Runwise

I spoke with The Real Deal about the Gas Apocalypse that might be coming to NYC in 2025. Here’s what it’s all about (I’ll link to the piece in the comments). Starting next year when Local Law 157 takes effect, most landlords in New York City will need to install natural gas detectors in every unit with a gas appliance. Some landlords are concerned about massive, unnecessary expenses and prolonged gas shutoffs that may come with this rule. So what’s wrong with catching gas leaks? Here’s the real issue: Some gas leak detectors are too sensitive. Gas stoves can leak a miniscule amount of gas even when turned off, which could set these alarms off unnecessarily. Any leak must be fixed, but in a very particular way. One NYC landlord, Edward Wydra, explained it like this: “A $20 gas flex pipe could end up costing $4,000, because you need a licensed plumber to perform a gas test with the Department of Buildings before turning the gas back on.” A building in Washington Heights went more than a year without gas due to a minor leak. An alarm being set off by even a minor leak, which could usually be fixed inexpensively, could lead to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in repairs, and months of compliance work with city officials before getting the gas turned back on. A nightmare for tenants and landlords. We’ve actually come up with a solution for this problem: Smart sensors that detect the leaks and alerts management BEFORE the point of a gas shutoff. The landlord mentioned in the Real Deal article, Edward, actually just signed up for Runwise’s gas sensors in his building. I’ll keep you updated on how it goes for him. Thanks Mariam Lobjanidze for including me in the story!

Buildings account for 40% (sometimes more) of the carbon emissions in cities. Our CEO and Co-Founder, Jeffrey Carleton, explains what our product does: We provide a way to significantly cut back building emissions and reduce energy costs, simply by running building systems more efficiently. For the impact you get, Runwise smart controls are the lowest cost investment you can make towards energy efficiency.

Everyone wants to make big cuts in their building's energy costs, and that usually leads to debates about major energy efficiency projects that cost a fortune. Often, over-looked, boring maintenance and no/low cost changes can cut 30-40% off an energy budget. In the video, Jeffrey Carleton, our CEO and Co-Founder, makes this point at the Energy Efficiency Speaker Series event we held last week. You don't always have to spend a ton of money or take on enormous projects to improve your building's energy use.

Should your building go all electric right now or wait until sometime in the future? We had a solid discussion about this at our Energy Efficiency Speaker Series event last week - it's something everyone in real estate is talking about across the country. In the video below, John Skipper, Director of Energy Management at FirstService Energy, sums up where the discussion ultimately landed with everyone - it probably doesn't make sense to take the big electrification step if your existing system still has life in it and room for efficiency improvement. Get the most out of what you've got right now and start planning ahead for the big electrification project (that may still be years down the road).

Our Energy Efficiency Speaker Series event last week provided so many actionable tips for cutting energy costs this heating season. One example that Dan Levy from Approved Oil gave is to make sure your steam system is properly vented. In the video below he explains, if the system isn't vented properly, it means your boiler is running far more than it needs to - which means you're spending thousands more on your heating bills than you should be.

Thanks John Skipper, Dan levy, and Christopher lima for leading discussions today at the kickoff for our speaker series on energy efficiency! And thanks to all the energy consultants from around the city that made it out to the event. We're looking forward to the next one!

Big congrats to our Chief Operating Officer, Kelly-Ann Corrigan on being listed as a 2024 Woman of the Year in Commercial Real Estate! https://hubs.li/Q02Rqvst0

The proposed NYC AC mandate could raise rents and increase carbon emissions, contradicting climate goals. Our President and Co-Founder discusses alternatives in the article linked below like passive cooling and targeted AC aid for low-income residents. https://hubs.li/Q02Rqqtm0

Buildings are not prepared for extreme weather and climate. Most are operating on antiquated technology from 50 years ago and are not capable of detecting issues or adapting in real time to extreme conditions. As extreme weather has increased in frequency and intensity, this has become a tangible problem not just for building owners, but for those living and working in the buildings. In the article below, our president and cofounder, Lee Hoffman, talks about where the industry is headed and what can be done today to make buildings safer, cost less to operate, and more environmentally responsible.

Can gorgeous historic buildings ALSO be energy efficient? One of my absolute favorite Runwise buildings is a NYC landmark: The Hotel des Artistes. The creators of the building literally invented the live/work space. In 1914, a group of artists paid $250,000 for the parcel on W 67th Street to build a 20 story building, with 10 stories of living space and 10 stories of art studios. The apartments were the height of luxury at the time: 20 foot ceilings, up to 6 rooms per apartment, a grand ballroom, swimming pool, rooftop squash courts, and a restaurant on site. Imagine living here during the Roaring 20s.The list of notable tenants is pages long, including Norman Rockwell, Frank DuMond, and Charles Dana Gibson. Today, the two story windows give the outside world a glimpse of the stunning 20 foot lofted ceilings that provide some of the best sunlight you’ll find in an NYC apartment. And despite the name, this building is not actually a hotel you can stay in. It’s a co-op filled with apartments, but there is a restaurant on the first floor you can dine at. If you want to live in the building today, a 2-bedroom apartment will run you a couple million dollars. The building became a customer of Runwise four years ago when the management was looking to lower their energy bills and carbon emission - which can be a challenge in an old building. A lot of people think 100 year old buildings can’t both preserve their history and be energy inefficient. But the Hotel des artistes (managed by AKAM) is a living, breathing example that you can. By simply installing Runwise’s smart controls, without replacing or redesigning any of the building, the building cut its fossil fuel usage by 37%. That’s the equivalent of 600 tons of CO2 that’s no longer put into NYC’s atmosphere. These changes will also help the building add over $500K in operating income to the building’s bottom line over the next ten years. Many people believe buildings can’t be multiple things at once. Hotel Des Artiste continues to prove them wrong.