One of the most challenging projects a building can face is a switch to electricity submetering. But it's also an opportunity for co-op shareholders and condo unit-owners to conserve energy and save money. Read More »

Green roofs are a go: A bill signed by Governor David Paterson on August 5 provides a co-op / condo tax abatement worth a quarter to a third of the typical installation cost. Buildings meeting guidelines will be able to take an abatement of $4.50 per square foot of green roof, up to a maximum of $100,000 for the entire job.

Until now, green roofs have generally been high-end showcases, such as at Battery Park City's Riverhouse, or projects, such as the one at 890 Garrison Avenue in the Bronx, financed by such environmentally conscious nonprofit groups as Sustainable South Bronx. Can green roofs catch on in the hard-nosed world of co-op and condo boards? Read More »

When the board at Vanguard Chelsea, at 77 West 24th Street, did a green retrofit in 2005, it implemented all kinds of cost-saving and energy-efficient measures, such as switching from incandescent to fluorescent lighting, installing new microfiber filters in the air vents and using green cleaning products — a move most of us associate with added costs, but which in this case reduced the cleaning-supply bill. How so? Follow the green brick road…. Read More »

Solar power made sense for two apartment buildings on Manhattan's East Side: Kips Bay Towers Condominium at East 33rd Street and Second Avenue, and the co-op at 230 East 73rd Street. Although one arrived at it by accident and the other partly by design, each building is tapping into the sun's power as a part of overall efforts to control increasing energy bills, and each relies on government incentives and subsidies to justify the expense. Read More »

It can be as simple as switching from incandescent to fluorescent lightbulbs. It can be a bit more complex, like replacing worn-out air conditioners and washing machines with energy-efficient appliances. Or, it can be as exotic as installing a microturbine, or turning a rooftop into an insulating garden. Whichever way, many co-op and condo boards are taking action to make their buildings, their city and their planet shade toward the desirable new color: green. Read More »

It may sound like some accessory from your childhood Micronauts, but there's nothing kid-stuff about a microturbine — a gas-powered, on-site device that actually creates electricity for your building and even produces heat you can use for some of your building's hot-water needs. Read More »

You've got a building to heat, and only so much budget with which to do it. So, when somebody starts talking about heating oil made from soybeans, you tend to file it in that part of your brain with the picture-phones and flying cars. But there's biofuel in Brooklyn and The Bronx, with at least five oil distributors now offering this greener alternative to petroleum. Read More »

Gerard J. Picaso has been managing New York City co-ops and condos for over 30 years, and prides himself on his business acumen. So when it comes to greening the 48 buildings in his portfolio, Picaso says his motivation is as much common sense as it is dollars and cents. Read More »

Check out environmentally friendly lighting, energy-efficient construction materials and many things you wouldn't even have expected could go green! Read More »

For the owners and management of older co-ops and condos, "going green" may be quite appealing. But is it practical in dollars-and-cents terms? How expensive is it to retrofit an existing building to make it more energy efficient? Read More »