Bangor - It takes a lot of money to heat an old building, but an organization called Efficiency Maine is working to make it more affordable. It offers incentives to homeowners and landlords who invest in making their homes more energy efficient.

"They can actually take an existing structure that's inefficient and make it as efficient as new construction and obviously that's the goal," said Stephen Wintle, President of Facility Management Group, which is one of 19 partners for Efficiency Maine.

That's what the landlord of an apartment building on Cumberland Street in Bangor set out to do. He knew he was losing a lot of money trying to heat a building built 100 years ago.

"This 1912 building needed several projects to reduce it's energy consumption," said Wintle.

The landlord had an energy audit done to find out if investing in these projects would be worth it.

"The energy audit identifies what the cost is, what the rate of return on investment is and what the payback period is," explained Wintle.

This building is now one of the first to benefit from the incentives offered under Efficiency Maine's Multifamily Efficiency Program.

Facility Management Group has been working on the building since the beginning of the month. The renovations include spray foam insulation, pipe insulation, six new windows, and more. The total investment adds up to around $28,000.

But Efficiency Maine contributed $10,500, which will reduce the project payback period from five years to three.

"We expect that all of these projects from top to bottom will save this particular client $7,000 a year in energy costs," said Wintle.

The landlord tells us it's hard to tell the payback so far, because he hasn't seen an energy bill yet. But he's already had tenants tell him it's warmer inside this century old building.

The Multifamily Efficiency Program incentives are available for buildings with 5 to 20 units, regardless of income level or fuel type. To find out more, visit EfficiencyMaine.com.

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