Category: Building Operations

 Not so long ago, the idea of a 'retirement community' conjured images of elderly  folks in cardigans playing shuffleboard, or perhaps enjoying a placid round of  bingo in the dining hall. As the country's population ages however, ideas ab…

 In March 1947, a group of nearly 600 onlookers gathered on the sidewalk in front  of the home of bachelor brothers Homer and Langley Collyer on Fifth Avenue and  128th Street in Manhattan. Residents of the neighborhood had speculated and …

 Living in a condominium community means working together. Cooperation and a  spirit of volunteerism are visible every day in community gatherings, board  meetings, even in the scheduling of time on the tennis courts. The men and  women wh…

 In an era of tight budgets and growing green consciousness, more co-op and condo  communities than ever before are moving toward energy conservation and  sustainable resources. For those residential buildings lucky enough to stand  tall i…

The sun is hot and people are thinking about beaches and cooling off in pools and air conditioners, and surely the last thing anyone wants to think about is that brutal winter of snow and ice we just had. But this is precisely…

 Some multifamily buildings have direct metering—the utility owns each apartment’s meter, and each resident pays directly to the utility based on an individual  utility rate. Others don’t have electric metering of individual units—the enti…

 The cost of producing energy is on the rise, a seemingly never ending ascent  that places big heating and cooling bills in the hands of building owners.  These costs are then passed down to residents. As a result, many boards are  searchi…

 Operating a business—or the day-to-day business of a co-op or condo—without adequate insurance coverage is a lot like skydiving with an untested  parachute; you may land just fine...or the result could be catastrophic. If  your condo or c…

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies is the largest and most diverse national property/casualty insurance trade and political advocacy association in the United States. “We are a full-service trade associatio…

When disaster strikes, whether in the form of a storm, a fire, or some other crisis, the devastation can be overwhelming—something we’ve seen too many times this summer on the nightly news. From making sure loved ones are safe to helping…