Sullivan County catches the wave of green building

Partnership and college join to build infrastructure and brain trust

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — There is a tidal wave of green building activity sweeping the country and the Sullivan County government is making plans to cash in on the movement.

At his state of the county address on March 7, county chairman Chris Cunningham pointed out the various energy-saving initiatives the county is undertaking. He said, “I am announcing that Sullivan County, in cooperation with our Partnership for Economic Development and Sullivan County Community College (SCCC), will develop a green technology park to be located adjacent to the college.” Cunningham said the park would attract businesses that produce building products containing recycled and renewable materials, while the college would train students for green technology jobs.

This is not coming from an environmental fringe group. Instead, the idea was hatched by one of the most mainstream, pro-business organizations in the county, the Partnership for Economic Development.

Marc Baez, partnership president and CEO, likened the coming of green building technologies to the coming of automobiles or computers. “The higher costs of the green technologies are coming down, and green technology is being marketed to consumers. The demand is there and the time seems to be right”.

A huge new market is emerging

On January 1, 2007, a law takes effect in New York City, that requires all new public buildings, and private buildings funded with public money, to be built with specifications that exhibit Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification.,

Baez says the law opens a “built-in $1.2 billion market.” He predicted that many contractors would be in the market for products that would help them achieve LEED certification. Those include solar panels, components of geo-thermal heating and cooling systems and windmill technology. But the market possibilities are more than just energy-related products.

LEED-certified buildings must meet indoor air quality standards that require specific kinds of paints, finishes and carpeting, which emit low amounts of undesirable materials such as volatile organic compounds. Certification also calls for the use of recycled materials and materials that have been locally manufactured with environmentally responsible practices.

Baez hopes to attract to the green technology park companies that will make the needed products. These companies will need a reliable and capable work force, and that’s where SCCC comes in.

Dr. Mamie Golladay said, “we will be building lab space and we will provide the curricula to develop the workforce for these companies.”

The company will be situated on some of the 338 county-owned acres surrounding the college. The property is already surrounded with water and sewer so the investment cost to the county will be minimal.

Baez said companies that locate in the park will be required to use green building technologies in the construction of their own facilities.