Sustainable Flatbush Partners With Community Environmental Center

Sustainable Flatbush has announced a partnership with the not-for-profit Community Environmental Center (CEC) to conduct neighborhood-based outreach for their weatherization and energy efficiency programs. Implementing energy solutions locally is an essential part of Sustainable Flatbush’s mission of creating a sustainable urban community in Brooklyn.

With CEC's support, Sustainable Flatbush will work with local elected officials, community boards, neighborhood and block associations, houses of worship, and other community organizations to increase awareness and use of energy efficiency programs. These include the federal government’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), state programs provided by NYSERDA, and programs available through National Grid and Con Edison. Primary emphasis will be on WAP-eligible 1-4 family owner-occupied homes.

The Community Environmental Center, located in Queens, NY, was founded in 1994 to address the housing and energy efficiency needs of low- and middle-income communities. Partnering with CEC will provide Sustainable Flatbush with resources to inform Brooklynites about subsidized opportunities to weatherize their homes, resulting in lower energy costs, improved housing stock, and a reduced carbon footprint for New York City.

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate and advocate for sustainable living.

Green Courses at City Tech

This fall semester, through its Division of Continuing Education, New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is offering several courses geared toward sustainability:

Intro to Urban Farming: Wednesday, Oct. 20 from 6 to 9 p.m., $40
Wind Power Workshop: Thursdays, Oct. 14 through Dec. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m., $375
Urban Energy Seminar: Saturday, Nov. 13 from 1 to 5 p.m., $40
Energy – Savers Toolkit: Thursdays, Oct. 21 through Dec. 9 from 6 to 9 p.m., $50 per session

For more information on courses, visit www.citytech.cuny.edu. To register, call (718) 552-1170.

Mayor Releases Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Mayor Bloomberg this week released the 2010 Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the City’s fourth annual comprehensive carbon inventory. The entire city, including the City government, reduced emissions in 2009 below 2008 levels, putting the City on track to achieve the carbon reduction goals in PlaNYC, the Mayor’s long-term vision for a greener, greater New York.

In 2009, New York City emitted 49.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 12.9 percent reduction from 2005 levels and a 4.2 percent reduction from 2008 levels, even though the City’s population grew and the number of buildings increased. The reductions are attributed to less carbon-intensive and more efficient electricity generation, reduced per capita energy consumption, and reduced emissions of sulfur hexafluoride, a potent greenhouse gas. The City is on track to achieve PlaNYC’s goal of a 30 percent reduction in citywide greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030.

In fiscal year 2009, municipal government greenhouse gas emissions were 3.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, 1.1 percent below fiscal year 2006 levels and 3.5 percent below fiscal year 2008 levels. These reductions occurred largely as a result of less carbon-intensive and more efficient electricity generation, City improvements in the efficiency of streetlights, reductions in emissions associated with the transport of solid waste to final destinations outside the city, and reduced City government energy consumption. 

To view the inventory, visit www.nyc.gov.

Green Block Party Coming Up in Carroll Gardens

On Oct. 2, local non-profit GreenHomeNYC will hold a free block party — "The NEW New York GreenHomeNYC's DIY Green Street Festival" — focusing on teaching New Yorkers how to green the built environment. It will take place on Third Street between Hoyt and Bond streets in Carroll Gardens, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

During the day, attendees will have opportunities to learn how to install and plant a green roof, learn about worm bin composting, complete an energy audit and learn how to capture and reuse rain water to water plants.

Various exhibitors will be on hand to showcase environmental programs, such as Brooklyn-based Vokashi with its compost system and kits and Foro Marble presenting eco-friendly counter tops. Also have the opportunity to see the Jerko, a motor-less houseboat with a built-in wetland, rainwater harvesting, solar thermal, solar photo voltaics, and a composting toilet.

Kid-friendly activities will include solar car building and racing with SolarOne, and jewelry making from bike parts with Recycle-A-Bicycle.

The Lower East Side Ecology Center will be on hand for electronics recycling, Wearable Collections will be on hand collecting clothing and textiles, and Recycle-A-Bicycle will be collecting bicycles.

There will be boating on the Gowanus Canal in conjunction with talks about environmental remediation. The Jerko, the Gowanus Water Vacuum, an off the grid houseboat will take its maiden voyage, surrounded by a built-in wetland. Hudson, developer of J Condo and the Village at Atlantic Center, will give tours of Third + Bond which is expected to be LEED-Gold and EnergyStar certified.

This event will compost its food waste, minimize the use of paper, utilize bio-fuel, and offset its carbon footprint.

Con Ed Helping Out Small Businesses With Energy Efficiency Program

Small businesses may not know that there is a way to reduce the cost of their energy bills, surely higher now given this summer's unusually high temperatures. Con Edison has teamed up with energy consultants Willdan Energy Solutions to help small businesses facing these steep bills through the Con Edison Small Business Energy Efficiency Program.

“It’s a great program for small business owners,” said program manager at Con Edison Esteban Vasquez. “It gives them the opportunity to reduce their energy bill.”

Small businesses that enroll in the program get a free energy survey that will show eligible small businesses — which range “from medical offices to bodegas,” said Vasquez — where they can save money and energy. Con Ed will then provide free upgrades, such as compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs), and then pay 70 percent of installation costs for additional energy improvements, implemented by Willdan.

For the businesses they have in the program (1,700 in Brooklyn), the changes they recommend have been related to lighting and refrigeration. In many cases they have replaced exit signs with LED exit signs, resulting in a 90 percent reduction in energy usage.

Introduced in August of 2009, the program has had some difficulty getting off the ground, said Vasquez. Though Con Ed pays for 70 percent of the installation, “some people are a little skeptical… it comes off to be a little too good to be true.” So Con Ed has been working lately to increase outreach, visiting local business improvement districts, expos and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “We’re talking to as many people as we can.”

One of the Brooklyn small businesses in the program is MISS Sportswear, a clothing importer and manufacturer in Gowanus.  After their free survey, MISS Sportswear received five free CFLs, and decided to go ahead with Con Ed’s recommendations. Willdan than installed 303 energy-efficient T8 fluorescent tubes throughout their facility.

The total cost of the project was $18,785. Since Con Ed covered 70 percent of the installation cost, MISS Sportswear paid only $5,635. In less than five months, the project paid for itself with cost savings. Annually, MISS Sportswear will save an estimated $13,960 on their energy bill and over 93,080 kWh.

“To successfully run a store such as ours, lowering our utility costs is crucial to excel during a tough economic time,” said Mory Fallas, owner of MISS Sportswear. “The Con Edison Small Business Energy Efficiency Program gave us the kick start we needed.”

Children’s apparel store Kid City in the Georgetown Shopping Center in Flatlands is another participant in the program. In addition to the free survey, the store received 24 free CFLs and 175 energy-efficient T8 tubes were installed over the main sales floor and in the basement. The total installed cost was about $11,700, with Kid City paying $3,500 for the whole upgrade. The store will save an estimated 76,000 kWh each year, which represents about $11,500.

“I’m very happy,” said store manager Solomon Torguman. “I was so pleased that I recommended the program to 20 other Kid City stores in the New York and New Jersey area.”

So what’s in it for Con Edison? “Con Edison is participating in the state’s initiative to reduce energy usage,” said Vasquez. “It’s a good idea. Small business owners are a big part of everyday life.

“The great thing about this is that they’re saving money on their energy bill. Now they have the extra cash,” he continued. “There’s more than one benefit. They’re not going to save money in just one month, it’s a permanent reduction.”

To get involved in the Small Business Energy Efficiency Program, call (888) 945-5326.

Flatbush Students Win Award for Green Entrepreneurship

Two students from Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, Isaac Lati, 16, and Morris Jaradeh, 17 — both of Flatbush — have been named winners of the 2009-2010 J. Morton Davis/Lander College for Men Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition. They won for their invention “Winergy,” a turbine that captures hot air released by central air conditioner condenser units and recycles it back into the unit, thereby saving both homeowners and commercial building owners energy and money.

Lati and Jaradeh said they got their idea last year, when solar panels and wind turbines began to make headlines in the news. “We had an in-school entrepreneurship competition and we both absorbed what was going on during the economic crash,” Lati said.  “Right around the presidential election, a lot of discussions were taking place about alternate sources of energy. I looked around my home and I realized that the wasted air from the air conditioning unit could be used in a way that might prove practical.”

“In addition to their creativity and sound presentation, the team of Lati and Jaradeh zeroed in on an issue that is front and center in today’s world — green solutions for saving energy and money,” said Dr. Moshe Sokol, dean of Touro College’s Lander College for Men (LCM). “We were all impressed with their ingenuity and drive to create something that has the potential to benefit homeowners and businesses worldwide.”

Five teams of students were selected as finalists out of 31 submissions and invited to give oral presentations. The winners were chosen for their creativity, sound business plans, and oral presentations.  Prizes totaling $3,000 were awarded, with $1,500 going to the grand prize winners; $1,000 to the second place winners; and $500 to the third place winner. All five teams received plaques honoring their achievements.

Photo above, left to right: Dr. Moshe Sokol, Dean of LCM; Professor Larry Bellman, formerly of Touro College and the developer and inspiration for the contest; winner Morris Jaradeh; Dr. Ira Teich, assistant professor of marketing and management at LCM and director of this year’s competition; and winner Isaac Lati. Photo by James Musumeci

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Sustainable Flatbush to Host Energy Forum

Sustainable Flatbush and its partners will host a Neighborhood Energy Forum on Saturday, March 20, 2010, at the Brooklyn College Student Center, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. At this event homeowners, tenant organizations, landlords, and building managers will learn what they need to get started with major energy efficiency projects — from energy audits to weatherization to solar-electric, for both large multi-family buildings and one- to four-family homes.

“Inefficiency drives up energy costs, contributes to air pollution — almost 80% of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions are produced by buildings — and hurts everybody, especially low-income people. That is why Sustainable Flatbush is organizing this event, to help residential building stakeholders raise the money they need for major energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy projects, and for neighbors to share resources and best practices,” said Anne Pope, executive director of Sustainable Flatbush.

Event partners so far include National Grid, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), ConEd, and Flatbush Development Corporation.

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Green Mountain Energy Offers Alternative for Brooklyn Customers

A grassroots approach isn’t generally something you would associate with big companies or with an energy provider.

But since Green Mountain Energy company — the leading provider of clean energy in the nation — launched in New York last summer, its employees have been using exactly such an approach, visiting greenmarkets and fairs, and educating potential customers.

Through a partnership with Con Edison, Green Mountain opened its New York service territory last August, becoming the only energy services company dedicated to clean power in the region, said John Holtz, director of East Region Markets. Started in Vermont, the company, is now headquartered in and serves Texas, as well as Oregon and New Jersey.

Holtz and Green Mountain’s other New York employees visit greenmarkets throughout the city, introducing the company to residents, and also educating them about the fact that they have a choice of who they can buy their electricity from. Many people don’t know they have a choice, Holtz noted.

Con Edison customers can simply visit www.greenmountain.com/newyork or call toll free, (877) 216-GMEC (4632) to switch energy services companies. The bill will still come from Con Edison, but the electricity will come from Green Mountain.

In Brooklyn, Green Mountain has had a regular presence in the greenmarkets at Borough Hall, Grand Army Plaza and Fort Greene.

Greenmarkets “are a perfect place for us to be,” Holtz said, “because we’re selling a product, we’re selling a service, but we’re also selling a movement.”

Representatives — including a “Super Earth” mascot (pictured above) — set up a booth at September’s “Green Brooklyn … Green City” fair, hosted by the Council on the Environment of New York City, and Green Mountain will also co-sponsor this fall’s Atlantic Antic.

He explained that residential customers have the option between two electricity products: “Pollution Free” and “100% Wind.” The difference between the two is that the Pollution Free product delivers electricity made from local sources — 10 percent wind power from turbines upstate and 90 percent hydropower from small local dams. The 100% Wind product comes from wind turbines across the country: in Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Purchasing Green Mountain Energy can have a substantial impact on the environment. According to data supplied by the company, an average New York City household using 100% Wind for one year can offset nearly 8,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. This is the equivalent of not taking 2,000-plus cab rides, or recycling almost 20,000 aluminum cans.

Holtz says that though purchasing electricity through Green Mountain is slightly more expensive than through an energy service company producing power from coal (approximately $10 more a month), he hasn’t encountered resistance. “I’m very pleased with the reception we’ve gotten here.”

Brooklyn has been especially enthusiastic: Green Mountain’s very first New York customer was a Park Slope resident. Convivium Osteria Restaurant in Park Slope purchased electricity through Green Mountain, as did the Sephardic Home for the Aged in Bensonhurst. Archstone, a leading developer of multi-family housing, purchased electricity for its 12 New York City properties, one in Brooklyn Heights.

“We wish we had started earlier,” said Michelle Pulixi, owner of Convivium Osteria. She said she started purchasing electricity from Green Mountain about a month ago. “We are an environmentally conscious business … we’re just doing it to have a clear conscience.”

“We have big hopes for New York,” said Holtz. “New Yorkers are very conscious of the environmental issue.”

Photo by Mary Frost

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New York's Appliance Swap Out

The  New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is instituting a new rebate program for New Yorkers who want to replace their current appliances with new Energy Star qualified appliances or High Efficiency Energy Star appliances.

NYSERDA will offer a rebate for those who want to replace existing appliances, but a larger rebate will be granted to those who recycle the old appliances. Appliances must be purchased between Feb. 12 through 21. to qualify.

Visit www.nyapplianceswapout.com for eligibility guidelines and the online rebate application.

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City Tech Professor's Solution to Climate Change: Resources From Space

City Tech physics Professor (and Bed-Stuy resident) Gregory L. Matloff recently released a new book he co-authored called Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Earth.

The book outlines how space resources and space-based power generating systems can work together with Earth-based conservation to meet industrial needs and forge a sustainable future.

Matloff co-wrote the book with Les Johnson, deputy manager of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Advanced Concepts Office at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Al.

“With an ever-increasing share of the human population making the transition to the ‘developed’ world,” said Johnson in a press release, “will come increasing stress on the Earth’s environment, natural resources and ability to produce enough food. The modern environmental movement is tackling these problems head-on by promoting energy efficiency, recycling and renewable resources. While these strategies and technologies are vital, they will be woefully insufficient to provide for a prosperous, long-lived global society with a moderate-to-high standard of living.”

The solution to a progressively worsening environmental situation and its negative impact on society will require “drawing upon the vast energy and material resources that space alone can provide,” said Matloff in a press release. “Doing so will enable us to create a cleaner, healthier environment essential to sustaining life on Earth far into the future.”

Paradise Regained is published by Springer Science & Business Media and is available on Amazon here.

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Green Mountain Energy Company Launches in New York City Neighborhoods

The Eagle received this press release:

Residents and businesses in Brooklyn now have a new option for choosing renewable energy. Green Mountain Energy Company, the nation’s leading provider of cleaner energy, is now available in the Con Edison service territory and offers customers a choice of competitively-priced renewable energy products. With the company’s entrance into the market, Green Mountain becomes the first and only electric services company in New York City that is focused solely on providing cleaner electricity products to customers.

Customers in Brooklyn can choose their supplier of electricity because the state’s electric industry is open to competition. Only 15 percent of Con Edison’s nearly 4 million customers have shopped for electric service since energy competition began in New York City in 2005.

“Not only can Brooklyn residents and businesses choose who supplies electric service to their homes, schools and workplaces, they can also chose how their electricity is made,” said John Holtz, director of East Region Markets for Green Mountain Energy Company. “Green Mountain was founded 12 years ago with a mission to ‘change the way power is made.’ That mission is at the center of everything we do, because cleaner energy is all we do.”

The traditional production of electricity from fossil fuels is the largest source of industrial air pollution in the U.S. Purchasing Green Mountain Energy electricity is one of the easiest things Brooklyn residents can do to help reduce their household’s share of CO2 emissions — even easier than recycling.

Holtz noted that if every household and business in Brooklyn used Green Mountain Energy electricity products for one year, it could prevent over 439 million pounds of CO2 emissions (Based on approximately 884,000 residential and commercial electric accounts in Brooklyn). That avoids as much CO2 pollution as recycling about 175 million newspapers — a stack as high as over 11,000 Empire State Buildings on top of each other!

Green Mountain Products in New York City:

Residential Customers:
Green Mountain is offering New Yorkers the choice between two electricity products that use clean renewable sources like wind and water: Pollution Free electricity and the 100% Wind product.

• Pollution Free electricity is made from New York wind and water sources. An average New York City household choosing the Pollution Free product for one year can offset almost 500 pounds of CO2 (Based on average household usage of 500 kWh per month in the Con Edison service territory). That’s like not taking 128 cab rides, or recycling almost 200 pounds of newspaper.

• 100% Wind product helps support the development of renewable energy in America. With the 100% Wind product, Green Mountain matches 100% of the customer’s electricity usage with clean energy generated from wind power sources in the U.S. An average New York City household choosing Green Mountain’s 100% Wind product for one year can offset nearly 8,000 pounds of CO22. That’s like not taking over 2,000 cab rides, or recycling nearly 20,000 aluminum cans.

Commercial Customers:
Green Mountain’s Commercial Services division is offering small and medium commercial class customers in Brooklyn customized cleaner energy solutions that include national or regional wind resources.

“More and more businesses in New York City want to use cleaner electricity to offset their carbon emissions,” added Holtz. “The City has instituted policies promoting renewable energy. Purchasing Green Mountain Energy electricity can help businesses in Brooklyn and throughout New York City reduce their carbon emissions and make their businesses greener.”

Greenmarket:
Green Mountain plans to have a regular presence at different Greenmarkets in Brooklyn. Local residents can talk to Green Mountain representatives in person to learn more about the company and sign up for Green Mountain Energy electricity.

Enrollment Information:
• Residential Customers: 877-216-GMEC (4632)
• Commercial Customers: 866-767-5818
• Online at www.greenmountain.com/newyork

The Con Edison service territory is the second electric market Green Mountain is serving in New York State. Green Mountain has been serving cleaner electricity to National Grid customers in Upstate New York since 2002, through the utility company’s “GreenUp” renewable energy program.

Green Mountain, the nation’s leading provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions, was founded in 1997 “to change the way power is made.” The company is the longest serving green power marketer in the U.S. Green Mountain offers consumers and businesses the choice of cleaner electricity products from renewable sources, such as wind and water, and carbon offset products. Green Mountain customers have collectively helped avoid over 4.9 million tons of CO2 emissions. For more information, visit greenmountainenergy.com.

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Williamsburg Bars Powered By Wind

While new hotspot Brooklyn Bowl has made headlines lately with its eco-friendly features and commitment to energy efficiency, did you know that the other Williamsburg bowling alley, The Gutter, at 200 N 14th St, gets its electricity through wind power, and has been since it opened two years ago?

Owner Paul Kermizian, who also owns Barcade at 388 Union Ave (in Williamsburg), was "concerned about the energy drain" his bars would have, I read in a report on the Mother Nature Network. He switched Barcade to wind power after opening it, serves local and regional beers, and the decor is secondhand. Read more about the eco-friendly features of the two bars in the full story here.


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New Brooklyn Green Team Eco-Challenge

For the next three months, the Brooklyn Green Team challenges you to choose a room in your home, the one you think uses the most energy, an unplug all the appliances that aren't in use. Computers, cell-phone chargers, and other electronics continue to use power even when you turn them off. Nationally, this creates the annual emissions equivalent to 17 power plants.

Help lower these emissions, and sign up for the challenge by emailing brooklyngreen@gmail.com and writing "(Insert Your Name) Unplugged." Visit the Green Team's blog for information, resources and encouragement.

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Reduce, Reuse, Re... Cyclone?

Now through July 18th, the Brooklyn Cyclones and National Grid present Going Green Week at KeySpan Park.

The Cyclones’ Going Green Week will feature National Grid expo tables on the ballpark’s concourse level to educate and motivate fans, regarding ways to be more environmentally conscious.

National Grid also offers a variety of energy efficiency tips, valuable rebates for the installation of energy efficiency products and information on its web site, www.thinksmartthinkgreen.com.

At last night's game, the first 2,500 fans in attendance received Going Green tote bags, presented by National Grid.

On July 18th, the first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a 100% Organic Cotton T-shirt, presented by National Grid. That night, the Cyclones will also be wearing Bamboo Jerseys, made of all-natural fibers.

Tickets to Cyclones games are available at the team's web site.

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Botanic Garden Unveils Plans For 'Green' Visitor Center

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) last week released plans for its new Visitor Center pavilion, which is slated to replace the current entrance adjacent to the northern parking lot at 900 Washington Ave. The project will break ground this summer and is planned to open in spring 2011.

As the first new structure built at the garden in 20 years and designed by architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi — architects of the Seattle Art Museum’s celebrated Olympic Sculpture Park — the 22,000-square-foot complex will house a new garden shop, an orientation room for tours and classes, an information desk, an event space, a refreshment bar and restrooms.

Visitors will cross a welcoming plaza, accented with plantings, to enter the new building. From the entrance, the center will extend westward toward the Cherry Esplanade.

Conceived as a seamless extension of the Garden’s landscape, the sinuous glass building, nestled into an existing berm at the Garden’s northeast corner, will serve as a three-dimensional continuation of the garden path system, framing a series of views into and through the Garden.

“Some of the world’s best buildings take their cues from natural settings,” said BBG President Scot Medbury. “Our vision for the new Visitor Center is that it should be an extension of the landscape, not just serving as a physical entry to the Garden but creating opportunities to enrich the visitor experience so that even before they begin their Garden tour, they will be transported.”

While the form and materials of the new building will echo historic structures at the Garden, its design and function will belong to the 21st century as the Garden’s first green structure, certified by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The Visitor Center will apply to receive a LEED Gold certification.

Sustainable design elements featured in the new center will include recycled building materials, passive solar components, geothermal heating, and bioswales (recessed catchment zones filled with water-loving plants) that will improve storm-water management and relieve the burden on the municipal sewer system.

The design will also feature a “living roof” that will utilize a wide range of native and/or drought-resistant plants, offering both energy savings and seasonal displays.

“We are in awe of both the exceptional beauty and the environmental sustainability of this innovative design,” said Medbury. “The new Visitor Center will physically embody our institutional commitment to conservation. We hope it will also inspire our neighbors and visitors to think about how they can incorporate green solutions into their own homes, businesses and lives.”

Weiss/Manfredi’s design was presented with a prestigious Award for Excellence in Design by the Public Design Commission of the City of New York. The award recognizes the superb integration of form, function, and sustainable practice in the design of the Garden’s new Visitor Center.

“A botanic garden is an unusual kind of museum with a living collection that is constantly changing,” said Marion Weiss, principal at Weiss/Manfredi. “The new Visitor Center is conceived as inhabitable topography, defining the threshold between the city and the Garden. Like the Garden itself, the building is experienced cinematically and is never seen in its entirety.”

“To provoke curiosity and interest in the world-class collection, the new building will provide a legible point of arrival and orientation, an interface between culture and cultivation,” said Michael Manfredi, also a principal at the firm.

“A chameleon-like structure, the Visitor Center transitions from an architectural presence at the street into a structured landscape within the Garden. The building redefines the physical and philosophical relationship between visitor and garden, introducing new connections between landscape and structure, exhibition and movement.”

The Visitor Center’s design was approved by the Design Commission in June 2008. Lead funding for the Visitor Center has been provided by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New York City Council, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Representative Yvette C. Clarke.

Rendering courtesy of Weiss/Manfredi

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NYC Carbon Counter

Have you ever wondered just how much greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming? Crain's New York reports that a 70-foot-high billboard is outside Madison Square Garden and Penn Station, and will track in real time the growing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The sign uses low-energy light, offset by carbon credits and is sponsored by Deutsche Bank.

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Red Hook Renewable Energy Developer Gets First 100% Electric MINI E in New York

Renewable energy developer Beautiful Earth Group, based on Brooklyn’s Columbia Waterfront, has received New York’s first MINI E — MINI Cooper’s fully electric zero emissions vehicle — as part of a year-long field study of the new plug-in car (left). Eagle writer Caitlin McNamara reports here.

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Congresswoman Clarke Urges New Yorkers to Take Action

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, along with Greenpeace NYC field organizer Eva Erbskorn, submitted an editorial to the Eagle about the current climate crisis.

Given that hurricane season is upon us, we may soon be confronted with intense storms caused in part by global warming. "Unless we take action immediately," Congresswoman Clarke writes, "that means more flooding of basements, more disease, and more drinking water shortages (and worse)."

She urges New Yorkers to take action: "We can start by investing in efficiency and clean energy sources like solar and wind power, as well as in smart transportation, like more subways and buses."

For Congresswoman Clarke's full editorial, Greener Economy Essential in Face of Rising Waters, click here.

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Chamber Recognizes Green Buildings

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and its Real Estate and Development (RED) Committee announced the winners of Building Brooklyn Awards for this year. Of the 12 recipients, two are green buildings: Galapagos Art Space and the Perry Building at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Carl Hum, Chamber president and CEO, said that past winners have been environmentally friendly, but this year was the first year a specific award was given to a green building. This would be the National Grid Award for Energy Conservation, which the Perry Building received.

Opened in early April, the Perry Building (above) is the nation’s first multi-story green industrial facility. It is on track to receive LEED gold certification and features the first permanent building-mounted wind turbines to be operating anywhere in New York City.

The turbines, combined with rooftop solar panels, will provide electricity for the building’s lobby and other common areas, which will amount to about 10 percent of the overall energy. Other green features of the Perry Building are reflective roofing and pavement to reduce surface temperatures, the use of recycled rain water in toilets, recycled building materials, high-efficiency lighting fixtures, natural ventilation systems and special accommodation for bicyclists and low-emission vehicles.

Awarded in the Arts and Culture category, Galapagos Art Space (above) has shown a commitment to the environment from the get-go. A LEED-silver certified building, all of the steel is 80 percent recycled, the concrete is 30 percent recycled, the toilets are low flush and the sinks have low water flow. The 1600 square foot lake inside the venue is filled by a well, so as not to waste city drinking water.

Galapagos director Robert Elmes has said, “if the arts can’t show leadership, who can? ... We have a responsibility to lead with social issues.”

The ceremony and cocktail reception for the awards will be held on July 15 at Stage 6 at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a green building in the yard that will apply for LEED Silver certification, in part for the adaptive reuse of a 150,000 square-foot WWII era building.

For more information and the full list of recipients, see the story here.

Photos courtesy of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

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Windsor Terrace Cohousing May Have Greenest Building in NYC

Eagle writer Linda Collins reports:

This week, Brooklyn Cohousing members decided unanimously — by consensus — to create their new home in Windsor Terrace as a low energy, environmentally friendly building.

“I think this is pretty big news. The decision was unanimous,” said spokesperson Alex Marshall, a founding member. “The consultants working on the project say it would be the most energy efficient building in New York City.”

The method of construction the group has adopted is called “Passive House” or, as it is known in Germany where it originated, “PassivHaus.”

According to Marshall, it involves a set of techniques resulting in a nearly air-tight building that simultaneously is supplied with clean, fresh air. Often heating and air conditioning is unnecessary beyond minimal levels, he said, and energy use can be a tenth of ... read more.

Rendering by Levenson McDavid Architects

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