08/22/2010 12:38 PM YNN for the Hudson Valley by Terry Ettinger
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Affordable housing can also be sustainable, energy-efficient housing – case in point, a new 66-unit senior citizen apartment complex recently dedicated in Ulster County.“Radiant heat in the floors, 70 percent of our heat and hot water is produced with solar power, a 50 kw photovoltaic electric system, every single apartment is air-blower tested for air infiltration, the air conditioning systems have the highest efficiency ratings available, the heating systems are European in design and they know about saving energy over there because they’ve been paying more than we have. Our boilers, for example, are 97 to 98 percent efficiency,” said Steve Aaron, Managing Member of Birchez Associates. Birchez Associates was able to do this in part by obtaining state grants.
“New York State has a number of programs that help support builders and developers who are interested in trying to provide a sustainable approach to construction. I divide them into two groups; one is at the single- family level (individual homes) and the other is for multi-family homes and building support as well,” said Paul Crovella, Sustainable Construction Management and Engineering, SUNY-ESF.
Paul Crovella teaches sustainable construction management.
“The single-family home, New York State currently has a program for builders interested in going through Energy Star certification for the home. It provides money for the builders to do that and essentially offsets quite a bit of the cost,” said Crovella.
Similar programs are available for multi-family construction like senior citizen housing offering incentives for developers to think green when they’re in the design stage for upgrading the insulation, window quality and the efficiency of the heating plant, like they did at the new Birches at Chambers, and Crovella believes it’s a worthwhile program.
“It makes a lot of sense in that the individual who is building a project like that, if they know they’re not going to be paying the utility bills over the life of the building then they have very little incentive to put in a better window or improve the efficiency,” said Crovella.