Greenwich Village Co-op Swaps Gas Dryers for Electric to Cut Carbon Emissions

Looking for a way to curb carbon emissions, The Brevoort, a 266-unit co-op in Greenwich Village, has cleaned up its act by replacing its gas-powered dryers with electric models. The three-month, $250,000 project was completed in March, transforming the laundry room with 13 high-efficiency washers, five single-load dryers, and five double-load dryers.

However, the project wasn't a simple equipment swap. "We had to run in [more] electricity," says board president Diane Narvone. "The bathroom was a wreck, so we're putting in a new one and new utility closets. It's really a gut rehab." As well as upgrading electrical capacity, the work involved replacing old ductwork, drilling through concrete slabs to add new flooring, and installing air conditioning to prevent the laundry room from becoming stiflingly hot.

Old building, new fix. Based on energy data from 2023, The Brevoort is not facing penalties through the first or second compliance periods, but the postwar building relies heavily on gas boilers for heating, cooling and hot water. In addition, electricity is generated onsite with a gas-powered co-generation plant. "It is very difficult to get rid of gas in a 1955 building — there are only a couple of ways to do it," Narvone says. Complete electrification was prohibitively expensive, so the board looked at elements of the building that could be converted from gas to electric. "One of the most obvious ones was the laundry room," she says.

The overhaul did not require a special assessment for shareholders. "We try to fund projects through refinancing," Narvone says. Not all shareholders at the co-op use the laundry room, since washers and dryers are allowed in apartments. However, knowing many people would be without laundry facilities for three months, Narvone struck a deal with a local dry cleaner to allow residents to drop off their laundry in the lobby before 9 a.m. and have it returned, washed and folded by 5 p.m.

Forward thinking. Energy efficiency is not new to The Brevoort. The co-op has three green roofs, electric-vehicle chargers in the garage and recycles exhaust from its co-generation plant to supplement domestic hot water. "The exhaust goes into a series of heat exchangers and it also supplies hot water for the absorption chillers," explains Gary Earl, operations manager at New Tech Mechanical Systems, the engineering firm engaged by the co-op. Although not a specific concern for The Brevoort, an all-electric laundry room removes the risk of service disruption if the building fails a gas pressure test and faces a shut down.

Three years ago, The Brevoort also began phasing in hybrid packaged terminal air conditioners (PTACs) to reduce emissions. The new PTACs combine heat pump technology with the original steam operations, running mostly on electricity but switching to gas at very low temperatures, which helps lower emissions and takes pressure off the boilers. Shareholders are required to upgrade their PTACs when an apartment is sold or renovated. About one-fifth of the heating and cooling units have been replaced, a transition that has helped take the co-op from a B energy efficiency to an A.

Equipment upgrade: The Brevoort, a 266-unit co-op in Greenwich Village, has decarbonized its laundry room by switching out gas-powered dryers for electric models.