The Green Initiative Program is Westover’s Way of Reducing Their Carbon Footprint
The Westover Companies started the Green Initiative Program in 2009 with the intention to provide the most cost-efficient apartment to residents. At first, this meant installing Energy Star appliances and windows, low-flush toilets, and low-flow aerators in its apartment showers and sinks. Today, Westover is taking a more efficient approach, updating entire properties inside and out using green products and services. Westover’s Green Initiative today includes installing LED lighting in all of its apartments, making sure hot water boilers and HVAC systems are 90% efficient, remodeling properties so they can run on gas heat instead of oil or electric, as well as improving facades and drainage.
Residents Always Come First
According to Pete Quercetti, Vice President of Operations Management, Westover’s residents are always top of mind when planning any large-scale project at Westover.
How exactly are residents a priority when it comes to Westover’s Green Initiative? Projects that involve residents’ water, heating, and drainage are completed first. Later, projects involving updating residents’ dishwashers, toilets, lights, laundry machines are completed next. Quercetti has expressed that it’s important for the infrastructure of our buildings to be in place to support the installation of green amenities. Greener amenities means more utility bill savings for residents and a more affordable rent.
Green Investments
“We also replace our old and aging cast-iron boilers with new condensing boilers, recycle all of our own refrigerant, and collect and dispose of all old chemicals and paints through a licensed contractor,” said Quercetti.
Westover is the only property management company in the industry to recycle all of its own refrigerant to cut costs and become more efficient. With polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) increasing with the production of new appliances, apartment communities and households alike need proper disposal of these hazardous components. Westover uses Associate Refrigeration (ARI) to help with the safe removal and recycling of refrigerate when replacing its old refrigerators with new energy efficient ones. This process can help Westover from releasing greenhouse gases into the environment, destroying the ozone layer, and contributing to climate change.
Westover’s New Condensing Boilers
Training Supports Greener Measures
Westover provides a training program for their technicians to learn how to perform preventative maintenance on existing building equipment. If you’re not familiar with what our Maintenance Technicians do, read our Q&A with Westover Maintenance Director, Joel Grenfell here! Some examples of preventative measures our technicians perform include checking combustion, working with PECO to run gas lines at properties, removing all toxic and unused chemicals, as well as finding and repairing water pipe leaks. Dave Archambault, one of Westover’s Maintenance Managers, helps train his team on what to look for when performing preventative maintenance.
Recycled Refrigerant
A Brighter (and Greener) Future
Westover has experienced firsthand the effect of their Green Initiative projects at their communities all over PA, NJ, DE, and MD. The properties below are just a handful of those who have saved water from switching to low-flow toilets and shower aerators in the past two years:
Allandale Village Apartments, Newark, DE – 3,255,000 gallons saved
Norwood House Apartments, Downingtown, PA – 3,091,134 gallons saved
Hillcrest Apartments, Lansdowne, PA – 2,874,900 gallons saved
Gayley Park Apartments, Media, PA – 2,152,800 gallons saved
Rosetree Crossing Apartments, Media, PA – 1,866,400 gallons saved
“If we are going to supply competitive workforce housing to our residents, we need to be mindful of how our projects are impacting our residents, surrounding communities, and ultimately, our environment,” Quercetti remarks, noting how Westover’s Green Initiative Program and approach to more sustainable apartment living stretches beyond the resident. Westover is always looking for ways to reduce its carbon footprint in hopes to pioneer bigger environmental changes within the property management industry.
To view an upgraded apartment with environmentally-friendly amenities, find a Westover community near you and schedule your tour with our on-site leasing staff!
To see what’s happening at our Westover properties, follow us on Facebook and Instagram! @WestoverLiving
