How to Upgrade Your NYC Building to be Energy Efficient and Profitable
Let's talk about a building's roof. Most building owners view their rooftops as either a surface to be maintained or a lovely amenity area. But there are other perspectives that should be considered to create a more beneficial rooftop.
Building owners should ask themselves:
Do you want your roof to bring you headaches? Or bring you joy?
Be a source of recurring costs? Or a source of revenue and profitable investment?
How do Green Roofs and Solar Protect a Roof Membrane?
The sun, rain, and the elements are pounding down on every rooftop. For undeveloped roof spaces, the top layer, your waterproofing membrane, is exposed to these elements. Your roof takes a real beating, breaking down over time, subject to cracking, leaking and inevitably needing repairs ... and you obviously never get your money back on your cash outlays for these repair expenses.
Do Green Roofs Really Extend a Membrane’s Lifespan?
However, if you develop your roof by covering it with either a green roof or solar array, suddenly all that changes. While many people ask whether a green roof can lead to leaks, it’s quite the opposite - a green roof is the best way to protect your building from leaks. Just like how a case protects your smartphone, a green roof protects your roof’s waterproofing membrane. This can extend its lifespan by 40-60 years.
Additionally, green roofs are fantastic for our dense urban centers. They clean and cool the air, manage stormwater, and can even be used to grow food.
How to Upgrade Your Roof from a Lid to a Bucket
For owners of developed roof spaces, the sun goes from being your worst enemy to being your best friend. On sunny days, a green roof with a deck is an amazing amenity space that boosts property values and resident’s quality of life. If you put solar panels on your roof, then instead of the sun's rays burning holes in your roof, now they're being intercepted by the panels and converted into electricity that lowers your utility bill. Basically, for anyone with solar panels on their roof, it's raining money from the sky and those solar panels act like buckets.
How Do Green Roofs and Solar Help Buildings Comply With NYC Local Laws?
It's also worth mentioning that NYC's Local Law 97 will require buildings to improve their energy efficiency. Green roofs and solar integrations are great options for complying with this law and avoiding costly violations. Also, many buildings will likely perform a total roof replacement at some point, and that will trigger Local Law 92/94 which requires them to install solar or a green roof anyway, so it's a good idea to get familiar with these concepts.
Why Choose Between a Green Roof, Solar or Amenity Deck When You Can Have Them All?
If you're wondering which to go with, a Green Roof and amenity space or Solar, Urbanstrong offers an Integrated-Solar-Green-Roof system that lets building owners enjoy the benefits of both systems. Some buildings don't have the space for a big deck and a traditional solar array so you'll have to choose. Or if your zoning allows it, you can go with a solar canopy with decking underneath and again have your cake and eat it too.
Are Green Roofs Too Heavy for My Roof? How Can I Find Out?
A major limiting factor depends on what your roof's structural capacity can allow. Urbanstrong will conduct a structural engineering survey, which will tell us if your roof can or cannot safely support the weight of an official amenity space. This tells us what your development options could be limited to, whether it be a simple green roof or solar.
Need Help Choosing a Design? Finding Contractors? Navigating Local Laws and Incentives?
There are a lot of options available for rooftop development options and layouts. There are even more steps to follow and potential subcontractors to hire for each stage. Local Laws like 97 for energy efficiency and 92/94 for mandatory sustainable roofing zones can be very confusing and costly if not followed properly. For those condos, co-ops and other building types, Urbanstrong is happy to help lend some guidance. We offer multiple investment options and will even tailor a consulting package to your specific needs. We get rave reviews from the NYC co-ops and condos we work with.
What financing options are available for buildings who want to comply with these new laws or invest in their roof?
There are many options available to NYC building owners who are looking to comply with local laws but need financing. Green roof property tax abatement offers $5.23/sf across the entire city and now $15/sf in priority areas. Another financing option that doesn’t get enough attention is C-PACE financing, now allowed in NYC under Local Law 96. C-PACE is an optional financing mechanism created specifically for energy efficiency upgrades, and can be used to help you comply with LL92/94/97. This loan is structured in a way that lets the upgrades pay for themselves. By that I mean:
The loan 100% covers all the soft and hard costs of the upgrades with zero up-front investment.
The loan payments are spread out over 20-25 years and they're each less than the calculated annual savings for the retrofits. Building owners put no money down and they're cash flow positive from day one until the retrofits are paid off.
PACE financing let's building owners be compliant with all these new laws but without spending their own money. The retrofits literally pay for themselves.
The Newest, Best Way to Go Solar in New York
NYC is a great place to go solar as there are layers of financial incentives at the federal, state and city level. "Community Solar" is the newest solar program in NYC and Urbanstrong has an attractive ownership model option available to NYC co-ops looking to go solar. The concept is this: Rather than buying solar panels for us to install on their roof, building owners instead rent us their unused roof space and we install a solar array paid for by our solar investor partners. In return, building owners can choose to be paid in one of two ways: either an annual lease payment for 25 years OR a complete roof repair, if they're due for one, for FREE.
NYC Co-Ops and Condos Are Earning a Passive Income with Zero Money Down and Zero Risk
Owners put zero money down, and they're NOT responsible for the panels, so there's zero risk, they just sit back and collect checks for a nice easy passive income. Further, building owners collect the property tax abatement and each individual building unit owner has the option to subscribe to buy this cheap electricity produced at a further 10% discount to reduce their own monthly bills.
Community Solar, the way Urbanstrong does it, offers serious advantages for co-ops. Just because solar has a proven payback, doesn’t mean a building owner has the up-front capital. Further, it can be complicated for co-ops to take advantage of the federal tax credits and incentives (which currently subsidize a significant portion of the up front investment) if they don’t pay federal taxes. Our solar investors definitely have the capital, and the federal tax appetite and they are salivating looking at your sunny rooftop. Rent them your unused sunny roofspace and they’ll make it well worth your while.
CASE STUDY: Urbanstrong helped this Queens Condo create over $975,000 of value from their unused rooftop and parking lot through Community Solar. Read here to learn how so you can too.
This is a great way to turn your rooftop from a costly headache into a revenue stream that brings you joy!
