The Long Island Green Homes Consortium, comprised of the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip, North Hempstead, Smithtown and Southampton, the Community Development Corp. of Long Island (CDC), and the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College - together with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and National Grid-launched a partnership to help homeowners on Long Island cut energy costs. Shown (from left) are: Babylon homeowner Mark Donnelly and fiancé Amy; Pat Edwards, Citi; Anna Throne-Holst, town of Southampton; Steve Bellone, town of Babylon; Mark Lesko, town of Brookhaven; Jon Kaiman, town of North Hempstead; Frank Murray, NYSERDA; Marianne Garvin, CDC; Trish Bergin-Weichbrodt, town of Islip; Ken Daly, National Grid; Phil Ingerman, town of Huntington; Mike Murtha, Murtha Construction; Lisa Tyson, Long Island Progressive Coalition; and Neal Lewis, The Sustainability Institute at Molloy College The consortium was first created in December of 2009, when all seven towns were brought together by the town of Babylon, CDC of Long Island and the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College to apply for the U.S. Department of Energy's "Retrofit Ramp-Up" competitive grant which was designed to provide funding for innovative programs that provide whole-neighborhood building retrofits in conjunction with long-standing utility programs. As part of the preparation for the grant application, the members of the consortium went about tailoring individual retrofit programs, inspired by and often modeled after Babylon's innovative Green Homes program. Those efforts ultimately resulted in the Long Island Green Homes Consortium becoming a sub-grantee to NYSERDA's successful "Retrofit Ramp-Up" grant award. The result is a sustained Island-wide effort to ensure that Long Islanders have access to energy efficiency programs that will make their homes warmer in the winter, more comfortable in the summer and reduce their carbon footprint. "The consortium is a collaborative initiative between government, non-profit and business. We are expanding opportunities for all homeowners to make energy-saving improvements to their homes. We are working as partners to bring about this market transformation that will grow jobs and save energy and money for homeowners," said Marianne Garvin, president & CEO of CDC of Long Island, which is leading the Long Island Green Homes Consortium. Along with partners NYSERDA, National Grid and LIPA, this launch represents one of the area's first multi-town efforts to bring energy efficiency initiatives to all Long Island homeowners. "NYSERDA is proud to participate in this important private/public partnership to help homeowners on Long Island cut energy use and save money," said Francis Murray Jr., president and CEO of NYSERDA. "Our involvement not only brings low-interest financing for a wide range of energy improvements and free or reduced-cost energy audits to Long Island, but also provides additional incentive dollars for Long Island homeowners looking to cut their energy use. NYSERDA's involvement, through our Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program, will be especially helpful for residences heated with oil, which make up more than half of Long Island homes. Together, this partnership covers it all." "The Long Island Power Authority is proud to partner with NYSERDA, National Grid and the seven Towns in the Consortium to educate, promote and invest in energy efficiency measures that will save Long Islanders money, reduce our peak demand, improve our environment and continue to create green jobs," said Michael Hervey, COO, LIPA. "We are committed to working with this dynamic group in order to attract more federal money and identify other opportunities by which we can create synergies to utilize Long Island's nationally recognized energy efficiency and renewable energy programs." "NYSERDA's initiative is an excellent complement to National Grid and LIPA's energy efficiency programs. Now, Long Island homeowners, regardless of their fuel source, will have access to energy efficiency savings and be able to benefit from financing," said Ken Daly, president of National Grid New York. This initiative is meant for all Long Island homeowners no matter where they live or income level. "It is most gratifying for the town of Babylon to see the program it launched as Long Island Green Homes three years ago realize its destiny as an Island-wide Consortium committed to bringing energy efficiency to the 750,000 homeowners of Long Island," said supervisor Steve Bellone. "By effectively retrofitting hundreds of houses in Babylon, it has been demonstrated that homeowners can cover their costs from their energy savings while providing dozens of much-needed jobs. Potentially, Long Island Green Homes could save homeowners $810 million per annum while creating 70,000 job-years in addition to eliminating three million tons of carbon dioxide yearly." "I thank NYSERDA for awarding funds to the Long Island Green Homes Consortium and giving more people the opportunity to go green and help save the planet. The Town of Brookhaven's own Green Homes initiative has been so popular that we have had over 200 residents participate with almost 140 homes already complete," said Brookhaven supervisor Mark Lesko. "Now we can also direct them to NYSERDA's Home Performance with Energy Star program to access low-cost financing. This is a great program for residents who want to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, protect the environment and save money." "For the past year, Huntington's EECO Homes program has been offering free on-site consultations to help our residents make their homes more energy efficient. NYSERDA's low-cost energy efficiency retrofit financing initiative is a natural partner for us," Huntington supervisor Frank Petrone said. "We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Long Island Green Homes Consortium and with NYSERDA, LIPA and National Grid to help make Long Island greener and to save on home energy costs." "Along with neighboring towns throughout Long Island, Islip town is very proud to be a member of the Green Homes program," said Islip town supervisor Phil Nolan. "Since we implemented the program in April, it has been hugely successful. Enabling tax payers to save money and do their part for the environment, while at the same time expanding the green collar job sector across Long Island, is a huge benefit." "After a few years of twists and turns, I believe that we in the Consortium have developed a worthwhile program that will benefit many Long Island residents," said councilman John Edwards, town of Islip. "North Hempstead is extremely proud to be among the Long Island Green Homes Consortium," said supervisor Jon Kaiman. "North Hempstead is eager to provide opportunities for our residents to improve their energy performance, save money and reduce their carbon footprint, all while creating much-needed green sector jobs in our community." "Smithtown joins with the rest of the Consortium in celebrating the kick-off of this great program that includes energy efficiency, financial incentives and collaboration to support homeowners. This is just what Long Island needs," said Smithtown supervisor Patrick Vecchio. "In addition to helping residents cut energy costs, this program will create jobs for local contractors, generate awareness for green building and provide data that will inform future initiatives to promote more efficient building," said Southampton town supervisor Anna Throne-Holst. "It's a great opportunity from every perspective, and I'm very pleased we've been able to make it available to our residents." "It is exciting to see such a well-coordinated and comprehensive effort to promote home energy efficiency upgrades for all Long Island homeowners, which will improve the environment, stimulate the local economy, create green jobs and make Long Island a more affordable place to live," said Neal Lewis, executive director of the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College. The Sustainability Institute will be facilitating the coordination of outreach efforts by the Consortium." "We salute CDC of Long Island, the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College and the seven Long Island towns that are participating in the Long Island Green Homes Consortium," said Michael J. Murtha, President, Murtha Construction representing Efficiency First - a trade association representing many of the Building Performance contractors on Long Island. "Building Performance contractors have conducted hundreds of energy audits performing energy efficiency home retrofits throughout Long Island. These services reduce a homeowner's energy use on average 20 - 30% per year saving about $700 to $1,000 each year. Home Performance contractors have retained and created good paying Long Island jobs. We anticipate further growth and the ability to expand our services to more Long Islanders as a result of the cooperation of the Long Island Consortium." CDC of Long Island is a not-for-profit organization that supports Long Islanders pursuing their housing and small business dreams. Since its inception 41 years ago, CDC invests its resources, talents and knowledge in households, small business and communities assisting more than 93,000 Long Islanders and investing 806 million into their communities. Last fiscal year alone, CDC served more than 17,000 Long Islanders investing nearly $85 million into their communities. é Amy; Pat Edwards; Anna Throne-Holst; Steve Bellone; Mark Lesko; Jon Kaiman; Frank Murray; Marianne Garvin; Trish Bergin-Weichbrodt; Ken Daly; Phil Ingerman; Mike Murtha; Lisa Tyson and Neal Lewis.