Goddard Riverside Community Center – Brooke Forde – 2015

Goals

Goddard Riverside Community Center enlisted Brooke Forde to determine the energy use and potential energy efficiency savings that could be possible for five of its housing buildings for formerly homeless and mentally ill tenants. In 2014, over 15,000 New Yorkers benefitted from Goddard’s programs and facilities, and the organization hoped that by reducing its monthly energy costs it could use the savings to improve programming for residents and community members. The challenge for Forde, was that Goddard’s five target buildings had a host of unique functions from community centers, to housing and administrative offices.

Solutions

When Forde arrived at Goddard for her summer fellowship, she identified that optimizing the lighting system could be a huge opportunity. Lighting needed to be available around the clock for the safety and comfort of the residents, so integrating lighting controls such as motion and daylight sensors would help to reduce energy waste.

Forde also investigated the opportunity to replace the use of traditional boilers with a cogeneration system that would save energy by producing both electricity and heat simultaneously. She also helped develop Goddard’s Strategic Sustainability Plan and analyzed maintenance needs related to the boilers and lighting systems in place.

Potential Impact

If all of Forde’s recommendations were implemented, the resulting savings would be over $200,000 annually, or about 38 percent of Goddard’s electricity costs. In addition, the cogeneration project could result in savings of 22,000 gallons of fuel oil and $75,000 in annual operating costs. These savings could then be used to enhance Goddard’s community programming and the lives of its residents.