Category: Building Operations

Building owners, managers and even superintendents are always on the lookout for ways to trim their operating budget's bottom line. Electricity and fuel costs continue to climb year after year and identifying cost savings in this area can …

The billing system used by New York City's Water Board - an autonomous, seven-member panel appointed by the mayor to set rates for the city's water and sewer services - has long been grounds for heated debate. As of the late 1980s, the cit…

When people are charged for energy based on how much they use individually, good habits tend to follow. When you pay for electricity based on your usage, you're more likely to make sure that the lights are turned off when you leave a room,…

It began last August with noncompliance with energy regulations in Ohio, and within hours, much of the Eastern Seaboard - including the city that never sleeps - came to a standstill. Although some areas of the city recovered power faster t…

Recycling is good for the environment - everyone knows that. But it can be a pain keeping track of the changes - one year it doesn't include glass or plastics, the next, glass and plastics are back; one year, you recycle newspapers, the ne…

Do you sit on the board of your condo or co-op? If you do, are you sure that you and your personal assets are adequately protected when the board of directors and the association are sued? Most of us want to do the right thing, and ma…

There is power in numbers, as the old saying goes - and that goes double for co-ops and condo buildings that are pooling their collective resources to reduce insurance costs under an umbrella known as a Risk Purchasing Group. The idea…

Their towers and turrets loom over the treetops on Central Park's west side, casting long shadows over joggers, sunbathers, and dog walkers in the park below. They're some of the most impressive, most historically significant apartment buil…

The earliest apartments in New York City contained most of the elements of a private house, though often assembled in a manner far from functional. Service spaces in particular were seldom arranged or designed to save the time and energy o…

For building boards, management companies, shareholders, and unit owners, the issue of insurance often becomes complicated: how much insurance - and of what kind - does one's building, or even a shareholder/tenant, need? Is there such a th…