Funding the retrofit
When Rex delivered all of the material along with his bid,
he was able to show an accurate heat loss calculation, and
hopes for a 60 to 70 percent reduction in energy-spend.
After several months of consideration, the proposal was
accepted by HUD, but funding for the project hadn’t yet
been secured.
“Before any HUD project starts, the managing body—
in this case Volunteers of America Pennsylvania— needs
to submit three bids, along with an explanation of why the
bid that’s chosen was the best,” explained Eldred. “Often,
it’s not the cheapest bid, but rather the most thorough
one. HUD then avails money for the project.”
Every month, each HUD facility in the country places
money into a fund specifically for repairs at that site.
Eldred applied for Plainsview apartments to tap those
reserves for the heating retrofit.
Before funding was approved, the national Volunteers
of America asset manager drove to the site to look at the
proposed project. Once everyone was in agreement that a
split system was the best option for Plainsview, funding
was granted and the work began.
In all, the retrofit took about a month. Extra care was
used to run the line-sets in a way that would minimize
impact to the outside of the building. Refrigerant lines
were paired up so that only one section of line-hide was
needed per two condensers.
Rex’s plan to install a new domestic hot water system is
waiting for the natural gas utility to install a gas meter at
the apartment building. When that happens, he plans to
Installers Edward Gavenus and James Walsh wire the mini-split
use a single, 199 BTUH tankless water heater paired with
a 100-gallon storage tank.
“The project was completed in the fall, and tenants have
already been very pleased with the new system,” said
Property Manager, Delores Emmett. “They’ll really love it
next summer, when it’s time to turn the AC on. It worked
out very well, and Rex did a wonderful job.”
Going forward, Rex hopes that the installation at
Plainsview will become a showcase for other HUD applications
across the country. When planned and executed
properly, there’s a way to save maintenance and operation
costs at low-income housing projects while also increasing
comfort levels. ICM
ICM September/October 2017 19