Tech City is busy positioning itself as a hub for the renewable energy industry and is a story in itself ”“ currently undergoing an adaptive reuse of more than 2 million square feet of office, manufacturing and industrial space vacated when IBM left the Kingston and town of Ulster area in the 1980s, leaving the community with a huge void to fill.
EarthKind Solar, a renewable energy company zeroing in on the solar hot water market, has been a tenant for 18 months. “We were one of the first in this building,” said Ron Kamen, the company”™s senior vice president and co-founder.
Seed money to fund the startup came from another renewable energy business Kamen is a partner in ”“ Starphire New Energy Technologies.
“We originally took 1,000 square feet of space, but have already expanded to 4,000 and will probably be taking more,” since moving into Tech City in 2007. “We started out with one employee. We now have ten and are expecting to grow and add more jobs as well,” now that EarthKind Solar is earning in excess of $2 million a year in sales, Kamen said.
While solar heating for pools is becoming a “must have” for swimmers across the nation, “Most people don”™t realize how much money they are spending heating the water, whether it is in their homes, their companies or other facilities, particularly hospitals and nursing homes, which use a tremendous amount of hot water,” Kamen said.
“The United States is second in the world when it comes to heating pools with solar power but has fallen far behind other countries when it comes to realizing the potential in solar hot water heating in commercial applications.” Solar hot water heating is eligible for the same tax and credit incentives as solar for generating electricity is.
Kamen said Tech City provides the perfect atmosphere for EarthKind.
“The property manager, Dan Wieneke, has done a tremendous job in getting companies like ours interested in coming here and The Solar Energy Consortium has also been a great partner as well. The building is already half-full and Solar Tech Renewables is getting ready to start production.”
With more than 2 million square feet of space, Tech City was plagued for years as a location companies avoided. “That”™s really changed,” Kamen said. “I”™d estimate more than 50 percent of the space here is now taken. Plans are in the works to demolish some of the antiquated buildings and reconfigure the business park to accommodate the companies coming in.”
Kamen is president of the New York State Solar Energy Industries Association. “Solar hot water heating is eligible for the same tax credits on the federal and state level. For those concerned about the backlog at NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) for reimbursements, “They”™ve cleaned up and streamlined the process,” he said. “It”™s taking just a few weeks now, rather than the logjam of applications it was dealing with. When anyone pays to convert or add solar energy, there is a big upfront expense. No one wants to wait for their application to be processed. That”™s been a tremendous help to the entire solar industry because those credits are key to making the installation of solar affordable for many. The backlog was a real concern for everyone, but thankfully, that”™s been rectified.”
Tech City hasn”™t limited itself to renewable energy alone, but it is leaning toward establishing a “green business” climate. It plans to demolish 288,000 square feet of buildings that have been deemed unusable and create a 558,000-square-foot indoor parking facility for tenants and visitors. In addition to leasing out space for research and development and manufacturing, its master plan calls for restaurants, a cinema, retail and rental apartments.
