On-Bill Recovery Coming January 30
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Starting January 30, New Yorkers will be able to conveniently finance energy-efficient upgrades to their homes through a charge on their electric bill. On average, this charge will be less than the money saved by the improvements, so participants should not see their bills rise on a yearly basis. And if you act soon, you won’t have any payments due until June 2012.
This is the new On-Bill Recovery Loan Program, which we explained in November. The program will be available to homeowners who are customers of Central Hudson Gas and Electric, Con Edison, Long Island Power Authority, New York State Electric and Gas Corporation, National Grid (upstate NY customers only), Orange and Rockland, and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation. The program will soon be offered to small businesses, not-for-profits, and multifamily building owners, although it is not yet available for these groups.
NYSERDA recently released the details of the On-Bill Recovery program, which offers lower interest rates than its current financing programs. For a rundown of the newly released details and an explanation of how the program will benefit you, continue reading after the jump.
Posted in Energy, Energy $mart Communities, Energy Efficiency, Green Building, NYSERDA, Sustainability | Permalink
Increased Funding for NYSERDA Program to Help Low-Income New Yorkers Reduce Energy Bills
Friday, January 20th, 2012To help larger numbers of low-income households cut their energy bills in the coming year, funding for EmPower New York will increase by $18 Million, providing a total of $46 million in 2012, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced last week. EmPower New York is a NYSERDA program to help low-income residents reduce their use of electricity, improve the efficiency of their heating systems and increase the comfort of their homes. Families that receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) spend 25 percent of their income on utilities, while median-income households spend 4 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Posted in Clean Energy Connections Blog, Energy $mart Communities, Green Building, Housing, NYSERDA | Permalink
GrowNYC and BIG!NYC Costume Swap Plus BIG!NYC Hallowe’en Fundraiser This Friday
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Get your spooky fun on this Friday at BuildItGreen!NYC’s brand-new space in Gowanus, Brooklyn! From 3-6pm, kids can stop by the BIG!NYC/GrowNYC costume swap and trade their old finery for new, plus watch family-friendly Hallowe’en films, do some eco-crafts (Solar One will be making cardboard animal masks), play games and much more!
Then at 7pm, it’s time for more adult fun at BIG’s costume fundraiser. Tickets start at just $10 and are available HERE!
BIG!NYC Costume Swap and Fundraiser
Friday October 28, 2011
Costume Swap at 3pm, Fundraiser at 6pm
69 9th Street, Brooklyn
Get directions HERE!
Posted in Build It Green, Design, Film, Food, Green Building, Music, New York City, Recycling, Sustainability, Waste | Permalink
Community Environmental Center Hosts Symposium on Solar Hot Water Technology
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011More solar thermal water heaters for NYC! That was the conclusion of a symposium on the technology hosted on July 28 by Solar One’s parent company., the Community Environmental Center (CEC). CEC is the largest installer of solar hot water systems in New York.
120 years and one symposium later, solar powered hot water heating systems may finally be getting the attention they deserve in New York City. Since their invention in 1891 by American businessman Clarence Kemp, Americans on the whole have been very slow and reluctant in adopting renewable energy water heating systems. However, that has not stopped solar hot water systems from becoming extremely popular in China and Europe; Germany, according to EarthKind Solar’s Ron Kamen, installs as many as 200,000 systems a year.
Fortunately, New York City may be just the city to put solar hot water systems back on the map for Americans. Executives from Quixotic Systems Inc., EarthKind Solar, and Sunnovations reported that the existing technology functions excellently in New York City’s temperate climate –especially atop buildings that have flat roofs and are 13 stories or lower (the majority of buildings in the city). In addition, building owners and managers such as Peter Bourbeau, of PWB Management Corporation, described how installing solar hot water systems in two of his rental buildings have lowered fuel oil expenses as much as 30 percent.
So should New Yorkers expect to see their neighbors tossing out their rusty old hot water heaters in exchange for shiny, green, solar powered systems? Perhaps not immediately, but progress is definitely underway: CEC is assembling a task force to follow through on the issues that the symposium raised.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Global Warming, Green Building, Other Events, Renewables, Solar Power, Sustainability, Technology | Permalink
Water in New York
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011Please join us for the third installment in the NYC the Future Metropolis series on the evening of May 8 where we will talk about water in New York. For more information about the event, please click here.
What is our relationship to water as NYC residents? How often do New Yorkers think about water or even remember that four of our five boroughs are located on islands? In the mind’s eye of the average resident, New York is more likely to be a city of concrete canyons, not bays, rivers, and wetlands that are home to other species besides people. Perhaps that is because today we are used to seeing waterways as dividers that lie between our useful spaces, stormwater as a nuisance for the municipality, and potable water as a problem for engineers. The average New Yorker neither has an active relationship with the water bodies that surround the city nor gives much thought to how we know that the quality of our tap water is safe and secure. But when we start thinking more about water, we find that it has seeped into many seemingly unrelated aspects of our urban lives a long time ago. (more…)
Posted in CSO, East River, Global Warming, Green Building, New York City, Solar One, stormwater, Stuyvesant Cove Park, Sustainability, Technology, Water | Permalink
