PUBLIC HOUSING CASE STUDY
BRICKYARD CREEK APARTMENTS – RED BLUFF, CA
Two expensive, hard-to-maintain boilers
spelled trouble for the renovators
of a large apartment complex.
Bosch Water Heating solutions delivered a win-win
for tenants, the managing agency
and the environment.
he eight buildings that make up the Brickyard Creek
T
Apartments house some ninety-two apartments, ranging in
size from one to three bedrooms.
In early 2003, the Community Housing Improvement
Program, a publicly-funded affordable housing agency, began to
renovate the nor thern California complex. The overhaul had
two major goals regarding hot water. The first was to increase
energy efficiency, reducing both costs and environmental
impact. The second, to give tenants control over their hot water
consumption, and bill them individually for it.
92 separate water heaters?
The complex was previously served by two large central domes-
tic hot water boilers, which wer e expensive to run and dif ficult
to maintain.
The only effective
way to bill the tenants for
hot water was to install
water heaters for each
apartment. But impr oving
the ener gy efficiency of the
hot water system while
changing over to 92 sepa-
rate water heaters posed a
serious challenge.
After considering
several apartment-appro-
priate options, the architect
and ener gy consultant selected Bosch tankless water heaters for
the pr oject.
They also chose two high capacity Bosch tankless water
Bosch technology gave the tenants of these publicly-funded apartments control over
their hot water consumption, reducing both costs and impact on the environment.
heaters to serve the two laundry rooms at Brickyard Creek. Each
of these powerful tankless units supplies hot water to four wash-
ing machines.
Why the experts
went with Bosch
More for the money.
The ar chitect and the ener gy consultant knew that the unit cost,
high ener gy-efficiency, and ease of installation made Bosch tank -
less units very cost effective.
Size matters!
The small size of the tankless water heaters was another key
advantage. Access to the attics where the water heaters would be
located was difficult, and dragging
heavy, unwieldy tanks up into the
attic would have been nearly impos -
sible.
Safety first.
Tank-style water heaters installed in
attics pr esent a gr eat risk to building
owners because of the water dam -
age they can cause if they eventually
leak. Unlike tank free water
heaters, the majority of tank water
heaters have substantial leaks at
least once -- commonly at the end of
their functional life. Leaks from attic tank installations inevitably
drip down into the apar tments below, damaging drywall, carpets
and fur nishings. It’s highly unusual for a tankless water heater to
leak during its lifetime,
which is a clear advan-
tage over tanks.
age gas tank water heater
landfill (or dump).
, and are less likely to end up at the
Endless hot water
.
Another advantage of
the Bosch tankless is
abundant hot water.
The unit can support
shower after shower
continuously, and will
never run out of hot
water like a tank. Since
there can be as many as
Going where a tank can’t: compact
Bosch tankless units fit nicely in attic
space, minus the threat of water damage
presented by tanks.
five residents in each apartment, this is an important feature for
Brickyard Creek.
Energy efficiency.
The most important consideration in selecting the Bosch tank-
less was energy efficiency. Each Bosch unit uses 30% less
energy than the average forty-gallon tank, and doesn’t lose ener-
gy efficiency over time as a tank does. This saves the apartment
owners about $100 annually
in energy costs on each unit,
and more than $9,000 annu-
ally across the entire apart-
ment complex.
The famous Bosch
warranty comes through
for Brickyard Creek
The Bosch 15-year warranty is the longest in the industry, and
more than twice as long as most tank water heater warranties. It’s
nice to know it’s there, just in case – as the complex’s manager
Bob Lyon discovered.
During the summer after the installation, several of the
water heaters control boxes on the attic units failed. After some
investigation, Bosch determined that the high daytime tempera-
ture in the attics (often above 160 degrees F) was causing an
electr onics problem in some of the control boxes.
Bosch swiftly replaced all the control boxes at Brickyard
Creek with a mor e heat durable version of the part at no charge.
There have been no further problems in the year
The tenants have been very satisfied with the per form-
ance of the Bosch water heaters. Bob
Lyon reports that “The Bosch
tanklesss units have performed well and been
reliable. “And” he adds, “ Bosch techni-
cal support has been excellent.”
since this incident.
Environment.
Bosch tankless water heaters’
greenhouse gas emissions
are 30% lower than the aver -
BBT NORTH AMERICA CORPORATION
Bosch Group
Bosch Water Heating
340 Mad River Park
Waitsfield, VT 05673
800-798-8219
www.boschpro.com
The Bosch war ranty is the best in the
business -- and it works. When summer heat
stressed a few of the control boxes on the
attic units, Bosch swiftly replaced all of them
with a more durable version of the part at
no charge.
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