New York Local Law 154 and the state's All-Electric Buildings Act prohibit the installation of gas boilers in new construction. As a result, buildings are going all-electric, and heat and cooling are now processed through the same heat pump on the same meter. 

With landlords in New York City being responsible for heating costs in the winter while tenants are responsible for cooling in the summer, this raises the question: How will landlords be able to separate the costs they are responsible for from the ones tenants need to pay? 

The answer is LFG Manufacturing's split utility panel, a control panel that separates the circuitry controlling landlord-paid heat from tenant-paid cooling at the unit. During construction, contractors and electricians can add this panel to a building’s wiring, and the problem of determining the heating bill versus the cooling bill is solved from Day 1.

“Most laws are created to ensure safety or to protect the consumer,” LFG Manufacturing Chief Operating Officer Zac Elkins said. “The problem is that a lot of the time, the technology doesn't exist to fill the gap the law creates. That’s what happened here. The law was put in place, and contractors weren't prepared to meet the requirements.” 

LFG Manufacturing is a manufacturer backed by Power Design, a billion-dollar nationwide electrical contractor with more than 35 years of experience. LFG was created to solve a major problem in the construction industry: the massive supply chain delays caused by the pandemic. 

Elkins said that as the construction industry picked up steam after the initial pandemic, equipment lead times failed to improve. This inspired Power Design to start manufacturing its own equipment, becoming vertically integrated and handling everything in-house. The firm began by primarily building switchboards for electrical distribution, but now, with LFG Manufacturing, it is focused on solving real challenges that construction crews face every day, including this unique issue in NYC.

As a standardized, factory-built solution, the panel is fast and easy to install, cutting down on labor costs and time on-site, Elkins said. 

“It's a clean deliverable,” he said. “The contractor takes the unit, they install it, they hook it up to the supply side, and we give them the wiring instructions. It’s very, very simple.” 

The landlord now has peace of mind that when Oct. 1 comes, they will be fully compliant with the law and not have to worry about providing sufficient heat or determining the bill down the line. There is no need for monthly per-unit metering, reading or billing, and the system will switch seasons automatically.

Elkins said the team was inspired to build this product while watching contractors in NYC create quick fixes in the field to attempt to solve the splitting problem, and realizing there had to be a better way. When the firm began manufacturing switchboards, it underwent the UL 5081 certification process, an independent safety and performance evaluation to ensure products meet standards for electrical, fire and mechanical safety. The split panel utility is a factory-built, UL 508A certified solution, not a quick fix that builders have to come up with on the fly. 

In a project in Willets Point, Queens, LFG took the split utility panel from the prototype phase all the way to approval in less than a month and scaled production to deliver 800 units across a five-month phased rollout, all while meeting the construction schedule. That same panel created for that one project can now be used in any new construction across NYC. 

“I’ve not seen this law in any other major metros yet, but I think it’s only a matter of time before it reaches Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago — really any large city in a colder climate,” Elkins said. “When it happens, the split utility panel can help.” 

This article was produced in collaboration between LFG and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.