Resident Energy Advocacy Program!

Did you know that utility costs represent one of Parkside Condominium largest controllable operating expenses, making utility consumption one of the easiest ways that residents can help the Association save money (and—in turn—keep condo fee increases as low as possible)? Be a part of the solution with Parkside’s Resident Energy Advocate Program!

What is Era doing to help? In support of Parkside’s efforts to REAP the benefits of saving energy across the community, Era will be supporting the association and management with energy savings recommendations and Energy Advocacy Gift Bags (coming soon!). While our primary role remains the support of the community through strategic planning and physical improvements of its larger commercial systems, we were happy to support this landing page as an initial “congratulations” to Parkside for the fantastic efforts of its residents!

Energy Advocacy Gift Bags - COMING SOON!

To help raise awareness regarding the resident impact on property Energy Consumption, Era will be providing Energy Efficiency Gift Bags to the Association for distribution to the community’s residents. These bags will include…

1. One Reusable Gift Bag

2. One Color-Selectable LED Lightbulb

3. One Automatic Load-Sensing Advanced Power Strip (aka “Smart Strip”)

4. A QR Code link to this website where residents can being learning about small actions they can take to improve energy efficiency in their condominiums

About Your Color-Selectable LED Bulb

(Find the right fit for your home!)

One of the most common misconceptions about LED Bulbs is that they produce a light that is too blue or that their choppy lighting wavelengths make it hard to see colors accurately. While initial LEDs were certainly guilty-as-charged in these areas, modern LEDs have (mostly) left these issues behind. Still a skeptic? Experiment with the switch on your new color-selectable, 90 CRI bulb to determine the best fit for your home!

5 Key things to look for when selecting LEDs for your home:

1. Energy Star Certification: One of the easiest methods to ensure that LEDs are of reasonable quality is to look for the Energy Star Label. This one little label means it meets strict energy efficiency and performance standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, using less energy while providing equal or better lighting quality.
   Pro Tip: While more common in commercial than residential settings, DLC Premium listed LED fixtures meet the top-tier of third-party certified standards (generally more stringent than Energy Star). For the ultimate assurance of quality & efficiency, look for fixtures that are DLC Premium listed.

2. Check the Color Temperature: Knowing the Color Temperature (often shown in Kelvin) of a bulb or fixture is critical to knowing if it will be suitable for your home. Too high of a color temperature (ie 6500K) may be to blue or harsh while too low (ie 2700K) may be too warm. Most homeowners tend to prefer 3500k to 5000K, but testing each in your home is a great way to get started.

3. CRI is CRItical: CRI, or Color Rendering Index, measures how accurately a light source displays colors compared to natural sunlight on a scale from 0 (worst) to 100 (best). Except in very specific circumstances (i.e. with Turtle-Safe bulbs on the seashore), Era recommends looking for bulbs and fixtures with a CRI of 90 or above. For context: 82 is the lowest CRI allowed for a DLC Premium listed bulbs as of the posting of this page.

4. Is it Dimmable? LEDs can come in dimmable or non-dimmable forms. Dimmable bulbs can often provide better interior comfort (and energy savings!) by getting lighting “just right”, but non-dimmable bulbs can be a bit less expensive for those concerned with first-cost. Keep in mind, LED’s tend to fail gradually (dim) rather than catastrophically like incandescent bulbs, so selecting a slightly brighter bulb,

There are—of course—tons of other fun technical aspects to learn about if looking to become an LED Expert (Wattage, Lumens, Lux, Luminous Efficacy, Harmonic Distortion, CCT Tolerance, Lifetime, and more!), but these 4 basics should give you a great start in selecting the right bulbs for your home!

About Your New Advanced Power Strip

(This is not your average surge protector)

Did you know that the phone adapter that is plugged into your outlet (but not a phone) is still using energy? How about your cable box or computer monitor that looks like it has been turned off (but actually is sitting in standby mode)? All of these devices that continue to draw power even when they’re not on or in use create what the National Renewable Energy Lab calls “Vampire Loads“.

Your stake, garlic, and holy water in the battle against these Transylvanian energy demands? A simple, intuitive Automatic Power-Sensing Smart Strip, provided by the Takoma Overlook Condominium Association and delivered to your door by era building solutions.

What do I do with this thing?

Installation is fairly simple. You just…

1. Turn off your devices and unplug the existing surge protector for your media station or home office.

2. Transfer the devices over to the appropriate receptacles on the Smart Strip.

   Hint: Be sure the device which you want to tell all the others to turn on/off (usually a TV Monitor or Computer Tower) is plugged into the white “Control Outlet” and any devices that require 24-hour power availability for proper operation (like a TiVo or DVR) are plugged into the red “Always On” outlets. Everything else (sound system, gaming console, computer monitor, printer, or even a phone charger that you only use while at your desk) goes into the green “Automatically Switched Outlets”.

3. Plug the Smart Strip in to the wall check to make sure that everything is working properly.

   Hint: First, turn on your control device to make sure that the automatically switchable outlets turn on (there may be a slight delay). Second: After everything has operated for a few minutes, go ahead and shut down the control device to make sure everything turns off.

IF any further tuning or troubleshooting is needed, be sure to refer to the Manufacturer’s Instruction Manual for recommendations, especially the sections on the Ground & Surge Indicator and Setting the Sensitivity Adjustment.

Looking for more ways to help save energy?

Check out our Top 9 Ways to Save Energy (and Money) for Your Condo to see how you can help.

The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) offers the following checklists to help people conserve energy in homes. By implementing these actions, homeowners can improve energy efficiency on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis.

Need more energy-saving tips? Find low-cost tips on how to save energy and money on the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Saver website.

What Else is the Association Doing to Save Energy

Parkside Condominium is in the midst of undertaking a number of fantastic first-step upgrades to save energy and develop a comprehensive next-step strategy for the community. These initial upgrades include a Tune-Up of the community’s Central Plant Automation Systems (also known as “Monitoring-Based Commissioning”), Variable-Speed Upgrades to the property’s Chillers (think of them like “dimmer switches” for the community’s cooling systems’ largest energy consumers), and a comprehensive ASHRAE Level II Energy Audit to support future planning.

These initial upgrades are not only expected to yield fast returns through energy savings and actionable building knowledge, but also to generate substantial utility rebates, expected to total over $100,000.

With substantial community infrastructure (ie central heating systems) reaching the end of their useful equipment lives, there will—of course—be many more improvements soon to come in the community’s path to improvement. The strategic decision to take these targeted initial steps while planning for the major investments to-come presents a highly strategic approach, allowing the property the time to ensure that affordability, operational reliability, energy efficiency, regulatory risk, and other key metrics are balanced as holistically as possible.

Progress Photos

Your Team

Your era building solutions team is fully dedicated to delivering not just industry-best building solutions but also a service experience that is unlike any other.

Primary Representative / Point of Contact: Mike

Mike C. Cain
AEE “Legend in Energy” (AEE Legend), Certified Energy Manager (CEM), Existing Building Commissioning Professional (EBCP), Multifamily Building Analyst (MFBA)

As Era’s primary representative to Parkside’s Association, Mike frequently stops by the community to check in on our team’s progress with ongoing projects, develop technical solutions for the community, support the Board’s strategic planning efforts, and occasionally present plans to the community. See him onsite? Don’t hesitate to say “hello” and let him know if you have questions about the community’s systems!

Additional Active Era Team Members at Takoma Overlook