Free Greening Info: Environmental Group Makes House Calls to Your Boardroom

"I was very impressed with the presentation they made to us," says John McClement, a board member at the 92-unit co-op at 415 East 85th Street, who was tasked by the board to look into environmentally friendly options.

Initially, those board members were curious about solar panels, but after GreenHome's presentation, they realized that technology might not be right for their location. McClement instead learned about more mundane but equally environmental options such as green cleaning products, and motion sensors for hallway lights.

Bomee Jung, who founded GreenHome in 2002, says the group helps consumers sift through the mounds of information about green buildings. The volunteers aren't experts or professional consultants, but peers who have done the research in order to help others. "I'm learning, and I'm sharing what I'm learning," she says.

Of all your costs, energy bills

are the thing you have the

most amount of control over.

Eric Nevala-Lee, program coordinator for GreenHome, says the goal is "to make people more comfortable with the idea" of going green." Often one or two board members are interested in environmental issues and need to get the rest of the group on board.

"[O]ut of all your costs, energy bills are the thing you have the most amount of control over," Nevala-Lee says. He points to a 225-unit co-op in Brooklyn where 22 percent of the annual operating expenses came from utilities. "Every building is interested in trying to save money, and energy savings are absolutely linked to that."

A Gaggle of Greens

During a House Calls presentation, volunteers talk about the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) program for multi-unit buildings (see "NYSERDA Primes the Pump," Habitat, June 2007 ), and explain federal, state and local incentives for green projects. Boards can learn about scores of other groups that offer greening information about green issues, from Con Edison to such local non-profits as Sustainable South Bronx. GreenHome also gives information about vendors who do green projects.

Nevala-Lee says volunteers try to reinforce the idea of looking at green options at every stage of building maintenance, from new materials to recycling construction debris.

"Even if you're not doing this stuff next month, it's good to have a plan in place so when you are spending money you're doing it in the most efficient way possible," he says, adding that the meatiest part of the presentation is often the Q&A session. "If people have a specific interest, we'll try to put them in touch with people who can answer that."

The group made its first house call in October 2008 and has done a half-dozen more since. After each presentation, volunteers work on refining the information, based on responses they get during the sessions. "We also want to follow up with people to see if they did any work on a green project, to see if there was progress made," he says. Additionally, the group hopes to be able to connect co-ops and condos with each other so they can learn from each other's experiences.

"A lot of what the presentation provides is support to confirm that this is possible, that it's the right thing to do," he says.

Free Energy Audits

Dolly Soto is not on the board of her 140-unit co-op, Windsor Terrace, in Brooklyn, but part of a group of shareholders who want to help the environment. She set up an appointment with GreenHome and hopes to take their information to her board. She learned, for example, that the building's energy supplier, National Grid, provides a free energy audit. "In our case I think we [had been] obsessing about NYSERDA, but that may not be the way for us."

Ken Cooper, board president at the 56-unit co-op at 14 East 90th Street, says he heard about GreenHome after contacting the mayor's office about PlaNYC, the city's strategy for a sustainable future. (See "A Vision of New York City," Habitat, May 2007.) "What GreenHome does is they come in and say, 'Here are all the things you can do and here is how you can find out more information,'" Cooper says. After the group's visit, for instance, Cooper's board asked NYSERDA for a consultant to do an energy audit, in order to possibly participate in the agency's multi-family performance program.

In addition to house calls, GreenHome also provides monthly presentations about environmental issues. Its website offers an "ask an expert" feature where people can get answers to specific questions. The group also holds a housing tour twice a year showcasing examples of green buildings.

Jung says the response to the House Call program has been excellent so far: "It has helped people get more excited about what they're doing."

Adapted from Habitat June 2009. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>

Illustration by Marcellus Hall