Inefficient, 40-year old boilers meant high gas and maintenance costs.
The Westbrook South community had a problem. With extremely high gas costs to operate an aging, inefficient boiler system (two of the boilers were 40 years old), so much was being spent on utility gas bills that the Association wasn’t able to do any other projects without significant assessment increases or special assessments.
DRF’s goal was to maximize thermal and operational efficiency and recommended a more holistic approach to yield maximum savings. This included design and installation of a custom, space heating and domestic hot water system that utilized 96% efficient boilers and 99% efficient indirect water heaters. Community representative Marian Nussbaumer explained, “The cost was higher but we realized a greater return on investment.”
The combination of 96% efficient boilers and 99% efficient indirect water heaters yielded the best ROI for the Westbrook community.
Rather than doing a silo project of just boiler replacement, Westbrook South chose a holistic approach that has yielded significant energy and cost savings. To help ease the transition, homeowners were included and informed about the project by the DRF design-build team. Explaining the project to homeowners and presenting them with facts about the ROI and other benefits, they were better equipped to adapt and feel comfortable with the work.
