New York Goes Green

New York State First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer and David D. Brown, executive director of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), has announced two initiatives to promote the construction of green homes and state-owned buildings.

Building on her effort to encourage homeowners to incorporate simple energy reduction features into their homes, the first lady announced that the administration will offer legislation that offers a direct incentive to homeowners who build or renovate homes that meet green building criteria. The amount of the incentive will be based on the size of the home, with a cap of $10,000 per home, and help offset the typical 5 percent increase in construction costs when “green” or “sustainable” features are incorporated.

The Dormitory Authority has announced that beginning in 2008, all new state construction projects and major renovations managed by the Dormitory Authority will meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards established by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The LEED Green Building Rating System is an internationally recognized program for the design, construction and maintenance of high-performance green buildings. LEED addresses all aspects of building construction and operation, including energy efficiency, land use, water conservation and re-use, indoor air quality, renewable energy, non-toxic landscaping practices and recycling.

Earlier this year, the first lady announced her “Greening the Mansion” initiative—an effort to make the governor’s Mansion in Albany a green building. She also declared that green buildings would be one of her top policy priorities as first lady.

More information is available at www.ny.gov/governor.