|
Painting roofs white can
keep buildings cooler in summer, cut costs, and connect neighbors
Traditional black
asphalt roofs retain the sun's rays as heat, getting as hot as 190°
F on summer days. Applying highly reflective white coatings make
roofs much cooler, lowering internal building temperatures by up to 30%
in summer. By cutting demand for air conditioning, this simple,
inexpensive roof treatment reduces energy costs, air pollution, and
greenhouse gas emissions.
White Roof Campaign is a project of Beyond Oil NYC. In
October 2010, our
consortium of volunteer groups, in partnership with the NYC
CoolRoofs program and the
NYC
Department of
Buildings, painted the roofs of four non-profits: the Bowery
Mission on
the Lower East Side, Fountain House in midtown Manhattan, the Democracy
Prep Charter School in Harlem, and SCO's Ottilie Campus in Briarwood,
Queens. Much of the work took place in
conjunction with www.350.org's
Global
Work
Party. (Here's a testimonial
letter
from
SCO.)
Beyond Oil NYC's drive to
recruit more roofs for the program in 2011
We promoted the program to western Queens nonprofit organizations and
commercial building owners. We encourage NYC sustainability
activists and local economic development groups to use our materials,
presented and linked below, in their own communities.
What's in it for neighborhood
leaders, and nonprofit and religious facilities
Since a white roof coating project is an appealing and newsworthy
story, local leaders can:
- recruit their own volunteers and constituents to raise the
cost of the coating and join in applying it;
- invite their elected officials and media to attend and
cover the event;
- think about other existing sustainability initiatives can
be brought in to benefit their neighborhood, like Con Ed's free energy
efficiency surveys and GrowNYC's greenmarket and recycling
programs.
- Outreach letter sent to Western Queens
nonprofits in early 2011
Any individual sustainability
initiative can be a grassroots organizing tool for a
portfolio of other initiatives, and the larger vision of enhanced NYC
sustainability, for anyone who cares to connect the dots.
What's in it for commercial
building owners and tenants
Since altruistic appeals won't satisfy commercial building
owners, we researched costs and benefits, and determined the categories
of commercial building owners that would find a profitable
return on investment. We created a detailed, step
by step set of guidelines on using the NYC CoolRoofs program.
Below is a outreach letter sent to
civic and business leaders, and a news release about the program.
To get your
roof coated, contact
BeyondOilNYC, or NYC
CoolRoofs.
|
|
|
|
Sample letter sent in spring 2011
Dear Civic
and Business Leaders,
We’re writing to introduce you to NYC˚CoolRoofs, a City program that
will allow
your constituents to set up an appealing project that will cut their
electric
bills, and earn them recognition as neighborhood green leaders.
Feel free
to customize this letter and distribute it to your community, along
with
LICBDC’s attached guide to using the program, and a promotional flyer
targeted
to businesses.
Black asphalt roofs hold the sun's rays as heat, getting as hot as
190° F on
summer days. Applying highly reflective white coatings make roofs
and
buildings much cooler, lowering air conditioning bills and increasing
the life
of the roof. As more roofs are coated, the entire City will be
cooler in
summer, use less energy, and lower both its carbon emissions and the
risk of
power outages. To coat as many roofs as possible, NYC Service and
the NYC
Department of Buildings launched NYC˚CoolRoofs. It was piloted in Long
Island
City, Queens in 2009, with Mayor Bloomberg and Al Gore coating the roof
of the
LIC YMCA. Other LIC buildings that have coated their roofs
include
LaGuardia Community College, Sunnyside Community Services, and the MoMA
warehouse. The program coated over 1 million square feet
citywide
in 2010, and is seeking new roofs to coat in 2011.
It’s a great offer. For all building owners who agree to share
before and
after energy bills with the City, NYC ˚CoolRoofs will provide a free
roof
inspection, discounted purchase of roof coating, and will send a team
of
volunteers under professional supervision to apply the coating.
Benefits for businesses: Although anyone that wants to help the
environment
and support the City’s sustainability should consider this program,
whether
they own or rent space, business people are primarily concerned with
their
return on investment. They’ll be glad to know that under the right
circumstances, their purchase cost for white roof coating will pay for
itself
in less than 3 years through lower air conditioning bills, if their
buildings
are: one or two stories tall, owner occupied, not well insulated, and
have
black tar roofs.
Benefits for non-profits: This is an easy
way for
non-profits,
government agencies, religious institutions, hospitals, schools, and
low-income
housing facilities to show their support for the environment, and the
City’s
sustainability program, while getting their constituents involved. To make
best use of
the program’s educational benefits, groups should recruit their own
members and
neighbors to help buy and apply the
coating. CoolRoofs is a great introduction to
many other City programs that save money, slow down climate change, and
improve
quality of life. Civic groups can easily take the lead in
bringing these
programs to their communities.
To find out about getting your roof coated, contact www.nyc.gov/coolroofs. Again, we encourage you to customize these
materials and
distribute it them to your community. If you have any questions,
or would
like me to come out and speak to your group about sustainability for
businesses, please contact me at 718.786.5300 x 27 or danminer@licbdc.org.
Thanks,
Dan Miner, SVP
Long Island City Business Development Corporation
PS - You may also want to look at LICBDC’s Going Green Guide for Business. It’s a primer on going green in
straightforward,
non-scientific language. We prepared it ourselves to provide a
step by
step road map for businesses that want to cut their energy costs,
become more
efficient, and lower their impact on the environment.
Substitute
the word “home” for “business,” and the Guide is a valuable resource
for
property owners, apartment dwellers and homeowners as well.
|
|
|
|
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NYC
white roof coating program goes forward in western Queens
Volunteers
coat roof of Sunnyside Community Services; LICBDC promotes program to
businesses
to cut summer air conditioning bills
Contact:
Dan Miner, LICBDC
718.786.5300 X 27
danminer@licbdc.org
Long
Island
City, NY - May 5, 2011 - Dozens of volunteers at Sunnyside Community
Services (SCS)
spent Saturday, April 30 applying highly reflective white coating to
its 14,000
square foot black tar roof. SCS
collaborated
with NYC oCoolRoofs, NYC Service, NYC Department of
Buildings, Green
City Force, and Long Island City Business Development Corporation
(LICBDC) in
an effort to cool New York City’s rooftops, and cut air conditioning
costs.
Standard black tar roofs get as hot as 190° F on summer days.
Applying
highly reflective white coatings make roofs much cooler, lowering
internal
building temperatures by up to 30% in summer – as well as air
conditioning
bills. Because cooler roofs expand and
contract less, they last longer than typical roofs, and have lower
maintenance
costs. NYC
˚CoolRoofs, piloted in Long Island City in
2009, coated over 1 million square feet of roof around the City in 2010. SCS joined other LIC facilities that have
coated
their roofs, including the LIC YMCA, LaGuardia Community College, and
the MoMA
warehouse.
LICBDC, as part of its mission to promote government programs and
assist
businesses, has worked closely with NYC oCoolRoofs since
the
inception of the program. LICBDC’s
outreach to local nonprofits recruited Sunnyside Community Services to
the
program.
“We could
never achieve our ambitious goals for coating New York City’s rooftops
without
the power of volunteers,” said Diahann
Billings-Burford of NYC Service.
“Last year, we coated more than 1,000,000 square feet of
rooftop to
improve the quality of life throughout New York City, and we’re
not
stopping there,” said Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri. “We are
thrilled
that Sunnyside Community Services is coating their rooftop, which will
reduce
their energy usage and help to cool our City.”
“Your
building can be
next. NYC ˚CoolRoofs will provide a free
roof inspection, discounted purchase of roof coating, and best of all,
volunteer labor to apply it, for all building owners who agree to share
before
and after energy bills with the City,” said Dan Miner, LICBDC’s SVP.
“Although anyone that wants to help the environment and support the
City’s
sustainability should consider this program, whether they own or rent
space,
business people are primarily concerned with financial returns.
They’ll be glad to know that under the right circumstances, the
investment in
white roof coating will pay for itself
in less than 3 years through lower air conditioning bills, and
permanently lower bills after that.”
The City’s research showed that applying
a white roof coating to older buildings can save up to 8 or 9 cents in
electricity per square foot per year, and both costs and savings
are
likely to rise in the future.
“If you own the building that your business occupies, it was built
before 1980,
is only 1 or 2 stories tall, and has a black tar roof, you fit the
profile. You will get return on your
investment within three years, so call today to sign up,” said Miner.
LICBDC created a short but comprehensive guide, walking building owners
and
tenants step by step through the NYC ˚CoolRoofs program.
LICBDC has distributed the guide, and
material about the program, to other Queens business groups. For a copy of the guide, and to apply for the
program, contact LICBDC at 718.786.5300 x 27.
For more information, visit http://www.licbdc.org.
“As a City-designated Cooling Center, we at Sunnyside
Community Services
certainly know the importance of ‘keeping our cool,’” said Judy
Zangwill, executive
director at SCS. “This exciting
initiative will not only reduce our energy use and save money, but also
help
improve air quality so that everyone in the community can breathe
easier. And I
would like to thank those who worked ‘behind the scenes’ to give us
this
opportunity to green a little more of Queens -- Council Member Jimmy
Van Bramer
for recommending SCS as a oCoolRoof site, and LICBDC for
getting out
the word about initiatives like this to the residents and businesses of
western
Queens.’ Sunnyside Community Services
(SCS) reaches over 18,200 individuals of all ages with a wide range of
programs. For more information, visit www.scsny.org
NYC oCoolRoofs is a partnership of NYC Service—the Mayor's
initiative to promote volunteerism in NYC—together with the NYC
Department of
Buildings and Green City Force. For more
information, visit their web site at http://www.nyc.gov/coolroofs
#
# #
|
|
