Everything owners and facility managers ask
Grouped rather than ranked, so you can find the one you came for. If your question is not here, the phone is faster than another page.
What we do
- What does Rivet Energy actually do?
- We replace aging, inefficient HVAC equipment in New Jersey commercial and multifamily buildings, and we run the utility incentive process that covers most of the cost. We are an efficiency retrofit company, not a service contractor.
- Do you do repairs, maintenance or emergency calls?
- No. We do not run service calls, maintenance contracts or emergency dispatch of any kind. We replace equipment as a planned capital project.
- Are you a licensed HVAC contractor?
- We are the efficiency and incentive side of the project. Installation is carried out by licensed installing contractors we work with.
- Do you work on single-family homes?
- No. We work on commercial and multifamily buildings only.
- Do you do new construction?
- No. These incentive programs exist to replace inefficient equipment in existing buildings. A new building is designed to code and has no wasteful baseline to improve on.
Money
- How much of the cost do incentives cover?
- Typical incentives run 50–80% of total project cost, with most projects landing at up to 70%. The final figure depends on your utility tier and the building's energy usage.
- How is the incentive calculated?
- From projected energy savings, not from the price of the equipment. The utility is buying a reduction in what your building draws, and the payment is sized to how large that reduction is.
- Do we pay upfront and claim it back?
- No. The incentive is built into the project structure rather than reimbursed to you afterwards, and the approved amount is established before work is scheduled.
- What does a project cost?
- It depends entirely on the equipment. Central plant — a boiler, chiller or rooftop unit — runs from roughly $30,000 into the hundreds of thousands per unit. Heat pumps and PTACs are individually much smaller and scale by how many you do.
- Is there a minimum project size?
- There is no fixed floor. What matters is the size of the energy saving, which is what the survey and energy model establish.
Process
- Who handles the paperwork?
- We do. The energy model, the application and the utility coordination are our scope. The administration is the reason most buildings never do this work, which is exactly why we absorb it.
- What do you need from us?
- Twelve months of electric bills, twelve months of gas bills, access to walk the building, and a decision on scope. That is genuinely it.
- Why twelve months of bills, and why both fuels?
- Usage is seasonal, so a full year is the only way to model annual savings — and heating and cooling are usually metered by two different utilities, each running its own incentive program. With only one fuel we can model only half the project, and on heating work the gas half is normally the larger one.
- What if we cannot find twelve months of bills?
- Your utility can supply usage history for the account, and we can request it with your authorization. It is rarely a blocker.
- How long does it take?
- It varies with utility approval times and project size. We give you a realistic timeline after the survey rather than a generic promise before it.
- What if the numbers do not work?
- Then we tell you. Not every building has a project in it, and it is better to establish that early than to push something that will not qualify.
Coverage
- Which parts of New Jersey do you cover?
- All 21 counties, with no travel surcharge anywhere in the state. These programs are New Jersey only.
- Which utility program applies to us?
- Whichever utility bills you for electricity — PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric or Rockland Electric. Territory does not follow municipal lines, so we check the bill rather than the address.
- We lease our space. Can we still do this?
- Often yes, but the incentive follows the utility account holder, which in a leased building is not always the party who started the conversation. We settle that before scoping.
Find out what your building qualifies for
A survey and an energy model tell you the real number. That is a phone call, not a commitment.