August 18, 2008 — New York Governor David A. Paterson on August 5 signed into law new energy and greening legislation designed to promote green-roof initiatives and encourage private solar- and wind-power systems.

The one-year abatement for green roofs — a roof covered with grass and plants, providing an insulating layer to help reduce energy consumption and improve air quality, among other benefits — will cut up to $100,000 from a building's tax bill. Read More »

When Susan Boyle and her husband bought a six-unit apartment building in Crown Heights in 2001, they had two goals — to earn rental income and to create an environmentally friendly building. Today when they stand on the roof, they can wriggle their toes in the grass and the alpine plants they've carefully cultivated. You can do the same — and cut $100,000 off your tax bill doing so. 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 »

What's a surefire way of changing energy-use behavior among your building's residents? Make them pay for it.

From the day it went co-op, Georgetown Mews, a 37-building, 930-unit garden complex spread across 65 acres in Queens, has included the cost of electricity in monthly maintenance. Residents paid a per-share price, regardless of how much electricity they consumed, plus per-unit fees for air conditioners. Because shareholders didn't get a real electric bill, the incentive to conserve was minimal — for them, not the board of directors. "Con Ed was raising the rates through the roof," recalls longtime board president Mary Fisher. "[W]e started to sit down and look at alternatives to save the co-op money." 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 »

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 »

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