As a Unit Owner, Why Should I

Support the Resolution to

Require Unit Owners to Replace
Failing Windows?

Hoboken Plaza, Annual Meeting

April 2010
 As a unit owner, why should I replace my windows?

Heat is still the largest single line item on our budget. It cost us
$16,000/14% in 2009, $24,000/21.4% in 2007.
• Individual unit owners are responsible for the maintenance of the unit windows while
the Association is responsible for heating costs.
• Because unit owners are responsible for window replacement, the Association has not
accrued for this expense. Some unit owners have replaced their windows and others
have not. We could not use Association funds to replace windows.
• Such an investment will pay for itself in about a season and half.
• Leaky windows create large variance in comfort between units with good heat
retention v poor. Those with poor heat retention windows often feel like the building
temperature is too cold, while those who have heat retaining windows feel too hot.
Window replacement will allow all to be more comfortable.
• Window replacement will mitigate a unit owners liability to units and common space
below them. 1027 Washington Street, 2R sustained over $3,000 in water damage in
part because the unit above had faulty window seals attributed to the age of the
windows and the window frames. Snow accumulated on the window sill. As it melted
in came into the building because the bottom part of the frame was completely
missing. The water damaged the ceiling, walls and floor in the unit below. A similar
situation occurred just this month in 1027 4F.
 What data can we point to that indicates this is a
worthwhile resolution for the Association?

Several projects were implemented over the last 4 years to improve heat
retention:
1. Changed out Heat sensors for simple building thermometers and put locks on them so
that the property manager could regulate the settings. - Implemented prior to
2007/2008 heating season.
2. Conducted unit thermometer reading study Winter of 2008/2009.
3. Air conditioner policy - $150 month penalty to any unit owner who had an air
conditioner in an exterior window between October 1 and March 31st . Implemented
2009/2010 heating season.
 Immediately anecdotal comments surfaced that the building temperature in 1026
was less hot in the hallways and warmer in the units.
1. Attic eave insulation – All four attics were treated with blow in insulation. January 9,
2009
2. Heat study conducted by Regional Engineering using smoke pens, infrared sensors and
visual assessment of the windows - age, condition, etc., conducted by a licensed
A study was conducted
engineer. with the
Determined variance assistance
in temperature of our
between fuel rock
the sheet broker, toglass,
and the look at
the amount of escaping air
the relationship between therm usage normalized for temperature over
the 2006/2007, 2007/2008, 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 Winter.
• Hypothesis: Therm usage for a given “degree day” (defined below) went down after
we implemented these 4 initiatives

– Degree day as defined by NOAA, is a quantitative index demonstrated to reflect demand for energy to heat or cool
houses and businesses. This index is derived from daily temperature observations at nearly 200 major weather
stations in the contiguous United States. The "heating year" during which heating degree days are accumulated
extends from July 1st to June 30th and the "cooling year" during which cooling degree data are accumulated extends
from January 1st to December 31st. A mean daily temperature (average of the daily maximum and minimum
temperatures) of 65°F is the base for both heating and cooling degree day computations. Heating degree days are
summations of negative differences between the mean daily temperature and the 65°F base; cooling degree days are
summations of positive differences from the same base. For example, cooling degree days for a station with daily
mean temperatures during a seven-day period of 67,65,70,74,78,65 and 68, are 2,0,5,9,13,0,and 3, for a total for the
week of 32 cooling degree days.
 The Therm per Degree Day Goes Down Year Over Year as We
Implemented Heat Retention Initiatives. We saved an estimated
$39.5K by implementing these initiatives over 4 heating seasons.
HOBOKEN PLAZA What we have Cost @ '06/'07 Differnece
Total Cost Therm used if we had usage w/given Btwn What We
Month Usage Woodrow $$$ Heating Degree days Per Usage Per same Therm Per Usage year cost/Therm Spent v What
Cost Cost Degree Days for the season Degree Day Degree Day Day from '06/'07 We w/h/ spent

Oct-06 1,837.0 $0.51400 $ 944.20 296

Nov-06 3,500.5 $0.78300 $ 2,740.86 408
Dec-06 5,386.7 $0.97500 $ 5,252.08 678 3990
Jan-07 5,938.3 $0.80800 $ 4,798.17 864
Feb-07 5,316.5 $1.03500 $ 5,502.58 1035
Mar-07 4,638.2 $0.92000 $ 4,267.11 709
26,617.2 $ 23,505.00 $5.89 6.67 26,617.17 $ 23,505 $ -

Oct-07 823.0 $0.74700 $ 614.78 131

Nov-07 1,526.1 $0.85000 $ 1,297.19 601
Dec-07 1,363.8 $0.94500 $ 1,288.79 876
Jan-08 3,335.5 $1.21600 $ 4,055.97 906 4040
Feb-08 3,124.7 $1.22680 $ 3,833.38 845
Mar-08 3,034.6 $1.07420 $ 3,259.77 681
13,207.7 $ 14,349.87 $3.55 3.3 26,951 $ 29,281 $ 14,931.48

Oct-08 474.0 $0.85060 $ 403.18 307

Nov-08 927.6 $0.91761 $ 851.18 585
Dec-08 2,329.0 $0.96687 $ 2,251.84 848
Jan-09 2,682.6 $0.88914 $ 2,385.21 1146 4378
Feb-09 3,676.7 $0.71182 $ 2,617.15 789
Mar-09 2,525.2 $0.54160 $ 1,367.65 703
12,615.1 $ 9,876.20 $2.26 2.9 29,206 $ 22,865 $ 12,988.42

Oct-09 330.4 $0.46080 $ 152.25 293

Nov-09 895.8 $0.55100 $ 493.59 440
Dec-09 1,188.2 $0.64020 $ 760.69 904
Jan-10 3,426.6 $0.90380 $ 3,096.96 1006 4039
Feb-10 2,734.6 $0.76760 $ 2,099.08 882
Mar-10 2,554.8 $0.59420 $ 1,518.06 514
11,130.4 $ 8,120.62 $ 2.01 2.76 26,944 $ 19,658 $ 11,537.47

Total Savings 39,457.36

These initiatives are very worth while
These Initiatives Saved Us 39,457.36

Air Conditioner
Policy
Attic Insulation
Thermometers
Study
Simple
Thermometers
How can we measure the difference between a good window
and a poor one in dollars and sense?
Let’s look at those who have windows deemed to have “Severe” heat
loss. How do they compare with those that had no draft?
If you look at the spreadsheet produced by the engineer, windows with “severe” heat loss had about 14
degree difference between the sheet rock and the window. Windows that passed the smoke test with no
indication of draft had about a 4 degree difference between the glass and the sheet rock. That’s a 10
degree difference between a good and bad window.

The heating system has to constantly replace those 10 degrees with more heat.

10 x 30 days in a month = 300 "degree days". 300 degree days can be attributed to the cumulative
square footage of those units who had “severe” heat loss. 9 out of 35 units were deemed to have
“severe” heat loss.

What is the relationship between degree days and therm usuage.

Randomly selecting a period from Woodrow’s chart, Jan 08, 906 degree days = 3335 Therms. So, 906X
= 3335 therms, so X= 3335/906 = 3.68. 3.68 x 300 = 1,104 therms that are used incrementally to
replenish the heat that is escaping through a room with poor windows. Since 3,335 represents one
whole building. 9 out of 35 units had “severe” windows. We need to divide 1,104 by the total number
of units in the building (35) - 1,104/35 = 31.54 then multiply by 9 to get 283.86.

283.86 Therms x the most recent monthly price per therm ($0.59) = $167.47 in waste per month.

Note: This is not a perfect analysis since it does not take into account the
common area square footage albeit most of the common area is internal
and/or has little to no windows so the impact is small.
 What is the cost of replacement? What is the break even on the
investment?

Assuming anyone who has to replace windows has to replace 4 windows, the cost will be
around $1600
“Severe” - 1600/167.47 = 9.55 months which equals about a season and half.

“Moderate” - Those with windows marked as “moderate” had about half of the
difference in temperature between the glass and the sheet rock than “severe” windows or
7 degrees. We could expect those who replace windows which have a moderate amount
of heat loss to repay in twice the amount of time as “severe”, 18 months, otherwise
said 3 heating seasons.

“Slight” - Those with slight loss would take longer but eventually it would still pay for
itself in savings to the Association.

This is a good investment from the Association’s point of view and it will increase
the value of your unit. This will help to keep monthly maintenance fees down
especially as the demand for gas goes up and supply of oil goes down (more
people are moving to natural gas, increases demand for gas)