Hoarding can be best defined as the collection of materials to the point where an individual’s quality of life and overall functionality of their living space is diminished. And if you’re like many Americans, then what you know about ho…

 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…

 Actors Dustin Hoffman and Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim call it  home. The late actress Marilyn Monroe did, too, when she was married to the late  playwright Arthur Miller. And actor and comedian Denis Leary lives here too, …

 “Sue” is a retired professional who is well-to-do, rarely eats at home and has lived  in her condo for decades. While everything seems perfect from the outside, Sue  is the keeper of a dirty little secret.    When the unit above he…

 As the ideas of energy efficiency and “green” buildings keep growing, associations and managers often want to know which  energy-efficient improvements make the most sense for their buildings—it might be compact fluorescent lights, energy…

 There are many reasons for “going green” in a residential community, starting with the goal of shrinking the carbon  footprint and decreasing dependence on fossil fuels. But the real reason a  condominium complex or HOA seeks sustainable …

 Winters these days don’t seem to be quite as brutal as they once were, due in part to the fact that in  recent years, the Northeast has had more flooding and ice storms than  blizzards. But pipes still freeze in the dead of night, and win…

 Utility submetering is the implementation of a system that allows a condominium  association or other multi-tenant property to bill tenants for individual  measured utility usage by making use of individual water, gas, or electricity  met…

 CHP (combined heat and power) is a marriage of electric generation and thermal  power—the use of an engine, usually gas-fueled, to simultaneously generate electricity  and heat. It can be done on a grand scale, as in manufacturing, hospit…

Q I am the president of our condo association and I am in favor of creating reserve funding. Over the last 40 some years, our residents have voted down the establishment of a reserve. I would like to recommend to the owners a general p…