Town Of Babylon

Long Island Green Homes Program Attracts Statewide and National Attention

Dora Myles, outreach coordinator, Congressman Steve Israel, Ellen Steinfeld, senior vice president, Home Lending Solutions division, Citizens Bank, Marianne Garvin, President, CEO, CDC of Long Island, Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone, Lizette Marrero, homeowner (Energy Efficiency Residential Retrofit), Michael Murtha, president Murtha Construction and DuWayne Gregory, Suffolk County Legislator

STORY BY MAUREEN TRAXLER, PHOTOS BY MIRANDA GATEWOOD

 

Just two years ago, in June, 2008, the Town of Babylon introduced the Long Island Green Homes program (LIGH), an innovative plan providing Babylon residents opportunities to make energy efficient improvements in their homes with no up-front costs. LIGH was profiled in Networking® magazine in September, 2008. Today, successful results indicate that Babylon homeowners are paying lower utility bills, providing green jobs and reducing the Town’s carbon footprint while making LIGH the standard model for municipalities across the U.S.

In a recent interview with Networking® magazine, Babylon Supervisor, Steve Bellone, honored in 2009 as public figure of the year by the Long Island chapter of the US Green Building Council and as environmentalist of the year by the Sierra Club’s Long Island Group, says, “The interactions we have had are all very positive. LIGH has drawn interest from many different sectors including government officials, college students, financiers, environmentalists and, of course, everyday folks who are wondering when a program like ours is coming to their town or city.

“It is encouraging,” he adds, “to see many towns and cities developing programs of their own and it is extremely rewarding to know that we have been able to influence those programs, some directly and others indirectly. Progress is largely dependent upon the will of local governments and residents to make home energy efficiency a priority. Without a strong commitment, they will find it difficult to see a program through from design to delivery.”

Government Support for LIGH
At Sustainable Long Island’s June conference on Green Collar Energy, United States Senator Charles E. Schumer said, “Just last month, Congressman Steve Israel and I secured $5 million for the Long Island Green Homes program. This program is a one-of-a-kind effort started by Steve Bellone and the Town of Babylon that brings together eight of Long Island’s largest town governments into a new consortium to weatherize and retrofit some of our oldest energy-bleeding homes.
“Using a financing mechanism called Property Accessed Clean Energy bonds or PACE bonds, this program will cover a territory of over 500,000 homes.” He added, “Funding the Long Island Green Homes Consortium makes sense. It’s not only a win for Long Islanders who will save on their energy bills, it will also create jobs during these tough economic times.”

Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone and Sammy Chu, program director, Long Island Green Homes

LIGH Program Creates Jobs
The creation of green jobs has been a primary goal for LIGH. In addressing progress towards that goal, Supervisor Bellone says, “We are very glad to report that in our first year of operation, the program was responsible for 20 new home performance jobs. Those were 20 direct hires of individuals performing installs, not taking into account the secondary economic impact of those hires and the purchase of equipment and materials to complete those projects.

“The program has created new opportunities for local businesses as well,” Bellone adds. “Earlier this year, the vice president of a successful home performance contracting operation from the San Francisco Bay Area, when looking for a location to found a new company, decided to relocate to the Town of Babylon because of the potential of LIGH to create opportunity for his new business. That business is currently growing at a rapid rate and has created new jobs in its first months of operation here. The program is not only reducing the Town’s carbon footprint and saving homeowners on energy costs, it has become a real force for economic development.”

Operational Performance and 2010 Projections
As of May, 2010, LIGH performance figures are as follows: 48 audits, 255 completed jobs with 199 jobs in progress and 52 jobs inactive. The average cost of a project is $8,839.27 and the average payback period is 8.77 years. The average annual savings per home is $1057.30.

Currently, LIGH is receiving about 60 applications per month translating to an average of 40 audits per month. With expanded consumer recognition of the program, participation rates continue to rise. LIGH projected a pace of 100 audits by the end of June and hopes to complete 1,000 projects between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011.

Energy Efficiency Retrofit in Wyandanch
Last month, the Community Development Corporation of Long Island (CDC) and the Town of Babylon LIGH participated in National NeighborWorks® Week, highlighting free energy efficiency and green measures for the Marrero family in Wyandanch.

Work on the project was provided by Murtha Construction who donated time and materials, United Way/Youthbuild and Citizens Bank who advanced $15 thousand. CDC President and CEO, Marianne Garvin said, “The goal of our NeighborWorks® Week event is to engage community members with efforts that transform communities into better places to live, work and play.”

“By showcasing the Marrero family, we hope to support Wyandanch residents, local officials and businesses to initiate positive changes around two key aspects of our mission: energy efficiency and homeownership preservation.”
James P. Gaspo, president, Citizens Bank, New York, said “Citizens Bank is pleased to support the Community Development Corporation of Long Island’s NeighborWorks® Week and their efforts to produce affordable housing on Long Island.”

“I am proud that the (LIGH) program has been enormously successful in saving homeowners’ money and making houses more energy-efficient and it is through partnerships with organizations (like CDC, Citizens Bank and Murtha Construction) that we can use the Green Homes program to help transform entire communities,” added Supervisor Bellone.

Reaction from Babylon Residents
The LIGH program has the ability to lower homeowner’s utility bills 20-40% as well as adding comfort and reducing pollution. Energy-saving home improvements may be funded through “benefit assessment financing” which means the Town of Babylon pays the bills up front for construction up to $12,000.
In order to finance their LIGH program, the Town of Babylon amended the Town Codes definition of solid waste to include energy waste by dint of its carbon content. This allowed the appropriation of funds from Babylon’s solid waste reserve funds to be applied for the purpose of addressing the energy waste issues of homes as a matter of public purpose and responsibility.

Babylon residents pay back over time with the money saved in utility bills. The web site explains step-by-step how it works and how homeowners can be part of it. Residents generally applaud the program. Recent comments included the following: “We want to thank the Town for having this program…We have nothing but good things to say about it…I would recommend it to other Town residents…The contractors were extremely professional and proved to be experts in home energy efficiency…The quality of work done was a 10 out of 10.”

With LIGH as a prototype, other towns are working on jump-starting their own Green Homes Programs. Contact your local Supervisor or Town Board to let them know you are interested in a Town sponsored program. You can also refer to LIPA’s efficiency programs as another resource to making a home more energy efficient. Go to www.LIPA.com.

To learn more about LIGH, visit www.ligreenhomes.com. To contact the LIGH office at Town Hall Annex, 281 Phelps Lane, Room 16, North Babylon, call 631-422-4411 or e-mail ligreenhomes@townofbabylon.com

The Babylon Project
The Babylon Project (TBP), launched in October, 2008, is based on the Town of Babylon’s positive experience with LIGH. The premise is that energy efficiency is the single, most cost-effective way to create jobs, environmental protection and national security. It is an established fact that 40% of energy generated is consumed by existing buildings that could be made 25% more energy-efficient. Retrofit investment could create millions of clean energy jobs supporting families and creating new opportunities.

TBP was conceived to facilitate the development of municipally generated efficiency programs across America. Its broader mission promotes the belief that communities that embrace policies of environmental protection and sustainability will realize the most success in the future. In addition, TBP will advocate enabling legislation and funding to optimize program objectives.

In July, 2009, TBP partnered with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) to host a webinar, “Launching A Municipal Residential Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program,” which was featured in Networking® magazine, August/September, 2009. More than 150 participants from New York State and other states across the country plus Mexico City signed up to learn about Babylon’s groundbreaking Green Homes Program. To view step-by-step the process Babylon went through to secure funding and enabling legislation for TBP, and to sign up for a Babylon Project Webinar, visit www.thebabylonproject.org