Energy-saving trifecta that's a winning formula for owners.

Every property owner knows the world of energy use has changed forever and the clays of cheap energy are long gone.

The watch-words today are operating efficiency and conservation.

Yet, it's estimated that fewer than 20% of New York's older multi-family building owners and managers have taken the cue in meaningful ways.

First and foremost is installing what's called an EMS, Energy Management System, to control the building's boiler system and reduce fuel consumption. It's perhaps the single most cost-effective upgrade for steam and hot water systems, and it's proven to reduce consumption by more than 15 percent with an ROI of less than two years. Not having an EMS in a building today, is the equivalent of driving a Hummer in Manhattan traffic.

Secondly, is using that EMS with a monitoring and tracking program to both, identify and address problems needing correction and prove the conservation and cost-savings in black and white.

The third idea whose time has come is directed at every residential, commercial or public building that uses oil.

Owners and managers have had no practical, accurate and recordable way to double-check oil deliveries and track oil usage. And, as everyone knows, without "checks and balances" the margin of error and temptation for abuse is heightened. Today, there's an affordable, extremely accurate, ultrasound technology that will balance the concerns of both the oil companies and their customers--it's called: the Verifier.

Let's expand on these three ideas one at a time:

Energy Management System (EMS)

Most multi-family buildings, whether they are rentals, co-ops or condos, use a single outside sensor (generally referred to as "a heat timer") to control cycling of the boiler. This method is highly inaccurate and often results in over-heating the building (it's why you'll see windows open during the dead of winter, throwing your heat, fuel and money to the winds).

Alternately, an EMS adds a number of temperature sensors strategically placed in apartments--furthest from the boiler, and the last place to get the heat. The EMS computer then reads the outside temperature together with the indoor temperatures and controls the boiler, with adjustable set-points, to operate only as long as it takes to deliver the right amount of heat--The exactly right amount to keep residents comfortable without wasting fuel. The boiler runs far less and therefore uses less fuel and requires fewer repairs--it's as simple as that!

In fact, US Energy Group's EMS provides a written guarantee of at least 15 percent fuel savings over the outside sensor method, but usually delivers more like 25 to 30 percent reduced fuel consumption. The payback is generally just one to two seasons (50 percent to 100 percent return on investment).

More than that, the EMS also monitors many other boiler functions to provide information that will increase the life of your heating system, detect water leaks, and warn of potentially dangerous or violation-producing problems (like a bad mixing valve and scalding hot water).

Simply put, an EMS is the single best investment to achieve significant and provable energy and cost savings in multi-family buildings. The proven technology has been around since 1978 (Ha! When the price of oil was under 15-cents a gallon), and it's used today in thousands of buildings throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Internet-Based Performance Monitoring

Achieving peak operating and management efficiency for your buildings is a function of having access to usable and actionable information ... in a format that allows you to make the wisest decisions for your particular properties and in line with your firm's management philosophy.

Internet-based and modern monitoring programs provide you with quick, user-friendly access to a range of essential energy information--on your PC, from anywhere. They include crucial "alerts" and easy assignment of repair and maintenance jobs plus handling of city violations--with follow-up procedures and accountability. A "Monitoring" service will increase both energy efficiency and management efficiency up and down the line.

US Energy Group's "USE MANAGER" does much more than monitor your heating system and fuel use. It's more than the various alerts and reminders. Imagine beginning your work-day with an "Online Executive Overview" of all your properties--all the most crucial problems and issues needing your attention and the ability to address them yourself or assign them to others with a "click." The remote control to compare, evaluate and calibrate all your properties toward peak operating efficiency is real, it's online, now.

Oil Delivery Verification and Use-Tracking

Double-Checking to be sure you're getting all the oil you're paying for is one reason a new product from US Energy Group--THE VERIFIER--will quickly become an "industry standard." Moreover, the accuracy of this affordable and easy to install ultrasonic device also makes tracking oil consumption and the ability to prove promised savings a reality.

Increasingly, NYSERDA and other government agencies will require proof of fuel use reductions for their financial participation ... and property owners should always require proof that their investments in conservation measures in fact achieve promised returns and consumption savings.

THE VERIFIER Fuel Gauge attaches to the top of any accessible oil tank and provides remote, real-time access to exact oil level reports within 1/ 10th of an inch, converted to gallons--with a printable record of the gallons in the tank before delivery, after delivery, hour-by-hour, weekly and monthly.

To the Heart of the Matter

Certainly, there are many energy conservation and money-saving products every smart property owner and manager should consider, but these--an EMS, Monitoring, the Verifier--are the essentials, the "no-brainers." They go to the heart of your properties' energy use and provide you with information, control, and provable results. They're three ideas whose time is now.