Interfaith Medical Center

NYSERDA’s On-site Energy Manager Program helps build a roadmap to future savings.

One Brooklyn Health System Inc. co-operates a treatment hospital with Interfaith Medical Center (IMC). Together, their system works to enhance healthcare services in the communities of Central and Northeast Brooklyn, a region with significant health disparities such as higher rates of chronic diseases and limited access to quality healthcare.

Partnering with NYSERDA, Salas O’Brien

Once in the OsEM program, One Brooklyn Health and IMC contracted with Salas O’Brien Consulting and Engineering Group of New York, Inc. for a part-time energy manager engagement over 21 months.

The energy manager integrated into the facilities services team, which included a facilities director, staff mechanics, shop personnel, and 3rd-party vendors. An energy management plan was developed first to document reduction goals and savings opportunities.

As a team, they developed specific program goals, which included:

• Identifying energy efficiency and carbon reduction initiatives
• Tracking on-site energy and carbon consumption and cost
• Reducing total energy consumption by 10%
• Creating a quarterly reporting process

Early Analysis: Load Reduction

Projects that targeted load reduction were analyzed early. Two steam boilers running on natural gas, which were used for most heating and domestic hot water, were evaluated for optimization and functionality. Steam traps and pipes were identified for repair and replacement.

Additional load-reduction analysis included envelope evaluation, roof insulation, windows, and air sealing. To reduce heat loss/gains, various upgrades and replacements were recommended.

Key Action: Evaluate and Repair Steam Traps

Throughout the facility, more than 70 steam traps were identified. The survey revealed more than a dozen were deficient and were either blowing or leaking, resulting in wasted energy and inefficiencies in the boiler system.

Steam trap repairs were approved for implementation and installed in the first quarter. The OsEM assisted with securing an incentive through National Grid’s Gas Efficiency Program to aid with implementation.

Evaluation for Additional Incentives

The energy manager identified several programs that offered incentives for electrification and electrification-readiness efforts. After discussions with facilities staff, the energy manager also prepared an application package to NYSERDA’s Empire Building Challenge that included domestic hot water electrification and roof replacement.

Additional projects evaluated for incentives included high-efficiency lighting and controls upgrades, solar PV installation, and building management system expansion via fan coil unit controls.

Assistance with New York City Local Law Compliance

The energy manager prepared and submitted for the 2025 filing year the required compliance documentation to New York City’s Department of Buildings for the following local laws:

• Local Law 84
  

  This law requires annual energy benchmarking using the EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency’s) ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager. The energy manager reviewed meter information and ensured proper data setup and connections between the facility’s utility platforms and the portfolio manager system.

• Local Law 88
  

  This law requires lighting system upgrades that meet New York City’s Energy Conservation Code and electrical sub-meter installation for applicable tenant spaces by 2024.

  The energy manager performed full-building lighting surveys to establish existing conditions and prepare recommendations for fixture and control upgrades. An incentive application for Con Edison’s lighting program was also prepared to supplement the installation cost.

• Local Law 97

  As part of one of the city’s plans for reducing emissions, the law (LL97) requires buildings to meet greenhouse gas emission limits beginning in 2024, with stricter limits coming into effect in 2030.

  The energy manager and her team measured the facility to calculate the gross floor area square footage and develop floor area stacking diagrams. Using the stacking diagrams and the LL97 rule adjustment for non-profit healthcare facilities, the energy manager calculated the facility’s emissions limit, prepared filing documentation, and submitted the emissions report to the Department of Buildings for compliance.