Sustainability & Economics
Prospect Seeley co-op’s sustainability projects have three main criteria: mindset, legislation and economics.
Our mindset is closely aligned with New York's 80/50 plan (to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, compared to 2005 levels), and is easy to define: decrease our carbon footprint and increase our energy efficiency and self-reliance.
Legislation and codes are the legal tools that NYC & NYS use to impose its 80/50 plan at the housing level, including co-ops and condos. For example, Local Law 152 (Gas Piping System Periodic Inspection) was the main reason for our conversion building wide from gas to electric stoves. So, while our mindset may be aligned with NYC/NYS, specific projects and their sequence are subject to the political and bureaucratic process as expressed by legislation.
Economics, for better or worse, is the main criterion in our decision making. Because we are cooperative of shareholders with different financial goals and means, economic factors are the baseline of the co-op board’s thinking: immediate cost, future cost and cost savings. Our economic goals are managing maintenance increases and assessments, while also following our environmental mindset.
Case study: gas to electric. The building-wide conversion from gas stoves to electric stoves serves as a good example of our process. Local Law 152 meant the co-op had to decide whether to stay with gas stoves, and risk building-wide shutdown if leaks were found, or convert the building to electric stoves.
The considerations were: how long before the pipes eventually failed the test and must be replaced entirely, and what would that cost; how much the conversion would cost; what were benefits and costs to converting or not, regardless of immediate costs; how to communicate these considerations to all shareholders. We did our analysis and research and got quotes from plumbers and electricians. Based on the system's age, the current pipes would last 0 to 10 years; replacing them was nearly three times the cost of converting to electric stoves (including the cost of the new stoves). However, gas stoves were still much more popular than electric stoves, so convincing all the shareholders to be proactive rather than wait and hope required clear communication of the pros and cons. The argument for conversion was helped by the fact that some co-ops have had their gas shut off, from a few months to over a year.
Some of our sustainability projects
2026: We converted our co-op to a master meter and sub-metering setup. lower bills for tenants and some income for the building.
2022 Electrical upgrade (to accommodate electric stoves and facilitate future building-wide upgrades)
2021 Building-wide conversion from gas to electric stoves
2020 Large rooftop solar array (over 150 panels)
2015 We installed LED lighting in public areas including the basement
2013 ReFashion NYC (clothing recycling) & ecycleNYC (electronic waste collection)
2009 windows replacement: better insulation, temperature stability and lower gas consumption (lowering carbon footprint & shareholder costs)