Sustainable Flatbush » Energy Efficiency

Why Energy Efficiency Matters

Afroza Amin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:09:54 +0000

When I first brought up the topic about the Neighborhood Energy Forum to my parents, their question was “is that what you’re studying for Psychology?” They didn’t take what I was saying seriously because they thought this wasn’t related to what I’m majoring in at school. So, I sat them both down and I actually explained what the Energy Forum is all about. I had to go into detail about how we could become more energy efficient and the incentives the government and utility companies were offering. I think this was what caught my father’s attention the most, the money saving incentive. Once I realized that this was the way to get him to take me seriously, I explained to him more about how he can get tax cuts and money in order to do some of the work needed to make our home more energy efficient. He was really interested at that point and said he would like to attend the Forum.

Kensington, Brooklyn (photo by Jon Melnick)

After I finished explaining to my father, my mom asked me what is the point for all of this that the organization you work for is trying to do. Her question reminded me of something we were talking about in our Friday meetings. We were talking about a campaign called the 2030 Challenge, which wants reduction in energy consumption and green house gas emission to become a priority in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. I thought this would spark her interest since she’s a mother, she would care more about the impact of not becoming more energy efficient for us.

All in all, both my parents are now interested in the Neighborhood Energy Forum and what it is trying to accomplish. It was hard at first to explain what I wanted to get through to them because they weren’t educated here. Most people from my country could care less about such problems because they really don’t have the educational background to understand such things. I think everyone can benefit from the information that will be provided at this forum in some way or other. That is why, we need to figure out a way to educate people who should know about this but don’t because of their inability to understand. When everyone has an equal opportunity to understand the facts and impact of energy efficiency, we can hope to reach our goal faster.

Ellen Honigstock at our Neighborhood Energy Forum

Maria Bergenhem — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:55:16 +0000

We are very excited to be quickly approaching our major event of the spring, the Neighborhood Energy Forum on March 20th. The goal of this event is to hook you up with information and resources to make your home more energy efficient. Leading up to the Forum we’ll be publishing a series of blog posts about different programs and people you can look into for more information.

I recently had the pleasure of talking to Ellen Honigstock, who will be leading the 1-4 family breakout session during the Energy Forum on Saturday.

To tell you a little bit about her, Ellen is the owner of Ellen Honigstock Architect PC since 1999, where she has focused the work of the firm on energy efficient retrofits for existing residential, commercial, and institutional buildings. She has also been the Residential Green Building Advocate for the Urban Green Council since 2007, working to increase the level of green building and the penetration of the LEED for Homes certification in the residential marketplace in NYC. She is also the Chair of the Homes Subcommittee for NYC’s Greening the Codes Task Force, where she has been heavily involved in recommending new green policy in NYC as related to updating NYC’s codes, rules and regulations.

I asked Ellen a few questions about what we should all be thinking about as we attempt to make energy efficiency changes in our homes.

MB: What do you think is important for people to know as they try to make their homes more energy efficient?

EH: That a building is like a living organism, if you change one thing it affects the others. Although it is easy to do, you really need to be careful to make sure you are thinking about the building as a whole, you need the whole picture.

MB: What is the message you are sending to homeowners now when there are so many different messages and programs being talked about?

EH: I am a very New York City-centric person, I do all my work here. Buildings account for 87% of our energy currently (according to PlaNYC). We need to reduce it. In 2030 we are going to have a million more people in the city but the same buildings will still be standing. We need to make changes to those buildings now. Another message is that it’s not that hard. We need to have an “oh my god!” moment where we realize how serious these energy inefficiencies are and start changing them today. I also believe community is important, and that pressure from our peers will have a positive effect. We need the community standard to be one of reduced waste. There is such colossal energy waste in our buildings, we need to get that under control.

Before we ended the interview, Ellen said, “The whole thing is so doable. The fact is little changes will save you so much money and energy usage, that’s the incentive! It’s just these small measures but everyone has to buy in.”

Come learn more about all this at our event on Saturday!

See you there!

Relevant Links:

What National Grid Can Do For You

Maria Bergenhem — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:24:27 +0000

Multi-Family Building in Flatbush (photo by Keka Marzagão)

This week we spoke with Louis Rizzo, Energy Efficiency Lead Program Manager at National Grid, about the utility’s residential energy efficiency programs. “National Grid has comprehensive programs and generous rebates to help the homeowner reduce their energy costs and increase comfort,” Mr. Rizzo said.

If you are interested in any of these programs, contact National Grid Energy Efficiency at 1-800-292-2032 or visit their website.

Multi-Family Buildings

There are two types of programs for larger buildings (5-50 units):

1) The first type is a straight rebate of $100-$6,000 (this amount could go up!) for certain energy upgrades in your home, such as heating equipment, insulation, boiler reset controls, and more.

The rebate will cover about 50% of the equipment cost and has a 3-7 year payback period depending on how much you do.

2) The second incentive is for customized, comprehensive energy efficiency measures for buildings with larger heating systems, and can include heating system upgrades, weatherization, and much more. To qualify for this program, you have to promise to meet a certain level of energy savings.

In contrast to the straight rebate, the customized program could cover 50% of project costs–not just equipment–up to $100,000, with a payback period of 3-5 years.

You can choose your own contractor for both of these programs, but National Grid has a helpful list on their website.

1-4 Family Homes

For smaller homes (1-4 families), there is a straight rebate of $200-$1,000. This covers natural gas heating equipment upgrades to pre-qualified high-efficiency units, outdoor reset controls, water heaters, thermostats and more.

You could save 30% or more on total project costs. Combine this with another 30% covered by a federal tax credit for energy efficiency measures (sometimes capped at $1,500) and you’re well on your way to meeting your cost.

According to Mr. Rizzo, “Homeowners have been seeing quite a bit of benefit. Customers are seeing savings of 20% to 40% off their heating bills.” Also, National Grid will launch a weatherization program for single family homes this spring. The expected date for the program to start is April 1st. The program describes that “eligible customers receive a comprehensive home energy audit with installed air sealing measures and generous rebates for additional weatherization measures such as insulation.”

National Grid’s pre-qualified weatherization contractors

You can learn more about this program here. Think about all those savings! And not only that, Mr. Rizzo explained, ”The process is very straightforward and easy to do. There’s not a tremendous amount of paperwork. We’ll work with you to make your building more energy efficient.”

Ready to get started? Great!

Visit https://www.powerofaction.com/efficiency or call 1-800-292-2032 to learn more about the National Grid Energy efficiency programs.

Relevant Links:

Solar net-metering in Brooklyn!

anne — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:53:31 +0000

I just learned about this 40 KW solar installation at 925 Bergen Street (aka the Monti Building) – the first commercial net-metered solar array in New York City — from Solar One‘s excellent email newsletter. This is one of two projects developed by Big Sue LLC in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (the other is a residential building on Dean Street); both have solar panels, along with other environmentally-conscious features such as radiant heating, green roofs, and extensive reuse of original construction materials.

Solar One’s education and advocacy campaigns played a big role in changing New York State’s net metering laws last year; commercial buildings are now able to sell the excess power generated by their solar panels back to the grid, which is a huge step for renewable energy development in New York City. As mentioned in the video, the Network for New Energy Choices upgraded its rating of our state’s net metering policy from “D” in 2007 to “B” in 2008!