At Yale University in late October, a California company called Serious Energy showcased a financing program in which it takes on the upfront cost of building energy efficiency upgrades in exchange for a chunk of the future savings.
In Stamford, an increasing number of companies are undertaking serious upgrades the old-fashioned way ”“ paying for it themselves, with perhaps assistance from the occasional rebate or tax credit, some of the latter set to expire this year.
Sustainable Stamford and the Building Owners and Managers Association are renewing the Stamford Corporate Sustainability Challenge for the upcoming year, with businesses of all sizes invited to benchmark their energy and water usage and to adopt green practices. In early November, Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia lauded Albert B. Ashforth Inc., Malkin Properties and Greenwich Hospital for their efforts in the first year of the program. The city itself ran up an impressive record over 12 months, with some 85 facilities earning a combined $4 million in rebates from Connecticut Light & Power Co. In 2010, Stamford ended up winning more incentives from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund than any other city in Connecticut.
Stamford has enjoyed a building boom throughout the economic recovery, with many of those buildings outfitted for varying energy efficiency measures. If the city”™s newest buildings are certifiably green, existing buildings are doing their own part to keep up.
“Personally I was a little late, when this whole thing started five or six years ago, to adopt it,” said Randy Salvatore, CEO of Stamford-based RMS Construction, which is working to complete a new residential building at 1340 Washington Blvd. “The technology has gotten so much better. Back then, green was expensive. If you wanted green, you were going to pay a premium for it.”
Look up when 1340 Washington Blvd. is complete, and you will see ”“ or better yet not see ”“ evidence of that continuing conundrum. Despite an impressive array of sustainable measures, the building”™s features will not include a solar panel array when it opens, though Salvatore says that day will probably come.
Look down and all around, however, and you might notice little touches contributing to the 1340 Washington Blvd.”™s sustainability footprint ”“ floors made from bamboo wood, prized for the trees”™ rapid growth; “green-cleaned” surfaces; and myriad other measures to reduce both the building”™s energy consumption and its impact on the environment.
When completed next spring, RMS will look to enter the building in next year”™s Sustainable Stamford Corporate Challenge, according to Mia Schipani, vice president of business development and marketing.
There are plenty of other places to get pointers on how to start the process, both in Stamford and in surrounding towns. The nonprofit SoundWaters hosts an ongoing lecture series at the University of Connecticut Stamford addressing the intersection of business and the environment. October”™s session featured a “crash course in sustainable energy” led by Mark Robbins, a real estate consultant and LEED building developer, with the session co-sponsored by Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
And the Yale University Center for Business and the Environment brings in nationally renowned speakers for its own lecture “blueprint for efficiency” series in New Haven. Yale kicked off this year”™s series with a talk by the president of Alliance to Save Energy, who calls energy efficiency “America”™s first fuel” in a nod to resulting fuel savings such systems can produce.
The Alliance to Save Energy predicts contractors may enjoy a mini-boom of business to close out 2011, as federal tax credits on energy efficiency upgrades expires at the end of December. As the Washington, D.C.-based organization notes, however, those tax credits apply for systems actually installed by the Dec. 31 deadline, not covering purchases that are installed next year.
