Rotterdam Development Makes Energy Efficiency History

Surprisingly, netZero Village, "a community that produces as much or more energy than it consumes from renewable and sustainable sources," is a rental community. Phase One, composed of 72 units, became available this spring and has been fully rented.

"During the day, they’re generating selling [sic] energy into the grid," writes Andrew Murphy for News 10 ABC of Albany, N.Y. "At night or when it’s cloudy or snowy, consuming it, and at the the end of the year Bruns says his complex will net zero, or create as much as it consumes." See YouTube video.

For developer David Bruns, this environmentally friendly apartment community is a marriage of two passions, his engineering and residential real estate background. “I wanted to prove that a net zero development would be financially viable on a commercial level,” Bruns tells News 10.

Planning took three years and this Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) grad says his apartments are engineered, modeled, and tested so he knows how much energy they’re going to use. “The way that buildings are being built right now, it’s just a shame in terms of energy efficiency,” Bruns says.

The six-building complex broke ground on October 28, 2014. Joining Bruns at the event (see 9-photo gallery) was local Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko.

While Murphy writes that the project "is considered the first of kind in the country," Michael DeMasi, reporter for the Albany Business Review, wrote last October that "netZero Village is the largest market-rate apartment complex of its kind outside of the West Coast."

The overall costs are 15 percent to 20 percent more than Bruns would have paid for standard construction, but he intends to own the property for the longterm and said he’ll recoup the extra investment.

Wondering how much the units cost to rent? "One bedrooms go for $1195 and two bedrooms $1385, however all utilities are included," writes Murphy. All 72 apartments rented in three months. But that's only Phase One. 

A second phase of seven buildings with 84 units is under construction and expected to open in June 2016.

Established by Dutch settlers in 1820, "Rotterdam is a town in Schenectady County, New York," according to Wikipedia. "The population was 29,094 at the 2010 census." It is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area referred to as the Capital District.

Hat tip to Eric Wolff, POLITICO energy reporter and author of Morning Energy.