Melrose Apartments & Noll Street Apartments, New York Retrofit

Noll Apartments, located at 43 Central Avenue, and Melrose Apartments, located at 63 Central Avenue, are neighboring buildings in Brooklyn, New York. The buildings are 6 stories and total 131,865 square feet with 98 affordable apartment units. The decarbonization retrofit planned for these buildings includes a package of measures that will:

Combine all mechanical equipment into a single central plant serving both buildings which will facilitate thermal energy recovery, allow for the integration of future decarbonized thermal energy sources, and reduce first- and ongoing maintenance costs. Electrify, and recover energy for, loads currently served by fossil fuels (heating and domestic hot water). Improve the energy efficiency of the buildings by reducing thermal loads through ventilation energy recovery and envelope improvements Reduce construction costs by avoiding the staggering of measure implementation where possible. Creating resilient and sustainable communities are key components of RiseBoro’s mission. The principles of energy efficiency, improved health outcomes, reduced consumption, and responsible use of natural resources are core beliefs of the organization.

A displacement strategy approach was developed to maximize cost-efficacy of decarbonization without burdening affordable housing residents and operators, resulting in a 61% projected energy use reduction for the building by the end of the Empire Building Challenge project.

Noll Apartments and Melrose Apartment contain the original HVAC equipment from their construction in the early- and mid-2000s that is nearing the end of its useful life. This aging equipment, considered alongside a recent recapitalization event, presents an opportunity to focus on improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Additionally, these buildings are part of a tranche of buildings in the RiseBoro portfolio constructed prior to the adoption of more aggressive energy efficiency approaches. Implementation of the decarbonization retrofits will not only lower the buildings’ emissions, but will also bring energy performance up to, or higher than, other buildings in the portfolio. The Empire Building Challenge program provided a unique opportunity at a convenient time to create a holistic roadmap and retrofit plan.