Aging condos get expert help with clean upgrade

Written By Peter Allan
strata energy advisor meets with condo owner

Baldwin Chan answers questions from strata energy advisor Stephan Baeuml during an assessment of the Riverview Court condominium on March 26, 2025, in Vancouver, BC. (Photo by Christopher Pollon / Canada’s National Observer)

By Christopher Pollon

In the underground mechanical room of an aging condo building in Vancouver, Stephan Baeuml paces around a dilapidated natural gas-powered boiler that is hemorrhaging heat, emissions and money.

Riverview Court was built in 1991 and is showing its age. After a series of tests, Baeuml delivered his verdict.

“It’s running at about 45 per cent efficiency, which means that more than half of your gas bill is going out the window,” the German-born engineer and energy advisor told Robert Chang, the strata president seeking to replace the decades-old boiler.

The first of Vancouver’s ubiquitous strata condominiums date back to the 1970s. It’s a type of housing where owners buy an apartment, duplex or townhouse in a building or cluster development and pay fees to maintain the building and common areas like tennis courts or BBQ pits.

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Democracy and Integrity Project
 
Peter Allan
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