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Energy Efficiency

Incentives Help Waco Complex Lower Energy Costs

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Andy Morgan
07.12.2021

This summer, most residents of the Villa Victoria apartments in Waco, Texas will be keeping cool in a way that’s more efficient, more reliable and less expensive.

That’s because Villa Victoria’s owner, Andy Sheehy, pictured above, used Oncor’s Multifamily heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) program to begin replacing the HVAC equipment in over 200 apartments.

The initiative offers property owners like Sheehy incentive dollars to upgrade older HVAC units with new, high-efficiency heat pump systems.

“The Oncor program provides a big advantage to older properties like this one,” Sheehy said. “It’s such a huge expense to update 214 units. With this program, we can do it in one fell swoop. It will lower our residents’ bills and lower our maintenance.”

The Villa Victoria apartments were built in 1978. Most of the HVAC units have been switched out at least once since then, but many are still at least 20 years old.

Prachi Gupta, Oncor’s Energy Efficiency Operations Manager, said Villa Victoria is one of the largest multi-family HVAC projects funded by Oncor. It’s a good example of the kind of project Oncor wants to help with – an apartment complex with outdated, inefficient equipment and a committed property owner like Sheehy.

Oncor offers financial incentives for multifamily dwellings -- both for low-income and market price apartments.

It’s one of several energy efficiency programs from Oncor under its Take A Load Off, Texas effort. These programs are funded with a multimillion-dollar budget approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

Creating an energy-saving community

Sheehy, who bought the property in 2008, is focused on making Villa Victoria as energy efficient as possible. Last year, he replaced over 600 windows at the complex with more-efficient ones. He also installed 115 LED outdoor lights. And he’s putting smart thermostats in each apartment with a new HVAC unit.

He estimates that the new HVAC units should lower his residents’ summer electric bills by 20 to 30 percent.

“Every property owner with a property like this should be involved in this program,” Sheehy said.

Making Villa Victoria more energy efficient is just one improvement at the apartments. Sheehy recently moved a 1940s-era covered pavilion from a city park and re-constructed it on the Villa Victoria property for the residents.

“The city was going to get rid of it, so I asked if we could have it,” Sheehy said. “Our crew took it apart piece by piece and put it back together here.”

Program helped thousands in 2020

In 2020, residents of nearly 2,800 apartment units in 27 apartment communities benefited from Oncor’s Multifamily HVAC program.

In the case of multifamily dwellings, property owners work with HVAC contractors and apply for the funds to assist in replacing inefficient, older systems. The Multifamily HVAC program is a competitive application process, said Gupta.

“We look at each application and then calculate the lifetime value of the energy savings,” Gupta said. “The HVAC contractor receives the Oncor financial incentive and the rest is paid for by the property owner. The real winners are the customers who are getting a more efficient system.”

In the second year of Oncor’s program, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy gave Oncor’s Multifamily HVAC program an Exemplary Program Award based on its effectiveness and innovation in helping customers achieve better energy efficiency levels.

The program is still accepting applications from multifamily property owners for 2021, she said. To find out more about Oncor’s energy efficiency programs and Take A Load Off, Texas, go to www.takealoadofftexas.com or multifamilyhvacprogram.com.