PUBLIC HOUSING CASE STUDY
Harrison Village – McKeesport, PA
The architect quit, the plumber went broke
and the plumbing inspector
never heard of tankless.
So how did this 50-unit renovation project
turn out to be such a success?
cKeeseport Housing Authority owns and manages more
M
urb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This includes Harrison Village,
a community of 50 townhouses and apartments.
for the Village. One of the major goals of this project was to
maximize usable space in each of the Village homes.
than 2,000 housing units situated in McKeesport, a sub-
The outstanding energy efficiency of Bosch tankless water heaters helped the renovators of this public
housing complex comply with an important HUD regulation.
In early 2002, the Authority began a renovation project
More energy efficiency
in less space
The architect advised that replacing the old bulky tank water
heaters with compact, wall-hung Bosch tankless unit would free
up several square feet of floor space.
Even better
, the extraor dinary efficiency of Bosch
tankless water heaters would help the renovators comply with an
important HUD regulation for public housing. This federal stan-
dard requires local housing agencies to select the most energy
housing authority had disputes with the architect, delaying the
project’s completion.
were brought in and the renovation was nearly complete, the
county plumbing inspector refused to approve the water heaters
for the installation. The inspector mistakenly believed the tank-
less units wer e designed to supply only a single plumbing fixture
and so wouldn’t provide enough hot water for an entire one-
bathr oom townhouse.
use in all fifty states, Bosch has often helped a customer over-
come the assumption held by an inspector of the “old school”
that all water heaters have to be tanks. In the case of Harrison
efficient and economical appliances
that ar e easily available.
The choice was clear. A Bosch
water heater was installed in each of
the fifty homes at Har rison Village.
Bumps
in the road,
Bosch to
the rescue
Projects sometimes run into major
roadblocks. Harrison Village had its
share. For starters, the plumbing
contractor went out of business. The
And then, after a new architect and plumbing contractor
Although Bosch tankless units have been approved for
Village, Bosch spearheaded a concerted effort to address the situ-
ation. Two appeals later, the water heaters received final
approval.
“Plenty of hot water!”
Today, each Village townhouse has three sinks, a shower/tub
combination, and a clothes washer hook up. Many of the town-
houses have three bedrooms and as many as six residents – often
several morning showers are run consecutively.
At most, a forty-gallon tank would have supplied perhaps
two or three showers in a
row. The Bosch unit just
keeps chugging along,
providing all the hot water
those mor ning bathers
need. And each Bosch
water heater uses approxi-
mately 30% less gas than a
forty-gallon tank, saving
$80 to $100 a year for
each unit installed.
Finally, the Bosch
tankless fifteen-year war -
ranty is about twice that of
Efficiency expert: replacing old, bulky
hot water tanks with compact, wall
mounted Bosch units freed up much
needed floor space, as seen in the
laundry room photo above.
Many Village townhouses have thr ee bedrooms and as many as six
residents – often several morning showers or laundry loads are run
consecutively. The Bosch water heater just keeps chugging along,
providing all the hot water residents need.
the average tank warranty, which is fitting since the unit typical-
ly lasts about twice as long. This reliability allows the Housing
Authority maintenance staff to focus their energies on issues
other than replacing water heaters for the foreseeable future.
“The tankless water heaters have been reliable, and the
tenants are getting plenty of hot water,” says Jay Graham,
Assistant Maintenance Superintendent for Harrison Village.
“That’s one less thing to worry about.”
BBT NORTH AMERICA CORPORATION
Bosch Group
Bosch Water Heating
340 Mad River Park
Waitsfield, VT 05673
800-798-8219
www.boschpro.com
Loading...