Retrofit NYC

On October 21st and 22nd, 2011, over 200 Cypress Hills and East New York community members came together to re-envision the way their neighborhoods look, feel and work at the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC)’s Verde Summit, an inclusive, bi-lingual community planning event held at the Cypress Hills Community School. Pratt Center worked closely with CHLDC to plan the summit, with sponsorship from the Brooklyn Community Foundation. The Summit incorporated themes that were revealed by more than 600 responses to a Community Satisfaction Survey, designed by Pratt Center and conducted by CHLDC during the spring and summer of 2011, which assessed resident concerns about living, working, eating and learning in their neighborhoods.

New York’s Great Appliance Swap Out, a NYSERDA program, is running out of funding quickly! Act now to get rebates on new energy efficient home appliances. You can get single rebates on ENERGY STAR refrigerators, freezers and clothes washers. In addition, there are bundle rebates to help you upgrade you home appliances.

Single Appliance Rebates:

 Last week the Pratt Center honored Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, led by Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood, as a “Beacon of Sustainability” for its leadership in promoting energy efficiency. Over the past year, Mt. Pisgah has turned itself into a shining example for the entire community. Working with Pratt Center lead architect Michael Bogdanffy-Kriegh under our Sustainable Houses of Worship program, Mt. Pisgah underwent an energy audit of its 39,000-square-foot facility and proceeded to implement every measure recommended by the auditor, including lighting upgrades,the creation of separate heating zones for each building in the complex, and insulation of water pipes.

The church will see a net financial gain because the improvements are projected to lower its energy consumption costs by $13,000 a year. It also saw some immediate cost savings through Con Edison incentives, and resourceful problem-solving by the boiler mechanic referred by the Pratt Center lowered the projected cost of a boiler upgrade to $1,600 from $8,000.