Some units at the Canopy Apartment Villas are connected to a 260-kilowatt rooftop solar system. All units include efficiency upgrades that qualified for rebates under OUC’s Multifamily Efficiency Program.
An OUC program that encourages multifamily property owners to invest in conservation measures helped turn an aging apartment community into a showcase of energy and water efficiency, saving tenants money and reducing carbon emissions.
By partnering with OUC’s Multifamily Efficiency Program (MFEP), the owner of the 296-unit Canopy Apartment Villas, Taurus Investment Holdings LLC, saved nearly 10% on a $3 million investment in energy and water efficiency upgrades. MFEP delivered $281,820.40 in total rebates, breaking the program’s previous rebate record by almost $100,000.
The MFEP-supported improvements to the 1980’s era apartments off of Semoran Boulevard in South Orlando included the installation of heat pump water heaters and 15- and 16 SEER-rated AC heat pumps. These two Energy Star®-rated updates amounted to $192,460 in rebates. Upgrades to air ducts and ceiling insulation earned $52,830.40 from the rebate program, while the replacement of 365 pre-1994 era toilets with WaterSense® low-flow models saved the property owner $36,500.
Overseen by RENU Communities LLC, a subsidiary of Boston-based Taurus Investment Holdings, the Canopy retrofit project took about six months to complete in 2022, and no residents were displaced while work was done. RENU specializes in implementing “decarbonized energy retrofits to existing real estate assets.” Ferran Services, an MFEP-listed preferred contractor, performed all of the work on the project.
The retrofit efficiency project at the Canopy Apartment Villas included, clockwise from top left, Energy Star®-rated heat pump HVAC units and heat pump water heaters, additional ceiling insulation and sealed air ducts, and WasterSense® low-flow toilets.
Chris Gray, RENU’s Chief Technology Officer, said the rebates OUC offered “really made a difference” in the scope of the project. Applying for MFEP rebates “was a fairly straight-forward process,” he added. “OUC’s one of the best utilities we’ve worked with across the country, that’s for sure.”
In addition to the MFEP-qualifying upgrades, RENU installed LED lighting and a 260-kilowatt rooftop solar system that serves 60 units at the Canopy. RENU said the solar system will yield a complex-wide 20% reduction in the use of grid-distributed electricity. Any surplus energy the array produces goes into the grid, earning the property owner credits on its utility bill.
Gray said the energy efficiency improvements are expected to eliminate 906 tons of CO2 yearly, while the new toilets will reduce toilet water consumption and wastewater production by 60%. Tenants whose units rely exclusively on the grid for energy could save on average $75 a month in utility costs, while renters in the units connected to solar could save on average $140 a month.
The MFEP rebate record set by the Canopy project may not last for long. RENU Communities is retrofitting another multifamily property owned by Taurus Investment Holdings, the 380-unit Rosemont Windermere Orlando, with efficiency upgrades similar in scope to the Canopy’s.
“We’ll definitely take advantage of OUC’s rebates again,” Gray said.
