Weather, economy holding back HVAC servicers

Bud Hammer, president and owner of Atlantic Westchester Inc., thrives on extremes ”“ extreme temperatures, that is.

“Being an air conditioning and heating service company, we always look forward to extreme weather conditions because it means we get busy,” Hammer said.

This year, however, the mild winter and spring have combined with lingering economic conditions and a high vacancy rate to hurt commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) firms like Atlantic Westchester.

Based in Bedford Hills, Atlantic Westchester”™s offerings include HVAC system design and installation, maintenance, upgrades and repairs, and energy audits that can show property owners how they can improve their system”™s efficiency.

Founded more than 50 years ago, the company exclusively services commercial properties and institutional properties, such as schools or municipal properties, working primarily in Westchester and Putnam counties, Fairfield County, Conn., and parts of New York City.

Hammer said his company is aggressively marketing its energy benchmarking service, which can help to show property owners available upgrades and improvements and what the return on investment would be.

Private property owners, he said, are largely not biting.

“Energy is not as painful a subject right now because there has not been a lot of consumption,” he said, the result of the unseasonably mild weather. “It”™s been a hard sell.”

The high vacancy rate, Hammer said, seems to be weighing heavily on property owners”™ decisions over whether to install more costly systems with an eye to long-term savings or whether to favor short-term fixes.

“There seems to be a tremendous fear in the future in making a major investment in a property without a guarantee of that property being occupied, so vacancy is a huge problem right now,” he said.

Normandy Real Estate Partners in the past 18 months opted for full-scale upgrades at all of its Westchester properties in an effort to make the buildings more attractive for current and potential tenants, said Christopher Masotto, general manager of Normandy”™s Westchester portfolio.

“We really don”™t want to do a short term fix if the next year you”™re going to be doing a replacement,” Masotto said.

He declined to elaborate on the cost savings, but said, “the impact is tremendous and it”™s immediate.”

Normandy owns and manages The Exchange, a collection of 14 buildings totaling 1.5 million square feet along the Interstate 287 corridor.

Upgrades at the developer”™s Westchester properties have included more efficient chillers, building management systems, better insulation and new roofs that better reflect sunlight.

While acknowledging the high vacancy rate across the county, Masotto said having energy-efficient systems that can reduce costs can be a significant draw for future tenants.

“That”™s what the business is. You want to have a great tenant roster and be 100 percent full and to do what you need to excel in every aspect of the business,” he said.

Public entities and small businesses have been quicker to embrace energy upgrades and audits, Hammer said.

Notably, small businesses and nonprofits with an average electric demand of 100 kilowatts or less are eligible for a free system assessment under the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority”™s energy audit program.