Schenectady Community Action Program Grid Capacity Evaluation
Responding to New York's Home and Community Renewal Sustainability Guidelines with Grid Capacity Evaluations
The Schenectady Community Action Program’s mission is to alleviate poverty by helping people help themselves. DePaul Properties has partnered with the Schenectady Community Action Program (SCAP) for the development of a new mixed-use campus in Schenectady, NY. The proposed development will include a four-story residential building and a two-story building for a childcare center and family support services.
The new campus will be entirely electric, following the Sustainability Guidelines for current and future affordable housing projects issued by New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). HCR’s Guidelines will bring affordable housing closer to meeting New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (“Climate Act”).
While service from the existing electric grid will be required, the campus has the potential to overload the existing distribution lines. Overall, America’s existing electric distribution system is aged and was not designed to accommodate the high demand of all-electric buildings.
To determine the impact of the new development on the existing distribution lines, LaBella performed a Grid Capacity Evaluation for the proposed project site. Using existing and public information, the capacity of the distribution lines was compared to their post-construction capacity.
Our Grid Capacity Evaluation determined that the development’s required load is above the acceptable peak percentage of the existing distribution line and, therefore, upgrades may be required to serve the SCAP campus.
LaBella partnered with a qualified electrical contractor with experience in building transmission and distribution lines to complete a high-level concept design and fee for the anticipated upgrades.
