With the recent energy improvements, Chelsea Ridge Apartments is expected to save nearly $265,000 in annual energy costs.

“By becoming a New York Energy $mart^SM building, Chelsea Ridge Apartments is not only demonstrating its commitment to saving energy, but also providing a more comfortable and healthy living environment for its residents. I applaud Aimco for bringing Chelsea Ridge into our Multifamily Performance Program,” said NYSERDA President and CEO Francis J. Murray, Jr. “Through this program, we’ve been reaching out to building owners, residents, and other developers throughout New York State, joining forces with them to unite in a common effort to reduce costs and to save energy to help meet the aggressive energy goals set forth by Governor Paterson.”

The Daylight Savings Company worked with Aimco’s construction team to develop the conservation plan and to evaluate the potential savings. One year after the work was completed, Daylight Savings analyzed actual utility bills to determine what impact the installed efficiency measures had on actual consumption.

“The electric and gas consumption by the property and by the residents decreased by 21%,” said Frank Lauricella of Daylight Savings.

“Energy conservation has been a key priority for Aimco and the initiatives we’ve implemented at Chelsea Ridge, with the support of NYSERDA, will result in a positive, measurable impact on the environment,” said Martin Sprang, Aimco Vice President for Energy. “Just like at Chelsea, Aimco has made energy and water conservation an integral part of each of our property redevelopment projects, with the goals of decreasing the utility bills paid by our company and by our residents, and, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Some of the measures installed at Chelsea to reduce energy consumption included:

• A new domestic hot water and heating boilers with an efficiency of 85 percent
• Hot water piping insulation
• Aquastats installed to the domestic hot water circulation pumps
• High efficiency motors for the pool and waste water treatment plant
• Energy-efficient common area lighting with occupancy sensors
• Low-flow aerators & showerheads to conserve water and the energy needed to heat the water; and ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators, doors and vinyl, low-emittance, double pane windows with a thermal break.

NYSERDA’s Multifamily Performance Program addresses energy and operational needs of new and existing buildings comprised of five or more residential units. The program uses a customized approach for each building, using a partner network of engineers, energy consultants, and other industry professionals to improve the efficiency and performance of multifamily buildings. For more information, visit NYSERDA Get Energy Smart or call 1-877-NY-SMART.

Aimco is a real estate investment trust headquartered in Denver, Colorado that owns and operates a geographically diversified portfolio of apartment communities. Aimco, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the largest owners and operators of apartment communities in the United States with 916 properties, including 146,581 apartment units, and serves approximately 500,000 residents each year. Aimco's properties are located in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Aimco common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AIV and are included in the S&P 500.

The Daylight Savings Company, founded in 1991, is an energy efficiency engineering company that has completed over 3500 projects in commercial, manufacturing, multifamily, hospital, educational, hospitality, industrial and multi-use facilities covering more than 125 million square feet. It is also an approved Flexible Technical Assistance (FlexTech) Contractor, a “Partner” in the new Multifamily Performance Program (MPP) and the exclusive energy auditor for the Bronx, Westchester, Orange and Rockland counties for the New York State Energy and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Daylight Savings is also the exclusive energy auditor for the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA).

CONTACT:

Colleen Ryan, NYSERDA
(518) 862-1090, ext. 3359
cqr@nyserda.ny.gov