Thursday, November 20, 2008
Firms start to reap green benefits
Manufacturers save on energy and cut waste
By: Ashley Schofield
09/19/08 03:26 PM
SYRACUSE - Interviews with about a dozen Central New York manufacturers show that they are making substantial investments in "green" initiatives, such as cutting energy usage and waste, and are beginning to obtain tangible business benefits from these efforts.
"Our sales have doubled in the last five years, but our power costs have stayed the same," says Roland Beck, president of Tessy Plastics Corp., a custom-injection molding company based in Elbridge. "That says something" about the success of the company's green initiatives, he adds.
The cost of energy is driving people to look for alternatives, and the payback time is much shorter for such green technologies, says Randall Wolken, president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), which represents 325 members in 19 counties across upstate New York. MACNY helps individual companies develop more energy-efficient manufacturing processes and gets employees involved in green efforts through projects like recycling reward programs.
It is not rare for a manufacturer to see 50 percent savings on a project, we're talking about significant savings, Wolken says.
The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Lysander invested a total of $4.3 million in conservation improvements from 2006 to 2008 and is seeing substantial savings and benefits, Steve McCormick, plant manager, says in an e-mail.
Making internal processes energy-efficient
Most manufacturers begin implementing eco-friendly initiatives by reducing electricity costs.
Tessy Plastics installed energy-efficient lighting to replace regular light bulbs, in good working condition, at its main manufacturing site. The project cost about $80,000.
"It's hard to say here's $80,000 for lights, but we do it for the monthly savings," Beck says. He couldn't quantify the exact monthly savings.
Beck does not think energy-efficient bulbs are much more expensive than regular lights, but he says energy-efficient molding machines cost about 40 percent more than regular equipment. The company installed 100 such molding machines at a total cost of $15 million.
"It's a big cost up-front, but over the years it certainly pays for itself," he says.
Tessy Plastics has reduced its operating costs by 3 percent between material and electrical savings by installing the energy-efficient lighting and machines, Beck says.
Currier Plastics, an Auburn-based custom-injection and blow-molding manufacturer, also uses energy-efficient molding machines and sees large savings.
"The electric energy savings are [50 to 75] percent over conventional molding machines," says John F. Currier, president of Currier Plastics.
Conventional machines use electricity continuously, even while not manufacturing, while energy-efficient molding machines utilize electric power only when working.
The Lysander Anheuser-Busch brewery also replaced its conventional machines by purchasing ones that capture heat wasted in manufacturing processes and use it to heat water tanks, says McCormick.
"Our brewery has saved more than $400,000 by replacing a less efficient condenser unit," McCormick says. "[That's] enough to pay for the new equipment in just four years."
Fiber Instrument Sales, Inc., an Oriskany-based provider of fiber-optic and copper-wire telecommunications equipment and security systems, reduced its air-conditioning costs through more efficient machines utilizing fiber technology. By using fiber connections, instead of copper wire, it needs fewer air-conditioning machines to cool a building.
Most office buildings have an equipment closet on each floor, which need to be air-conditioned, but with fiber technology you can have one closet for the whole building, says Charles Carino, director of corporate communications for Fiber Instrument Sales.
"If it costs $5,000 to air-condition equipment closets over the course of a year and you only have one, it only costs $1,000 and you are saving $4,000," Carino says.
Welch Allyn, Inc., a Skaneateles Falls-based medical-equipment manufacturer, is looking to reduce its air conditioning and heating costs as well.
In its 125,000-square-foot expansion, Welch Allyn plans to use natural gas for cooling, and heating control systems from CHP Technologies to improve energy efficiency, says Scott Spanfelner, the director of operations at Welch Allyn's Skaneateles Falls manufacturing site.
Welch Allyn hopes to obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for its expansion project. Spanfelner says that if it achieves certification, it will be the first LEED manufacturing site in upstate New York, according to Tracie Hall, the executive director of the USGBC New York upstate chapter.
Reusing waste
Instead of manufacturing products from scratch, reusing and recycling waste is a popular green manufacturing initiative.
The Anheuser-Busch brewery recycles and reuses 99.96 percent of all waste, McCormick says.
"Only 64 tons of waste was sent to the landfill in 2007," McCormick says. "This is a 9 percent reduction compared to 2006, and an 88 percent reduction over the last 10 years."
The brewery accomplishes this through improved packaging and line efficiencies, McCormick says.
Tessy Plastics started regrinding material - which reprocesses waste into new components - when the company realized nearly all raw materials could be saved, Beck says.
"About five years ago, we threw about 30,000 pounds of raw material away, now it's next to nothing," he says.
Currier Plastics began implementing green techniques through recycling and then built up its green initiatives over the past two years, really accelerating its efforts in the past eight to 12 months.
"Our understanding of sustainability has grown as the market changes," Currier says. "We're kind of in unchartered waters here."
After its initial recycling stage, Currier started using biodegradable products and evaluating its carbon footprint; now the company follows a holistic approach of looking to integrate sustainability in every manufacturing process, he says.
Currier says the manufacturers look at production at every level from re-designing products to decreasing its shipping deliveries.
The manufacturers researched how to reduce the material and weight of plastic bottles, Currier says. The bottle could not just be made lighter; it had to be re-engineered to keep its strength, he says. After redesigning the product, it was not only more sustainable, but its structure also improved.
"We try to take it to the extreme as much as we can," he says.
The company improved its shipping methods by initially reusing shipping boxes and then replacing the corrugated packages it used with lighter, eco-friendly material, Currier says. The decreased weight of both the bottle and boxes allowed more shipments to fit on one truckload, he says.
Customers going green
Clients like knowing companies are becoming more green, Carino says.
"Today's consumer is increasingly more aware of their family's impact on the environment and many of them choose to support products and invest in companies that are also environmentally conscious," McCormick of Anheuser-Busch says.
Tessy's eco-initiatives allow the company to be more competitive, increasing the amount of work it gets, Beck says.
"I am able to run more efficiently, offer more attractive pricing and grow my business like that," he says.
Most manufacturers see customers more frequently asking for green products to increase their business.
"There is an awful lot of pressure to deliver green products," Currier says. "Customers are graded not only by pricing and quality of a product, but [also] how green it is. Customers have the advantage if they demonstrate better sustainability than their competitor."
The amenities market - including hotels and shampoo and mouthwash makers - is a big client of Currier Plastics interested in green products, he says.
Currier says his firm is developing some unique green alternatives for this market, but would not provide further details.
"Each customer has different yardsticks for sustainability depending on what their customer is looking for," Currier says. "In some instances, some are switching from one material to another because people are looking for that material."
But overall, everyone seems to be hopping on the green train.
"I don't think there is any company not looking to become greener," Wolken of MACNY says.
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
By: Ashley Schofield
09/19/08 03:26 PM
SYRACUSE - Interviews with about a dozen Central New York manufacturers show that they are making substantial investments in "green" initiatives, such as cutting energy usage and waste, and are beginning to obtain tangible business benefits from these efforts.
"Our sales have doubled in the last five years, but our power costs have stayed the same," says Roland Beck, president of Tessy Plastics Corp., a custom-injection molding company based in Elbridge. "That says something" about the success of the company's green initiatives, he adds.
The cost of energy is driving people to look for alternatives, and the payback time is much shorter for such green technologies, says Randall Wolken, president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), which represents 325 members in 19 counties across upstate New York. MACNY helps individual companies develop more energy-efficient manufacturing processes and gets employees involved in green efforts through projects like recycling reward programs.
It is not rare for a manufacturer to see 50 percent savings on a project, we're talking about significant savings, Wolken says.
The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Lysander invested a total of $4.3 million in conservation improvements from 2006 to 2008 and is seeing substantial savings and benefits, Steve McCormick, plant manager, says in an e-mail.
Making internal processes energy-efficient
Most manufacturers begin implementing eco-friendly initiatives by reducing electricity costs.
Tessy Plastics installed energy-efficient lighting to replace regular light bulbs, in good working condition, at its main manufacturing site. The project cost about $80,000.
"It's hard to say here's $80,000 for lights, but we do it for the monthly savings," Beck says. He couldn't quantify the exact monthly savings.
Beck does not think energy-efficient bulbs are much more expensive than regular lights, but he says energy-efficient molding machines cost about 40 percent more than regular equipment. The company installed 100 such molding machines at a total cost of $15 million.
"It's a big cost up-front, but over the years it certainly pays for itself," he says.
Tessy Plastics has reduced its operating costs by 3 percent between material and electrical savings by installing the energy-efficient lighting and machines, Beck says.
Currier Plastics, an Auburn-based custom-injection and blow-molding manufacturer, also uses energy-efficient molding machines and sees large savings.
"The electric energy savings are [50 to 75] percent over conventional molding machines," says John F. Currier, president of Currier Plastics.
Conventional machines use electricity continuously, even while not manufacturing, while energy-efficient molding machines utilize electric power only when working.
The Lysander Anheuser-Busch brewery also replaced its conventional machines by purchasing ones that capture heat wasted in manufacturing processes and use it to heat water tanks, says McCormick.
"Our brewery has saved more than $400,000 by replacing a less efficient condenser unit," McCormick says. "[That's] enough to pay for the new equipment in just four years."
Fiber Instrument Sales, Inc., an Oriskany-based provider of fiber-optic and copper-wire telecommunications equipment and security systems, reduced its air-conditioning costs through more efficient machines utilizing fiber technology. By using fiber connections, instead of copper wire, it needs fewer air-conditioning machines to cool a building.
Most office buildings have an equipment closet on each floor, which need to be air-conditioned, but with fiber technology you can have one closet for the whole building, says Charles Carino, director of corporate communications for Fiber Instrument Sales.
"If it costs $5,000 to air-condition equipment closets over the course of a year and you only have one, it only costs $1,000 and you are saving $4,000," Carino says.
Welch Allyn, Inc., a Skaneateles Falls-based medical-equipment manufacturer, is looking to reduce its air conditioning and heating costs as well.
In its 125,000-square-foot expansion, Welch Allyn plans to use natural gas for cooling, and heating control systems from CHP Technologies to improve energy efficiency, says Scott Spanfelner, the director of operations at Welch Allyn's Skaneateles Falls manufacturing site.
Welch Allyn hopes to obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for its expansion project. Spanfelner says that if it achieves certification, it will be the first LEED manufacturing site in upstate New York, according to Tracie Hall, the executive director of the USGBC New York upstate chapter.
Reusing waste
Instead of manufacturing products from scratch, reusing and recycling waste is a popular green manufacturing initiative.
The Anheuser-Busch brewery recycles and reuses 99.96 percent of all waste, McCormick says.
"Only 64 tons of waste was sent to the landfill in 2007," McCormick says. "This is a 9 percent reduction compared to 2006, and an 88 percent reduction over the last 10 years."
The brewery accomplishes this through improved packaging and line efficiencies, McCormick says.
Tessy Plastics started regrinding material - which reprocesses waste into new components - when the company realized nearly all raw materials could be saved, Beck says.
"About five years ago, we threw about 30,000 pounds of raw material away, now it's next to nothing," he says.
Currier Plastics began implementing green techniques through recycling and then built up its green initiatives over the past two years, really accelerating its efforts in the past eight to 12 months.
"Our understanding of sustainability has grown as the market changes," Currier says. "We're kind of in unchartered waters here."
After its initial recycling stage, Currier started using biodegradable products and evaluating its carbon footprint; now the company follows a holistic approach of looking to integrate sustainability in every manufacturing process, he says.
Currier says the manufacturers look at production at every level from re-designing products to decreasing its shipping deliveries.
The manufacturers researched how to reduce the material and weight of plastic bottles, Currier says. The bottle could not just be made lighter; it had to be re-engineered to keep its strength, he says. After redesigning the product, it was not only more sustainable, but its structure also improved.
"We try to take it to the extreme as much as we can," he says.
The company improved its shipping methods by initially reusing shipping boxes and then replacing the corrugated packages it used with lighter, eco-friendly material, Currier says. The decreased weight of both the bottle and boxes allowed more shipments to fit on one truckload, he says.
Customers going green
Clients like knowing companies are becoming more green, Carino says.
"Today's consumer is increasingly more aware of their family's impact on the environment and many of them choose to support products and invest in companies that are also environmentally conscious," McCormick of Anheuser-Busch says.
Tessy's eco-initiatives allow the company to be more competitive, increasing the amount of work it gets, Beck says.
"I am able to run more efficiently, offer more attractive pricing and grow my business like that," he says.
Most manufacturers see customers more frequently asking for green products to increase their business.
"There is an awful lot of pressure to deliver green products," Currier says. "Customers are graded not only by pricing and quality of a product, but [also] how green it is. Customers have the advantage if they demonstrate better sustainability than their competitor."
The amenities market - including hotels and shampoo and mouthwash makers - is a big client of Currier Plastics interested in green products, he says.
Currier says his firm is developing some unique green alternatives for this market, but would not provide further details.
"Each customer has different yardsticks for sustainability depending on what their customer is looking for," Currier says. "In some instances, some are switching from one material to another because people are looking for that material."
But overall, everyone seems to be hopping on the green train.
"I don't think there is any company not looking to become greener," Wolken of MACNY says.
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
Promoting green, LEED-certified homebuilding
By: Ashley Schofield
10/24/08 01:47 PM
Carmen Mufale, Onondaga County project manager for Summerset Homes, outside one of the company's model homes. The residential construction firm says it designs and builds homes to waste as little material in the building process as possible.
SYRACUSE - Carmen Mufale designs homes to waste as little material in the building process as possible.
Lumber generally comes in 14 foot and 16 foot lengths, so Mufale, an Onondaga County project manager for Summerset Homes, constructs rooms to those lengths.
"We don't make a 13-foot wall because what we would we do with the waste?" he says.
Homes have been efficiently constructed for years, but only recently has it been coined "green," says Mufale, a third-generation builder. Summerset Homes' new-home developments include projects in Salina, Clay, and Cicero.
"Green or economically sound is tough because now it's a certifiable thing," says Mufale, who has been in the business for 11 years. "We have built to a respect for 30 years, now all of sudden all these products come out."
The city of Syracuse recently passed a law incorporating LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards in a plan that provides tax breaks on new and renovated vacant property.
Newly constructed LEED-certified one-and two-family homes built on vacant lots get a one-year to three-year extension - depending on which LEED level the home achieves - on a 100 percent tax exemption from city and school taxes, coupled with a 5 percent decrease in the rate at which taxes phase in, says David Clifford, the first deputy commissioner of assessment in the city's Department of Assessment.
LEED certification is the national benchmark for implementing "rigorous green technical requirements for energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, non-toxic materials and environmental performance" in every aspect of a building, according to the U.S. Green Building Council Web site. The USGBC is a nonprofit organization, promoting environmentally responsible building practices, which certifies LEED status.
Homes built to silver LEED certification get taxed at 20 percent after eight years of owning the property - one year later than the standard tax break. Taxes phase in after nine years for gold LEED standards and 11 years for platinum LEED certification. The LEED exemption applies for a maximum of 14 years. The standard tax break lasts 10 years.
A vacant lot originally assessed at $10,000 with an increased assessment of $110,000 after construction would receive a $100,000 city and school tax exemption for eight years, according to an informational packet the City of Syracuse Assessment Department distributed about the new property tax exemptions.
Syracuse has 1,573 available vacant lots, of which 454 are city-owned, according to a city list of available vacant lots as of Sept. 24. This list contains just those that are city owned and/or tax delinquent, says Sheldon Ashkin, the first deputy commissioner in the City of Syracuse Department of Assessment in an e-mail.
The city has 2,992 total vacant lots in the city, says Jim McCarthy, the community development city clerk in the city's Code of Enforcements.
Builders constructed 885 new homes in Onondaga County ? 696 single family homes and 189 multi-family homes - in 2007, according to a study released on May 15, 2008, by the National Association of Home Builders, a trade association representing residential construction firms.
"I'm doubtful that an increase in building starts," Clifford says.
People are inquiring about the initiative though. About 50 people called during the first couple weeks about it, Clifford says.
"It just makes sense," he says. "Energy costs go up and up, and are not going back down."
LEED focuses on energy efficiency. People can expect to save 30 percent to 60 percent on annual utility costs with LEED homes, according to the USGBC Web site.
"Savings in energy at a minimum of 30 percent and water efficiency at a minimum of 10 percent are tremendous from both a monetary and environmental standpoint," Tracie Hall, executive director of the Upstate New York chapter of USGBC, says in an e-mail. "These are very conservative - with only three [LEED] houses in the region, we are still collecting data."
The upstate chapter has three gold LEED-certified homes. The first gold LEED-certified home in New York passed certification in Skaneateles, Hall says. The first state LEED-certified housing project passed certification on Oct. 1, 2007 in the Bronx, according to the USGBC Web site.
The State of New York has 17 LEED-certified homes. There are 1,038 certified units and 475 projects in the United States and Canada - six projects are in Canada, according to a LEED for Homes Certified Projects list dated Oct. 7, 2008.
More than 330,000 homes with green features have been built in the United States in the last three years, and an estimated 60,000 of those were certified by LEED or another local green building program such as the Green Home Program in New York City, GreenHOME Inc. in Washington, D.C., and New Jersey Green Homes in Trenton, according to the USGBC Web site.
The first LEED home was certified in Maine in May 2006, according to the LEED certified projects list.
"This isn't a � fad; this is a cultural change in the way we are living in the future," says Mary Thompson, the executive officer of the Home Builders and Remodelers of Central New York an Association of Professionals committed to affordable, quality, and environmentally friendly housing.
In order to be LEED certified, a USGBC inspector must rate the project.
"The hallmark of LEED is � the third party verification," Hall says. "That is why it costs money."
It costs $525 for LEED registration and certification.
LEED originally applied to only commercial buildings, not residential properties. The city adopted LEED silver standards for commercial buildings in September of last year, says David Ashley, director of environmental design in the Syracuse office of Ashley McGraw Architects, LEED-accredited official architect.
"It's hard when a municipality specifically talks to just one program," Thompson says. "It can be expensive, not only when reaching the standards - [LEED] is really stringent on standards."
Thompson believes the city needs to focus on energy-efficient renovations.
"Incentives in this particular geographic region need to focus on preserving existing building stock that is still usable and just needs to be renovated," Thompson says.
In terms of going green, the potential of renovating vacant homes needs to be looked at instead of building more, says Mark Naef, president of Greening USA, a Syracuse-based coalition of related industry professionals that promote green design in communities.
The city tried to increase the tax exemption for LEED-certified renovations as well, but the state did not pass it, Clifford says.
LEED for homes was not designed to assess a portion of renovations; it was only designed to label newly constructed buildings, according to the USGBC Web site.
"LEED for homes is meant to be a guide for construction," Hall says.
The original intention of
LEED was only for commercial buildings, not residences, Hall says.
LEED certification for homes is still in its beginning stages, Hall says.
Certification for LEED homes came out within the past couple years, but the idea has been around forever, Mufale says. Many homes are built to Energy Star standards, which is a more feasible rating to achieve, he says.
Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that stresses energy efficient products and practices. Qualifications for Energy Star rating for green building include insulation, properly installed to reduce energy; high-performance windows, to help heating and cooling processes; tightly sealed construction and ducts - to reduce home utility and maintenance costs; energy-efficient heating and cooling systems; energy-efficient products such as lighting appliances; and third-party verification, according to its Web site.
That makes six green standards that homes have to meet for Energy Star certification.
The LEED certification for homes checklist has nine areas - each section also has detailed sub-requirements - to pass certification in each certifiable green category.
LEED embodies Energy Star standards and expands on them. LEED certification also requires an innovative design process - which includes project planning, a sustainable site selection, education of the homeowner or manager tenant, and indoor environmental control - including contaminant and pollution protection, according to the USGBC Web site.
LEED certification and Energy Star rating are complementary to each other, according to green-buildings.com, a USGBC member that answers sustainable questions for commercial builders over the Internet.
"We're building to standards, regardless if it's getting inspected," he says. "We're not just throwing up houses."
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
http://www.cnybj.com/index.php?id=396&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&tx_ttnews[pointer]=4&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=9116&cHash=58d91ebdd3
10/24/08 01:47 PM
Carmen Mufale, Onondaga County project manager for Summerset Homes, outside one of the company's model homes. The residential construction firm says it designs and builds homes to waste as little material in the building process as possible.
SYRACUSE - Carmen Mufale designs homes to waste as little material in the building process as possible.
Lumber generally comes in 14 foot and 16 foot lengths, so Mufale, an Onondaga County project manager for Summerset Homes, constructs rooms to those lengths.
"We don't make a 13-foot wall because what we would we do with the waste?" he says.
Homes have been efficiently constructed for years, but only recently has it been coined "green," says Mufale, a third-generation builder. Summerset Homes' new-home developments include projects in Salina, Clay, and Cicero.
"Green or economically sound is tough because now it's a certifiable thing," says Mufale, who has been in the business for 11 years. "We have built to a respect for 30 years, now all of sudden all these products come out."
The city of Syracuse recently passed a law incorporating LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards in a plan that provides tax breaks on new and renovated vacant property.
Newly constructed LEED-certified one-and two-family homes built on vacant lots get a one-year to three-year extension - depending on which LEED level the home achieves - on a 100 percent tax exemption from city and school taxes, coupled with a 5 percent decrease in the rate at which taxes phase in, says David Clifford, the first deputy commissioner of assessment in the city's Department of Assessment.
LEED certification is the national benchmark for implementing "rigorous green technical requirements for energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, non-toxic materials and environmental performance" in every aspect of a building, according to the U.S. Green Building Council Web site. The USGBC is a nonprofit organization, promoting environmentally responsible building practices, which certifies LEED status.
Homes built to silver LEED certification get taxed at 20 percent after eight years of owning the property - one year later than the standard tax break. Taxes phase in after nine years for gold LEED standards and 11 years for platinum LEED certification. The LEED exemption applies for a maximum of 14 years. The standard tax break lasts 10 years.
A vacant lot originally assessed at $10,000 with an increased assessment of $110,000 after construction would receive a $100,000 city and school tax exemption for eight years, according to an informational packet the City of Syracuse Assessment Department distributed about the new property tax exemptions.
Syracuse has 1,573 available vacant lots, of which 454 are city-owned, according to a city list of available vacant lots as of Sept. 24. This list contains just those that are city owned and/or tax delinquent, says Sheldon Ashkin, the first deputy commissioner in the City of Syracuse Department of Assessment in an e-mail.
The city has 2,992 total vacant lots in the city, says Jim McCarthy, the community development city clerk in the city's Code of Enforcements.
Builders constructed 885 new homes in Onondaga County ? 696 single family homes and 189 multi-family homes - in 2007, according to a study released on May 15, 2008, by the National Association of Home Builders, a trade association representing residential construction firms.
"I'm doubtful that an increase in building starts," Clifford says.
People are inquiring about the initiative though. About 50 people called during the first couple weeks about it, Clifford says.
"It just makes sense," he says. "Energy costs go up and up, and are not going back down."
LEED focuses on energy efficiency. People can expect to save 30 percent to 60 percent on annual utility costs with LEED homes, according to the USGBC Web site.
"Savings in energy at a minimum of 30 percent and water efficiency at a minimum of 10 percent are tremendous from both a monetary and environmental standpoint," Tracie Hall, executive director of the Upstate New York chapter of USGBC, says in an e-mail. "These are very conservative - with only three [LEED] houses in the region, we are still collecting data."
The upstate chapter has three gold LEED-certified homes. The first gold LEED-certified home in New York passed certification in Skaneateles, Hall says. The first state LEED-certified housing project passed certification on Oct. 1, 2007 in the Bronx, according to the USGBC Web site.
The State of New York has 17 LEED-certified homes. There are 1,038 certified units and 475 projects in the United States and Canada - six projects are in Canada, according to a LEED for Homes Certified Projects list dated Oct. 7, 2008.
More than 330,000 homes with green features have been built in the United States in the last three years, and an estimated 60,000 of those were certified by LEED or another local green building program such as the Green Home Program in New York City, GreenHOME Inc. in Washington, D.C., and New Jersey Green Homes in Trenton, according to the USGBC Web site.
The first LEED home was certified in Maine in May 2006, according to the LEED certified projects list.
"This isn't a � fad; this is a cultural change in the way we are living in the future," says Mary Thompson, the executive officer of the Home Builders and Remodelers of Central New York an Association of Professionals committed to affordable, quality, and environmentally friendly housing.
In order to be LEED certified, a USGBC inspector must rate the project.
"The hallmark of LEED is � the third party verification," Hall says. "That is why it costs money."
It costs $525 for LEED registration and certification.
LEED originally applied to only commercial buildings, not residential properties. The city adopted LEED silver standards for commercial buildings in September of last year, says David Ashley, director of environmental design in the Syracuse office of Ashley McGraw Architects, LEED-accredited official architect.
"It's hard when a municipality specifically talks to just one program," Thompson says. "It can be expensive, not only when reaching the standards - [LEED] is really stringent on standards."
Thompson believes the city needs to focus on energy-efficient renovations.
"Incentives in this particular geographic region need to focus on preserving existing building stock that is still usable and just needs to be renovated," Thompson says.
In terms of going green, the potential of renovating vacant homes needs to be looked at instead of building more, says Mark Naef, president of Greening USA, a Syracuse-based coalition of related industry professionals that promote green design in communities.
The city tried to increase the tax exemption for LEED-certified renovations as well, but the state did not pass it, Clifford says.
LEED for homes was not designed to assess a portion of renovations; it was only designed to label newly constructed buildings, according to the USGBC Web site.
"LEED for homes is meant to be a guide for construction," Hall says.
The original intention of
LEED was only for commercial buildings, not residences, Hall says.
LEED certification for homes is still in its beginning stages, Hall says.
Certification for LEED homes came out within the past couple years, but the idea has been around forever, Mufale says. Many homes are built to Energy Star standards, which is a more feasible rating to achieve, he says.
Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that stresses energy efficient products and practices. Qualifications for Energy Star rating for green building include insulation, properly installed to reduce energy; high-performance windows, to help heating and cooling processes; tightly sealed construction and ducts - to reduce home utility and maintenance costs; energy-efficient heating and cooling systems; energy-efficient products such as lighting appliances; and third-party verification, according to its Web site.
That makes six green standards that homes have to meet for Energy Star certification.
The LEED certification for homes checklist has nine areas - each section also has detailed sub-requirements - to pass certification in each certifiable green category.
LEED embodies Energy Star standards and expands on them. LEED certification also requires an innovative design process - which includes project planning, a sustainable site selection, education of the homeowner or manager tenant, and indoor environmental control - including contaminant and pollution protection, according to the USGBC Web site.
LEED certification and Energy Star rating are complementary to each other, according to green-buildings.com, a USGBC member that answers sustainable questions for commercial builders over the Internet.
"We're building to standards, regardless if it's getting inspected," he says. "We're not just throwing up houses."
Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com
http://www.cnybj.com/index.php?id=396&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&tx_ttnews[pointer]=4&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=9116&cHash=58d91ebdd3
Retailers adjust to sluggish sales scene
Buying local a boon for some
By: Ashley Schofield
08/22/08 02:09 PM
Local retailers, such as Elsbeth Rose in Armory Square, are trying to weather the storm of high gas and food prices and a weakening economy crimping consumers' spending habits.
SYRACUSE - Local retailers are hoping for better results in the key back-to-school shopping season after seeing sluggish sales in July.
"In July we hit a brick wall," says Tom Cunningham, co-owner of Eureka Crafts, a jewelry and accessory store in Syracuse's Armory Square. "Our sales are 12 percent below last summer."
Sales at nearby Way Off the Beaten Path, which sells handmade jewelry and stones and accessories like scarves, are down by about 25 percent from last summer, says Angelique Mango, owner.
Maria Laface, owner of women's specialty boutique Oleander, located at 270 W. Jefferson St., says her numbers were down a little from last summer, but not drastically.
"It's just a bump in the road," Laface says.
Down the street, Jan Minney, owner of accessory and handbag store Jan's Addiction, says simply, "July is hard."
However, some area retailers are enjoying success this summer.
The Forever21 store in Carousel Center, which sells low-priced clothing for teens and young adults, generated a sales increase of 20 percent to 30 percent in July and 34 percent so far this summer, says Randy Dritz, co-manager of the local store.
Dritz attributes Forever21's success to low prices and Canadian customers who keep business booming on the weekends. He expects sales to continue growing in August.
"August is the biggest month," Dritz says. "Back-to-school shopping is bigger than Christmas."
Nationally, retail sales fell 0.1 percent in July, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Aug. 13. Excluding auto sales, which fell sharply, U.S. retail sales rose 0.4 percent in July.
Changing trends
Late August starts the big shopping season, says Marilyn Ringwood, owner of women's shop Elsbeth Rose in Armory Square.
Year to date, the store's sales have increased 10 percent over last year's total, Ringwood says. She attributes her shop's success to people shopping locally to treat themselves instead of traveling amid high gas prices.
Scott Owsiany, store manager at the Sports Authority store in Carousel Center, concurs that sticker shock at the gas pump has changed consumer shopping patterns.
"Now people are going for a one-shot deal, as opposed to making several trips to the mall," he says. "People are still buying."
Consumers are more discretionary customers, adds John Massara, manager of Mr. Shop, a men's designer-clothing store on West Fayette Street in Syracuse.
"Customers may buy three things instead of four," he says.
Mr. Shop is selling fewer units, but the store's average price point is still higher than expected, Massara says. Since Mr. Shop carries European designers, its prices increased when the American dollar declined against the Euro. With higher retail tags, sales have remained consistent despite customers purchasing fewer pieces.
Consumers are trying to go as easy on their pocketbooks as they can.
"People are spending in the $25-$100 range, not above $100," Mango of Way Off the Beaten Path says.
They are in an "I can't spend money" mindset, adds Yasha Deregis, an employee for The Edge, a discount designer clothing shop in Armory Square.
"People are shopping practically," she says. "They are not buying trendy pieces, but things that can last for a while."
Retailers adapt
As customers are thinking more about their spending habits, retailers are adjusting by reducing their inventory.
Oleander's Laface says she scaled back her inventory around December or January, but is slowly starting to increase it as customers return to regular spending habits.
"People are realizing this is life," Laface says. "They are regaining their confidence to shop."
Mango says wholesale price increases have caused her to reduce her inventory of gold she uses to make jewelry. She also cut prices by holding a sale for the first time in her shop's existence to try to attract more customers.
Other retailers are considering raising prices to cover higher wholesale costs.
"Wholesale prices have inched up, which I have tried to protect my customers from," Ringwood of Elsbeth Rose says. "But in [the] fall, prices will rise a teeny bit."
Another way to boost sales is to hold a going-out-of-business sale.
Jessica Palladino, the assistant manager of the Urban Behavior teen clothing store in Carousel Center, says the store's sales jumped this summer during its going-out-of-business blowout sale. The store will close around October. Connecticut-based CMT America Corp., the parent company of the Urban Behavior chain of clothing stores, filed for bankruptcy protection July 13, citing the slowing economy.
http://www.cnybj.com/index.php?id=95
By: Ashley Schofield
08/22/08 02:09 PM
Local retailers, such as Elsbeth Rose in Armory Square, are trying to weather the storm of high gas and food prices and a weakening economy crimping consumers' spending habits.
SYRACUSE - Local retailers are hoping for better results in the key back-to-school shopping season after seeing sluggish sales in July.
"In July we hit a brick wall," says Tom Cunningham, co-owner of Eureka Crafts, a jewelry and accessory store in Syracuse's Armory Square. "Our sales are 12 percent below last summer."
Sales at nearby Way Off the Beaten Path, which sells handmade jewelry and stones and accessories like scarves, are down by about 25 percent from last summer, says Angelique Mango, owner.
Maria Laface, owner of women's specialty boutique Oleander, located at 270 W. Jefferson St., says her numbers were down a little from last summer, but not drastically.
"It's just a bump in the road," Laface says.
Down the street, Jan Minney, owner of accessory and handbag store Jan's Addiction, says simply, "July is hard."
However, some area retailers are enjoying success this summer.
The Forever21 store in Carousel Center, which sells low-priced clothing for teens and young adults, generated a sales increase of 20 percent to 30 percent in July and 34 percent so far this summer, says Randy Dritz, co-manager of the local store.
Dritz attributes Forever21's success to low prices and Canadian customers who keep business booming on the weekends. He expects sales to continue growing in August.
"August is the biggest month," Dritz says. "Back-to-school shopping is bigger than Christmas."
Nationally, retail sales fell 0.1 percent in July, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Aug. 13. Excluding auto sales, which fell sharply, U.S. retail sales rose 0.4 percent in July.
Changing trends
Late August starts the big shopping season, says Marilyn Ringwood, owner of women's shop Elsbeth Rose in Armory Square.
Year to date, the store's sales have increased 10 percent over last year's total, Ringwood says. She attributes her shop's success to people shopping locally to treat themselves instead of traveling amid high gas prices.
Scott Owsiany, store manager at the Sports Authority store in Carousel Center, concurs that sticker shock at the gas pump has changed consumer shopping patterns.
"Now people are going for a one-shot deal, as opposed to making several trips to the mall," he says. "People are still buying."
Consumers are more discretionary customers, adds John Massara, manager of Mr. Shop, a men's designer-clothing store on West Fayette Street in Syracuse.
"Customers may buy three things instead of four," he says.
Mr. Shop is selling fewer units, but the store's average price point is still higher than expected, Massara says. Since Mr. Shop carries European designers, its prices increased when the American dollar declined against the Euro. With higher retail tags, sales have remained consistent despite customers purchasing fewer pieces.
Consumers are trying to go as easy on their pocketbooks as they can.
"People are spending in the $25-$100 range, not above $100," Mango of Way Off the Beaten Path says.
They are in an "I can't spend money" mindset, adds Yasha Deregis, an employee for The Edge, a discount designer clothing shop in Armory Square.
"People are shopping practically," she says. "They are not buying trendy pieces, but things that can last for a while."
Retailers adapt
As customers are thinking more about their spending habits, retailers are adjusting by reducing their inventory.
Oleander's Laface says she scaled back her inventory around December or January, but is slowly starting to increase it as customers return to regular spending habits.
"People are realizing this is life," Laface says. "They are regaining their confidence to shop."
Mango says wholesale price increases have caused her to reduce her inventory of gold she uses to make jewelry. She also cut prices by holding a sale for the first time in her shop's existence to try to attract more customers.
Other retailers are considering raising prices to cover higher wholesale costs.
"Wholesale prices have inched up, which I have tried to protect my customers from," Ringwood of Elsbeth Rose says. "But in [the] fall, prices will rise a teeny bit."
Another way to boost sales is to hold a going-out-of-business sale.
Jessica Palladino, the assistant manager of the Urban Behavior teen clothing store in Carousel Center, says the store's sales jumped this summer during its going-out-of-business blowout sale. The store will close around October. Connecticut-based CMT America Corp., the parent company of the Urban Behavior chain of clothing stores, filed for bankruptcy protection July 13, citing the slowing economy.
http://www.cnybj.com/index.php?id=95
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