Energy Modeling

CEC uses advanced energy modeling software to analyze the energy performance of proposed designs. We create models compliant with many different programs, including LEED and NYSERDA.

LEED Certification Assistance

CEC provides complete support to any project seeking LEED certification. We provide start-to-finish tailored support to project teams according to their needs. Our clientele varies from architects who have no experience with LEED, to teams that have significant LEED experience but desire our expert services.

• Planning and goal-setting charrettes
• LEED certification strategy and credit attainment advice
• Green materials guidance
• LEED credit documentation, including difficult credits such as EA credit 1
• Review of design documents and specs
• Construction-phase guidance and LEED kickoff meetings for contractors
• LEED Online project administration and submissions to US Green Building Council
• Credit Interpretation Requests

361 Manhattan Ave – 1st LEED Multifamily in Bklyn

Greenbelt (361 Manhattan Avenue, in Williamsburg) is a thoroughly modern condo building that received a LEED Gold rating. The building was designed to be a part of the community, and features an innovative arts space on the street level.

CEC guided the developer Derek Denckla from start to finish and handled the LEED documentation, energy modeling, and commissioning.

Gateway School – Learning sanctuary

The Gateway School, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, is a special center for children with different learning needs. CEC partnered with Andrew Bartle Architects on this innovative space. We used our specialty to implement cost-effective energy efficiency, and bring sustainable materials to the fun, exciting design.

Green Communities

CEC is an approved Technical Assistance Provider for Enterprise Green Communities. Green Communities is an alternative green building certification and grant program which focuses on creating a healthy living environment within an existing neighborhood fabric. Modeled after LEED, but designed to be more streamlined for affordable housing developers, Green Communities is an opportunity to bring sustainable design to those most in need.

Commissioning: Making Things Work Properly

New Construction projects are complicated. Without a careful eye, systems can be installed that work against each other, do not work as planned, require excessive maintenance, and use too much energy.

For example, a boiler and its radiators must properly match to ensure peak effectiveness and efficiency. Ventilation fans must be wired properly to prevent excessive air flow and heat loss. And common area lighting sensors must be properly configured to save maximum energy, and meet code.

Commissioning: Real-World Energy Performance

Commissioning is one of the best ways to realize real-world energy performance. To ensure all building systems are working according to their design, CEC will work with the design team before construction to do document reviews, and throughout construction to do inspections and testing. We do qualified commissioning for both LEED and NYSERDA.

What Is a Damp Spray Cellulose Installation?

CEC believes damp spray cellulose is the best insulation method today.

In this insulation method, water is added at the tip of the hose in a very fine mist, at high pressure. The cellulose is sprayed onto the exterior sheathing and builds up in the stud bays, slightly past the studs. Then the excess is shaved off with a scrubber. At the end of the process, all the excess dampened cellulose is vacuumed up, mixed with dry cellulose and reused.

This method can be employed either in new construction or gut rehab, for exterior or interior flat walls.

Example Projects

Multifamily Building – Roof Insulation

You can lose over 30% of your heat through the roof, which leads to high heating bills and uncomfortable tenants. CEC recently insulated a 5000-square-foot roof on a multi-family building in the Bronx. The tenants will be comfortable and the managers stress free.

Southampton Home – Dense-Packed Walls

A client renovated his Southampton estate and wanted the best product available. CEC’s dense-packed cellulose insulation blocks drafts, suppresses sound and holds in heat.

Independent Residence – Damp-Spray Walls

During the rehab of a 6-bedroom residence in Woodhaven, Queens, CEC was called to damp-spray cellulose insulation between the studs of the exterior walls. Damp-spray is self supporting, dries in a day and performs up to 30% better than fiberglass in real-world settings.

Why CEC Recommends Cellulose Over Fiberglass Insulation

Cellulose Insulation Works

Insulating with cellulose will make it easier to heat and cool your building, and your building will be energy efficient as a result. By reducing heating and cooling costs, you will quickly recoup your insulation investment.

It’s Quick

Damp spray cellulose takes only 24 to 48 hours to dry before it can be closed in the wall.

It’s Safe
No mold
The insulation CEC uses is made with 100 percent Boron-based, E.P.A.-registered fungicide, which makes it resistant to mold. The density of the material when installed stops air movement in wall cavities and inhibits mold growth. Cellulose insulation, in fact, wicks moisture away from the surrounding building components and carries it to drier areas.

Fiberglass, by comparison, is not an air barrier and provides no protection against moisture or mold.

Retards fire
Cellulose insulation is so effective, that it actually improves the fire safety of existing construction. Fire roars through fiberglass; adding cellulose insulation to an un-insulated wall increases the fire rating by 15 minutes.

No vermin
A densely packed bay of cellulose is not a good host for mice or insects. The boric acid with which cellulose is treated burns rodents’ eyes and acts as a barrier to insects.

It Deadens Sound
A building insulated with cellulose is significantly quieter than a structure insulated with fiberglass.

High-density materials absorb sound better than low-density materials. With an installed density of greater than 3.0 lbs./cu. Ft., cellulose insulation effectively softens vibrations and blocks the pathways of sound. Cellulose achieves a STC( Sound Transmission Class) rating as high as 45 in a standard 2×4 wall.

It’s Good for the Environment
Non-toxic for human beings
Although cellulose is considered a nuisance dust by the E.P.A., it is completely safe and non-toxic. By comparison, in 1990, members of the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP), who represent ten federal health agencies, stated unanimously: “Fiberglass may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen” in humans.

Good for the earth
Cellulose benefits the planet because cellulose reduces the amount of energy needed to heat and cool a building.

In addition, 83% of cellulose are recycled materials, compared to 25% for fiberglass and 9% for foam, which is made from petroleum.

Cellulose insulation takes significantly less energy to produce, for it is produced in electrically driven mills that consume relatively little energy when they are operating and zero energy when production is completed. By comparison, a mineral-based product such as fiberglass is produced in furnaces that burn day and night and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

In Conclusion

If you are interested in using a product that benefits the planet, provides you with comfort and saves energy, costs less to manufacture than other methods of insulation and is healthier for you and your family, then damp spray cellulose insulation is your product of choice.

For more information about damp spray cellulose insulation, please contact Sal Iacono at CEC: siacono@cecenter.org

Workshops and Consulting for Manufacturers, Contractors and Others

CEC’s experts can help your organization navigate the expanding world of green building and understand what LEED means for you. We offer everything from customized LEED training for marketing and salespeople to guidance on greening your products and operations.