Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) of The City University of New York (CUNY) and the Green Buildings Collaborative of state agencies today announced a joint effort to help increase green and energy efficiency measures at BMCC’s 199 Chambers Street Building in Lower Manhattan.
Feasibility Assessment for Greening Up
The effort includes a feasibility assessment for potential green and energy efficiency upgrades to the 450,000-square foot, eight-story building’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems as well as its facade. It also provides assistance in exploring potential alternative energy generation such as solar panel arrays and wind turbines. For each recommendation, the collaborative also aims to create innovative financing mechanisms, based on energy savings, from both public and private sources for improvements that the college may elect to pursue.
First Pilot Project
BMCC is the first pilot project of the Green Buildings Collaborative, an innovative team of state agencies that pool their technical expertise and funding resources to identify and jump-start greening and energy efficiency projects. The core state entities involved in the collaborative include the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), New York Power Authority (NYPA), New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). Other state agencies are also involved in the collaborative, including the Office of General Services (OGS), the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). A full list of agencies is available on the DASNY website at http://www.dasny.org/green/cwg.php.
BMCC President Antonio Perez said: “BMCC is delighted to become an integral part of this collaborative project. This initiative will help the college reduce the carbon footprint of the City University of New York (CUNY) and at the same time contribute to the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan.”
David D. Brown IV, Executive Director of the Dormitory Authority, said: “The creative teamwork between the Borough of Manhattan Community College and the state’s Green Buildings Collaborative will produce a menu of options that the college can choose from to help lower its energy use, save money and reduce its carbon emissions. This joint effort serves as an example of what we can achieve when pools of knowledge and expertise are brought together in pursuit of a common goal.
The project at BMCC marks the debut of the state collaborative’s greening projects. The collaborative was created last fall to focus its experience, expertise and resources on energy efficiency projects at public purpose buildings, college and university campuses, and not-for-profit institutions across the state.
In addition to its work at BMCC, the Green Buildings Collaborative has already visited nine other college campuses, state facilities and public institutions and expects to announce further energy efficiency and greening projects in the coming months.
Green Buildings Colaborative Projects
Projects of the Green Buildings Collaborative and its partner institutions will help lower energy costs, boost energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of buildings across New York as well as improve indoor air quality and achieve other greening objectives. The collaborative efforts should spur ongoing greening projects on the individual campuses. Such projects will contribute to achieving the New York State “15-by-15” goal of reducing state electricity use 15 percent by 2015.
