July Upstate New York Green Real Estate Report: Greening the Mansion*

Sorry again, Rochester. And Syracuse. But, once again, I’m back to Albany to report on some green real estate happenings.

I promise the rest of Upstate New York - I will get to you. If any of you Upstate green real estate newsmakers think that I should get to your area more quickly, feel free to email me and light a (non-carbon footprint) fire under my treehugging tail so I can visit and share in the glory of the fantastic things that New York State is up to in terms of bringing us into the sustainable twenty-first century.

So yes, Albany again this month, and with good reason. Specifically, the Greening the Mansion project that First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer is spearheading. The Governor’s Mansion, in downtown Albany, is a thirty-nine room, Queen Anne-style building. When I read that the First Lady had convened a Working Group for the project, I had a feeling that Albany-area architect Jodi Smits Anderson, whom I’ve mentioned several times in this column, would be involved. So, I called her up and my instinct was correct. Says Jodi, “I am on the committee and we made a book of suggestions. In fact, my involvement in this brought me to the attention of Judith Enck, Deputy Director of the Environment for New York State, and I’m starting a job at the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (“DASNY”) next week.” DASNY provides financing and construction services to public and private universities, not-for-profit healthcare facilities, and other institutions which serve the public good. DASNY is lucky to get a green advocate like Jodi.

Jodi went on to say that she “finds it inspiring that the First Family of New York State is really looking at how they are living in the Executive Mansion and making informed choices to reduce their negative impact on the environment. These are steps anyone can undertake and this endeavor brings home- to my home, your home, and the home of the First Family- the fact that we are each responsible to treat the world we live in with respect and care.”

Jodi recommended that I call Paul Beyer, Governor Spitzer’s Special Assistant for the Environment to get more information. Paul told me that “Greening the Governor's Mansion shows that nineteenth century historic architecture can exist side-by-side with twenty-first century clean energy technology. Greening the Mansion is just the beginning of an ongoing commitment by the First Lady to promote green building and support the Governor's goal of reducing energy consumption by fifteen percent by 2015. First Lady Spitzer is also developing public policy initiatives that will promote and provide incentives for green building, and make it easier for New Yorkers to reduce their carbon imprint on the environment.” Other members of the Greening the Mansion Working Group include representatives from the New York Power Authority, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (“NYSERDA”), the Office of General Services, and the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. The group studied the condition of the Governor’s Mansion to determine which green technologies made the most sense- financially, environmentally, and economically. Much of the green technology will not only cut energy costs and help the environment, but should ultimately pay for itself in energy savings. At her press conference announcing details about the project, First Lady Spitzer stated that “[r]esidential buildings are a major contributor to global warming. The Executive Mansion is a place of historic significance, which should be properly preserved. Starting today, the mansion will also function as a sustainable building. I am hopeful that this initiative will encourage others to pursue similar efforts with their own homes. Together, every small step can reduce our overall impact on the environment.” Greening the Mansion will cut the building’s electrical consumption by fifty percent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one half. Highlights of the plan include solar panels at three locations on the property, electric vehicles charged by solar energy, the use of fuel cells, low-flow plumbing fixtures, energy efficient appliances, zero emission electric lawn equipment charged by solar energy, and all green cleaning products. The Executive Office is also enacting a local and organic food policy. The Mansion has begun purchasing New York-grown, preferably organic, produce to the greatest extent possible. The Mansion will also purchase from a local food co-op, and join a local Community Supported Agriculture (“CSA”), which allows consumers to buy a share in a farm and receive fresh local organic produce when it is harvested.

What's incredible about Greening the Mansion is that the project team does not expect to use any capital funds from the state budget for the project and that the total costs would be paid for by funds from NYSERDA (available to all electricity consumers in the state) and funding from the New York Power Authority's pre-existing state program for energy improvements at state facilities. (take note, folks - there is financing help out there to go green and we can all afford to do this if we do our homework.) Greening the Mansion is just one aspect of the First Lady’s overall Green Buildings Initiative. Since the Governor took office, she has visited green building sites throughout New York, including green affordable housing in the Bronx, SUNY Syracuse’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Seven World Trade Center and the Hearst Building in Manhattan. She plans to continue her work to promote green building initiatives for other state buildings and green affordable housing. What the State Government is doing across the board is truly impressive. Just last month, New York Lieutenant Governor David A. Paterson announced the appointment of members to New York's Renewable Energy Task Force. Under Lieutenant Governor Paterson’s leadership, the goal of the Task Force will be to identify and recommend ways of expanding the state’s use of renewable energy and alternative fuels. “Not only is our nation facing an impending energy crisis, we are facing the most challenging environmental crisis of our time as we struggle to deal with climate change and curb our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Lieutenant Governor Paterson. “Renewable energy development will not only lead us towards energy independence, but it will protect our planet and provide healthier environments for our children and families to live. The members of the Renewable Energy Task Force bring a broad range of knowledge and experience to the effort to dramatically expand our use of renewable energy and alternative fuels.” I’ll end this Albany Report by adding that my green cohorts at HYDROGENE at Worldsnest in Taos, New Mexico (which helped put together California’s Hydrogen Energy Plan) tipped me off to plans in the works for a Hydrogen Highway running from New York City to Albany. I’ll track down the status of New York’s hydrogen initiatives and report back in a future column. In the meantime, I am glad to hear about plans for a New York Hydrogen Highway and that savvy green New York players don't want to lag behind what HYDROGENE and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are up to in California in promoting the use of hydrogen fuel technology. California really made huge gains in the use of solar power through its Million Solar Roofs initiative and it is now poised to be the world leader in the use of hydrogen energy for both cars and homes. Oh, and one more thing readers. I am going to make my columns more a forum for debate and discussion in the future. I encourage everyone to post comments about any green issue that merits discussion. I have been quite a cheerleader for all things green in the past but due to the complexities of green choices (such as one renewable energy source versus another) I intend to highlight the various pros and cons of each in the context they are discussed in order to elevate the debate to a higher level. Stephen has been creating a yin yang green analysis quite successfully, particularly with respect to the complexities of the LEED certification process. I say this now because there is much debate about the practicality of creating a hydrogen-based economy, and I did not want to end this posting with a blind chant for hydrogen energy now. After getting inspired about the use of hydrogen by HYDROGENE, I recently read something about Joseph J. Romm, the author of The Hype about Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate (Island Press, 2004). Romm served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy during the Clinton Administration and seems to think that, while hydrogen shows much promise, it does not address the pressing needs we have before us quickly or as cost effectively as necessary. If anyone would like to comment on the hydrogen issue or anything else – please post a comment so we can enliven the debate. *The Upstate New York Green Real Estate Report is a monthly column here at gbNYC.com, written by Paul McGinniss, a partner at the New York Real Estate Group and an advocate of green and sustainable real estate development. Paul teaches a class at SUNY Ulster called “Green Home Building and Renovation,” and he and his business partner, Joseph Walker, teach a monthly class at the Learning Annex in New York City called “How to Invest in Upstate Real Estate.” Paul is also a partner in the media and public relations company Serendipity Associates, which is helping to organize New York House magazine’s Best in Green Building Competition.