NYSERDA Press Releases

State Provides $425,000 to Help Senior Care Center Produce Its Own Power

Williamsville, NY– When devastating ice and wind storms left more than 45,000 Western New Yorkers without power last February, the power remained intact at ElderWood Health Care at Oakwood. The facility's ability to provide heat and electricity for residents was accomplished through the purchase and installation of a combined heat and power (CHP) system.

The New York State Energy Research and Development (NYSERDA) provided $425,000 to ElderWood for the co-generation system, which helps the senior care center maximize energy savings and reliability. The new system is isolated from the electricity grid and allows ElderWood to maintain power during blackouts. It is estimated it will save the facility nearly $100,000 in annual energy costs.

"This project allows ElderWood to maintain quality service for its residents and save tens of thousands of dollars in energy costs at the same time," said NYSERDA President William M. Flynn. "NYSERDA has the technical and financial assistance available to not only help health care facilities, nursing homes and assisted living communities, but help other businesses and institutions in New York State save money through energy efficiency."

"Energy conservation is a must as we go forward, for environmental and cost reasons," said State Senator Mary Lou Rath (R-C, Amherst). "NYSERDA, working with Gerster Trane Energy Services, has put forth a tremendous measure here that will save ElderWood almost $100,000 in annual energy expenses. In the face of rising prices and demand, this partnership represents the kind of thinking necessary for the future and will serve as a role model that other companies and local governments can emulate."

"I applaud ElderWood's effort to make their facility more energy-efficient. The combined heat and power system will allow them to take control of their energy costs and provide heat and electricity to their residents without the threat of power outages. I encourage other businesses and health care facilities to take advantage of NYSERDA's programs," said State Assemblyman James Hayes.

Designed by Gerster Trane Energy Services, the CHP system at ElderWood uses two natural gas engines and one diesel engine to produce 850 kW of electricity. Using a heat recovery system, the excess heat from the engines is used for the existing boiler system and domestic hot water use. The design also allowed Oakwood to optimize its load profile and install engines that were considerably smaller. This improved the overall efficiency and reduced the project's initial cost.

Along with the installation of the CHP system, the project incorporated a novel design that used ice storage to supply air conditioning to the facility without substantially increasing ElderWood's peak load. In addition, the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system was replaced with more efficient equipment. This will result in the removal of approximately 400 kW of peak load from the electricity grid.

"NYSERDA's incentive programs have allowed new concepts in energy efficiency to be tried in New York State. Gerster Trane Energy Services designed and constructed this innovative co-generation system as a solution to the power shortages facing New York State. We look forward to working with ElderWood and NYSERDA on future projects," said Steven Aughey, Gerster Trane Energy Services manager.

After NYSERDA's contribution of $425,000, the total cost of the project was $562,967. The project will be paid off in less than six years. With additional help through the Evans National Bank and the New York Energy $mart^SM Loan Fund, administered by NYSERDA, ElderWood was able to take advantage of low-cost financing for the CHP project. ElderWood received a 4.5% interest rate reduction from NYSERDA on their $500,000 loan, resulting in a rate of 3.4% for five years.

"We are no longer affected by power outages in the area," said David Tosetto, director of development for ElderWood. "The ability to produce our own heat and electricity provides an extra safeguard to ensure residents' safety and comfort."

Previous to the start of the CHP project, NYSERDA also provided $5,500 for a comprehensive energy audit at ElderWood's Oakwood facility and an additional $25,000 for the installation of web-enabled advanced monitoring, which will help determine overall energy use at the facility.

ElderWood Senior Care owns and manages 13 adult health care facilities in New York State and energy expenses make up a major portion of each facility's operating budget. As a member of the New York State Health Facilities Association (NYSHFA), ElderWood Senior Care will demonstrate the Oakwood project to other health care facilities to show the benefits of grid-isolated co-generation.

Funding for this project comes from NYSERDA's New York Energy $mart^SM program, which is designed to lower electricity costs by encouraging energy efficiency as the State's electric utilities move to competition. The programs are available to all electric distribution customers (residential, commercial, institutional and industrial) of Central Hudson, Con Edison, NYSEG, Niagara Mohawk, Orange and Rockland, and Rochester Gas and Electric.

A component of the New York Energy $mart^SM program, the Distributed Generation and Combined Heat and Power Program, is designed to assist industrial, municipal, institutional and commercial customers by providing funding for stand alone power systems. The Combined Heat and Power Program (CHP), a cost-shared program, is comprised of several components. These include the promotion of combined heat and power in New York's industrial sector; the evaluation of the potential for combined heat and power in New York including the re-powering of existing boilers in industrial, commercial and institutional facilities; the development of a data base on operational reliability and availability for industrial on-site generation systems; and the study and evaluation of environmental implications of distributed generation technology use.

Since 1998, NYSERDA has provided more than $26 million to support more than 500 projects in Erie and Niagara Counties. Combined with co-funding from NYSERDA's partners, the value of these projects is more than $65 million. Among some of the other customers NYSERDA is working with in Erie and Niagara Counties, are: State University of New York at Buffalo, eBidenergy.com Inc., Kreher's Poultry Farm, HSBC Bank USA and Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

###