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Long Island Green Homes Consortium Launches Partnership

greenThe Long Island Green Homes Consortium, comprised of the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip, North Hempstead, Smithtown and Southampton, the Community Development Corporation of Long Island (CDC), and the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College – together with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and National Grid  –  launched a partnership Friday to help homeowners on Long Island cut energy cost.

The Consortium was first created in December of 2009, when all seven towns were brought together by the Town of Babylon, CDC of Long Island and the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College to apply for the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Retrofit Ramp-Up” competitive grant which was designed to provide funding for innovative programs that provide whole-neighborhood building retrofits in conjunction with long-standing utility programs. As part of the preparation for the grant application, the members of the consortium went about tailoring individual retrofit programs, inspired by and often modeled after Babylon’s innovative Green Homes program. Those efforts ultimately resulted in the Long Island Green Homes Consortium becoming a sub-grantee to NYSERDA’s successful “Retrofit Ramp-Up” grant award.

The result is a sustained Island-wide effort to ensure that Long Islanders have access to energy efficiency programs that will make their homes warmer in the winter, more comfortable in the summer and reduce their carbon footprint.

“The Consortium is a collaborative initiative between government, non-profit and business. We are expanding opportunities for all homeowners to make energy-saving improvements to their homes.  We are working as partners to bring about this market transformation that will grow jobs and save energy and money for homeowners,” said Marianne Garvin, President & CEO of Community Development Corporation of Long Island, which is leading the Long Island Green Homes Consortium.

Along with partners NYSERDA, National Grid and LIPA, this launch represents the Island’s first multi-town effort to bring energy efficiency initiatives to all Long Island homeowners.

This initiative is meant for all Long Island homeowners no matter where they live or income level.

“We salute CDC of Long Island, the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College and the seven Long Island towns that are participating in the Long Island Green Homes Consortium,” said Michael J. Murtha, President, Murtha Construction representing Efficiency First – a trade association representing many of the Building Performance contractors on Long Island.  “Building Performance contractors have conducted hundreds of energy audits performing energy efficiency home retrofits throughout Long Island. These services reduce a homeowner’s energy use on average 20 – 30 percent per year saving about $700 to $1,000 each year. Home Performance contractors have retained and created good paying Long Island jobs. We anticipate further growth and the ability to expand our services to more Long Islanders as a result of the cooperation of the Long Island Consortium.”