King County Housing Authority – Thomas Romanoff – 2014

Goals

Thomas Romanoff spent the summer working with King County Housing Authority. Charged with finding new solutions to cut energy costs, Romanoff focused on finding ways to improve their business processes to increase efficiency. His analysis led to a comprehensive data template that identifies areas where KCHA could improve energy efficiency.

Solutions

This template was applied to the KCHA portfolio, and four housing properties were selected as case studies to highlight the benefits of efficiency investments.  After reviewing data that was collected over a four-year period, Romanoff analyzed trends in each building’s energy consumption. He then compared these trends to efficiency upgrades in the buildings to determine the effectiveness of these investments.  He surveyed Resident Managers, Maintenance Staff and Housing Directors to identify potential causes in building consumption trends. Equipment was inspected, and Romanoff did spot checks in units to verify that energy efficient upgrades were installed.

Concluding his fellowship, Romanoff recommended several institutional changes to cut energy consumption. These included:

• Creating a detailed inventory of energy efficiency improvements
• Training residents and maintenance workers on these systems
• Installing Smart Power Strips to address increased plug loads
• Upgrading HVAC systems

Potential Impact

By implementing these measures,  King County could save thousands each year in avoided energy costs.