EN-POWER GROUP was featured in Habitat Magazine for its work helping a New York City residential building use Local Law 87 compliance as a catalyst for low-cost HVAC retro-commissioning measures that deliver measurable energy savings.

Context: Using Local Law 87 as a Strategic Opportunity

Local Law 87 requires certain New York City buildings to undergo periodic energy audits and retro-commissioning studies. While often viewed as a compliance exercise, the law can also serve as a practical entry point for identifying operational improvements that reduce energy use without major capital investment.

At 110 Riverside Drive, Local Law 87 provided the structure needed to move forward with targeted system adjustments that improved performance and reduced costs.

EN-POWER GROUP’s Role

According to Michael Scorrano, Managing Director at EN-POWER GROUP, the building leveraged the Local Law 87 process to implement practical retro-commissioning measures focused on system optimization rather than large-scale upgrades.

As part of this effort, EN-POWER GROUP identified a simple but effective boiler programming adjustment: reducing the overnight temperature setpoint by just one degree.

Small Adjustments, Real Savings

The boiler programming change required minimal effort and cost approximately $1,000 to implement. Despite its simplicity, the adjustment delivers annual savings of approximately $2,500, demonstrating how fine-tuning system controls can yield outsized financial returns.

As Scorrano explains, retro-commissioning is not intended to be a major capital project. It focuses on ensuring systems operate as designed and making targeted tweaks that improve efficiency and performance.

Why This Matters for Building Owners

This feature highlights how compliance-driven processes like Local Law 87 can uncover meaningful energy-saving opportunities with low upfront costs. For building owners, retro-commissioning offers a practical way to reduce operating expenses, improve system reliability, and extract more value from existing infrastructure.

Media Attribution

This project was originally featured in Habitat Magazine on March 7, 2013.
[Read the full article on Habitat Magazine →]

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