Profiled in last week’s small business report in Crain’s, Ardour Capital is a five-year-old investment bank that focuses exclusively on renewable energy and sustainable technology. Notwithstanding the persisting gloom on Wall Street (more on that in the context of green later this week), the firm expects revenues this year to top $10 million and double by 2009, up from $3.9 million in 2006. According to managing partner and co-founder Brian Greenstein, “[t]here’s a recognition that this sector is going to be one of the ones that grow.” Ardour’s 25 staffers review companies across the green power sector and then distill the technologies down for potential investors. Since opening its doors, Ardour has helped raised over $1 billion for 30 companies; earlier this year, it worked with California-based eco-friendly printer Colorep, Inc. in securing a $24 million private investment.
September 15th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "clean power"
Marquiss Wind Power to NYC: Test Drive a Free Wind Turbine
Apparently unfazed by recent skepticism from local engineers and architects aimed at Mayor Bloomberg’s plans to install wind turbines on Gotham’s skyscrapers and bridges, California-based Marquiss Wind Power has offered to donate one of its turbine systems to the city in order to demonstrate that the Mayor’s idea is in fact viable. The company’s patented roof-top wind turbine is approximately 19 feet high and weighs less than a typical rooftop air conditioning unit. Its T500 model is optimized for low, variable wind, is rated at 5 kilowatts, and is priced between $30,000.00 and $60,000.00 depending on the specific configuration. According to Marquiss CEO Paul Misso, the company’s turbines should pay for themselves within four to eight years, “depending on wind speed, utility rates, and available incentives.” Last week, in the aftermath of Mr. Bloomberg’s remarks in Las Vegas, experts had questioned the efficiency of wind turbine installations on local high-rises.
August 26th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
No Windmill For Empire State Building, After All (King Kong, Welcome Back!)
When New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg goes to Vegas, he bets big. At an alternative energy conference, perhaps bullied by T Boone Pickens, the mayor proposed installing wind turbines, among other power-generating technologies, on Manhattan’s skyscrapers and bridges. And why not: aiming to slash the city’s greenhouse emissions by a third by 2030 is rather ambitious. The mayor also proposed ocean wind farms off the coast and solar panels across the city’s rooftops. He’s dreaming big (Statue of Liberty powered by wind farms) while keeping the character of the neighborhood when it comes to the turbines (”If there is a large ape that starts climbing the Empire State Building, it might get in his way” - yes, that is our mayor speaking.
August 21st, 2008 | Alex Padalka | 1 comment | Continued
Green Home to be Cornerstone of Long Island Alternative Energy Park
In 2005, the 800-square-foot OPEN House was conceived and constructed by 75 students at Old Westbury, Long Island’s New York Institute of Technology. Made from wood, the house debuted at the 2005 Solar Decathlon and took home fifth place as a fully operational showcase for solar and hydrogen fuel cell technology. In 2007, it was re-entered in the Decathlon with a few upgrades, including an array of 35 solar panels and a rooftop pool for heating and cooling, which was designed to simulate the heating and cooling principles of a geothermal system. The prototype included a performance dashboard displaying the home’s energy consumption in real-time. The Town of Hempstead recently purchased the OPEN House from NYIT for $75,000.00 as the centerpiece of a new alternative energy office park on Long Beach.
August 18th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Clean Energy to Power Madagascar Exhibition at Bronx Zoo Lion House
The New York Power Authority announced yesterday that it will install a fuel cell at the FXFOWLE-designed Lion House at the Bronx Zoo. The installation will offset 200 kilowatts of electrical demand at the landmarked, Beaux-Arts Lion House, which is on track for a LEED Gold rating from USGBC. The project broke ground back in 2006 and is part of a larger renovation of the Zoo’s Astor Court; the Lion House itself has remained vacant since the lions were moved outdoors almost twenty years ago.
June 20th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Clean Power at Ground Zero, Midtown Office Vacancies, & PlaNYC Brownfields Office
gbNYC selects green news items of note that were reported across the New York City area during the week of June 8, 2008, including the Port Authority’s selection of a fuel cell provider for clean power at the World Trade Center redevelopment, an increase in Class A Midtown office vacancies since the start of the year thanks to an influx of new and subleased space from, among others, Bank of America Tower, the creation of a new office to expedite the redevelopment of New York City brownfields, and the first-ever America-Israel Green Buildings Conference held in the Meadowlands.
June 15th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued