So he got out of his car and strolled around, and when he came to Community Environmental Center’s booth, he bought a raffle ticket for a free Energy Audit. And as luck would have it, he won.

One often hears about the luck of the Irish, and for Natton good fortune began in 1964, when he was 18 and decided to come to the United States. As he tells the story, he was living in a town about 65 miles from Dublin, and the only job opportunity was to be a clerk in a bank.

“When I saw the guy that had the job,” says Natton, whose hair has gone white but whose accent is still redolent of Ireland, “in a high chair, like a clerk in Dickens, hunched over a desk – his day started when the bank closed – I said, ‘This is not for me.’” An aunt and uncle were already in the States, and Natton called them and said, “I’m ready.”

For a time he did odd jobs, but eventually he took a post with the telephone company – it was the New York Telephone Company back then – and stayed for 30 years, until he retired. Along the way he married a lass from Belfast and had two sons.

In 1972, shortly after he got married, he bought a red-brick house in Brooklyn that had been built around 1860. The neighborhood was, he says, a “ghetto.” Today it’s prime real estate.

Still, even prime real estate needs work on occasion. Natton has tenants in an apartment on the upper two floors, and they had been complaining about drafts and lack of heat. And Natton does describe himself as moderately “green” – he recycles, composts food scraps and replaces incandescent light bulbs with CFLs.

So when he saw the raffle offer at CEC’s booth, he acquired a ticket (the raffle, like the audit, was free), and about one month and a half later, Edward Ntalo from CEC was performing a blower-door test and climbing the stairs at Natton’s house to explore where air leaks could be lurking.

Now, the Energy Audit completed, Natton has asked CEC to make the energy-efficient adjustments that CEC’s auditors recommended. “I love this house,” he says.

Created by the New York State Legislature and launched Nov. 15, 2010, Green Jobs/Green NY is expected to generate jobs in the state by stimulating investment in energy efficiency improvements for residential homes and businesses. It currently provides homeowners with free or reduced-cost comprehensive home assessments, also referred to as energy audits, and low-interest loans to finance these improvements. The program will be available to small commercial, not-for-profit and multifamily buildings in the coming months.

For homeowners, energy efficiency audits and improvements take place through NYSERDA’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR^® program. In January alone, Home Performance with ENERGY STAR completed more than 800 retrofits, an all-time record for the program. February followed with more than 600 retrofits, an all-time record for that month.

“These numbers are very encouraging,” said Francis J. Murray Jr., President and CEO of NYSERDA. “By supporting the development of a vibrant energy efficiency industry, GJGNY is already helping homeowners and businesses reduce their energy costs while also supporting Governor Cuomo’s plan to create jobs right here in New York.We look forward to even greater success once the full Outreach and Marking effort is implemented.”

Other Green Jobs/Green NY highlights:

• Since free and reduced-cost energy audits were offered in November, NYSERDA has received 4,141 applications. Of these, 3,294 residential customers were approved for free audits and 297 for reduced-cost audits.
• As of end of February, 420 applications have been approved for Green Jobs/ Green NY low-cost financing with 96 loans closed, 87 loans approved and awaiting closing, and an additional 237 loans in process, for a total of approximately $3.3 million in capital.
• Contract negotiations are underway for training new entrants to the workforce and displaced workers for jobs in New York State’s clean-energy industry. Ultimately, Green Jobs/Green NY will fund training for 6,000 workers.

Free energy audits are being provided to individuals with incomes up to 200 percent of the Area Median Income, and reduced priced energy audits are available to households with incomes up to 400 percent of the Area Median Income. A listing of income levels by county can be found at: http://www.getenergysmart.org/Files/HomePerformance/gjgny_area_median_income.pdf.pdf.
Certain outreach, training and enrollment efforts are subject to a competitive procurement process available to community based-organizations.

Through Green Jobs/Green NY, the state has established a revolving loan fund for building owners who will be able to pay back loans from the savings on their energy bills. NYSERDA launched the loan program for residential homeowners, and will soon follow with a loan program for small businesses, not-for-profits, and multifamily buildings. The unsecured residential loans are capped at $13,000 for a term of 5, 10 or 15 years and are offered at an initial interest rate of 3.99 percent – or 3.49 percent if the borrower signs up for automated monthly payments.

The Green Jobs-Green New York energy audit, loan and jobs training initiatives are funded with $112 million acquired by auctioning carbon emission credits through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The seed money from the RGGI fund, and from an $18.6 million grant award from the U.S. Department of Energy, will be used to leverage private investment.

NYSERDA offers innovative programs, technical expertise and funding to help consumers increase energy efficiency and save money while helping businesses create clean energy solutions. NYSERDA’s professionals help New Yorkers reduce energy consumption, increase the use of renewable energy, protect our environment and create clean energy jobs. A public benefit corporation, NYSERDA has been developing partnerships to advance innovative energy solutions in NY since 1975.

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Feb. 17, 2011 Press Release from NYSERDA

“Community Environmental Center is delighted to accept EPA’s ENERGY STAR in recognition of our energy efficiency efforts,” said Richard Cherry, CEC’s founder and president. “Through this achievement, CEC has demonstrated its commitment to both environmental stewardship and to lowering energy costs.”

Commercial buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

CEC improved its energy performance by managing energy strategically across the entire organization and by making cost-effective improvements to its building, a former factory that contains CEC’s offices and a garage that houses the trucks for CEC’s weatherization crews.

“Improving the energy efficiency of our nation’s buildings is critical to protecting our environment,” said Jean Lupinacci, Chief of the ENERGY STAR Commercial & Industrial Branch. “From the boiler to the board room, organizations are leading the way by making their buildings more efficient and earning EPA’s ENERGY STAR.”

ENERGY STAR was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.

For more information about ENERGY STAR, please visit www.energystar.gov/buildings

For more information about CEC, please contact Alexis Greene, 718-784-1444, ext. 156; agreene@CECenter.org

But the old building was poorly insulated. Cold air flowed through the house during the winter, and Hyacintha’s heating bills were more than she and her husband could afford.  Nor could she afford to repair the drafts.

Thanks to the federal  Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Community Environmental Center was able to insulate the walls and attic of Hyacintha’s home, replace an inefficient refrigerator and install up-to-date smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Hyacintha’s energy bills have been reduced. “Now my family is warm, safe and healthy,” says Hyacintha.

THE WEATHERIZATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IS ESSENTIAL:

All over the country, the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) means the difference between freezing and staying warm for low-income families.

WAP means lower fuel bills for millions of Americans. WAP means green jobs for weatherization providers.

HOW DOES LIHEAP FIT INTO THE WAP EQUATION?

In New York State, 12 percent of LIHEAP funds go to WAP. That’s more than half of the State’s weatherization funding.

That’s 12 percent for insulation and energy efficiency.  12 percent, so that families like Hyacintha’s can live comfortably and affordably, with well-caulked windows instead of rags to keep out the wind.

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

• If LIHEAP is cut from $5.1 billion to $2.5 billion, weatherization programs all over the U.S. will be at risk;

• If LIHEAP is cut, families like Hyacintha’s will suffer;

• If LIHEAP is cut, an invaluable New York State commitment to low-income communities will erode.

VOTE TO EXPAND THE FUNDING FOR WAP.

VOTE AGAINST THE LIHEAP BUDGET CUT.

VOTE TO KEEP GREEN JOBS.

VOTE TO HELP THE NEEDIEST AMONG US.

Richard Cherry, President

Community Environmental Center

Queens, NY—December 6—Community Environmental Center (CEC), the Queens non-profit dedicated to energy efficiency and green building solutions, was named one of 2010’s 50 Best Companies To Work For by Crain’s New York Business, announced Richard M. Cherry, CEC’s founder and president.

“CEC employees are a terrific, dedicated, hard-working group,” said Cherry, “and more than anything, they are responsible for our company’s strength. We are delighted with this recognition from Crain’s, which is one of New York’s outstanding publications.”

Cherry founded CEC in 1994 to bring weatherization to low-income homeowners and multifamily buildings in Queens and Brooklyn, help residents reduce their fuel bills and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Currently CEC is the largest provider of weatherization services under New York State’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP).

Since 1994 CEC has expanded from 18 employees to over 100. It provides energy modeling and LEED consulting for new construction, and solar thermal installations for existing New York City buildings.

In 2010 CEC organized Mayor Bloomberg’s Cool Roofs Program, which painted more than 1 million square feet of New York City rooftops with a reflective white coating, to help lessen the urban “heat island” effect.

In addition to its headquarters in Long Island City, CEC has two nonprofit affiliates: Solar One, in Manhattan, which trains at-risk youth for green jobs; and Build It Green!NYC in Astoria, Queens, which salvages used construction materials and furnishings, and sells them at discount to help support Solar One’s educational programs.

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CONTACT: Alexis Greene, agreene@cecenter.org, 718-784-1444, ext. 156

Excerpt:

At Community Environmental Center (CEC) in Long Island City, Queens, we have long held that New York City’s multifamily buildings are a marvelous place for solar hot water (SHW) systems. Our latest and largest installation is a 42-panel system on Wadsworth Terrace in Northern Manhattan—NYC’s largest solar thermal system to date for a multifamily building. It serves as an excellent illustration of the ways in which the complexities of an urban multifamily solar installation can be outweighed by the significant opportunity these projects present.

In early summer 2009, two adjacent buildings operated by Lemle & Wolff, Inc. were in the first stages of a gut renovation…

To read the rest of the article at ed+c click here

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Queens, NY—Nov. 10, 2010—“We face the consequences of climate change every day,” said 22-year-old Jordan Temple, speaking Tuesday evening, November 9, at the graduation of Green City Force’s 2010 Clean Energy Corps, held in a community gym at Brooklyn’s Whitman Ingersoll Houses.

A festive audience included Margarita Lopez, Commissioner of the New York City Housing Authority; Diahann Billings-Burford, Chief Service Officer for the City of New York; Richard Cherry, the president of Community Environmental Center (CEC); and friends and family. They applauded loudly as Temple and 18 smiling fellow graduates received diplomas from Lisbeth Shepherd, GCF’s executive director.

Founded by Shepherd in 2009, GCF engages young men and women from the City’s most vulnerable neighborhoods to fight the damaging effects of climate change and improve the environmental health of the City’s communities. At the same time, GCF trains these young people for careers in the green marketplace.

For the last 6 months, Jordan and his colleagues have been involved in vital environmental projects around the city. Last summer they worked in the hot sun to paint more than 500,000 square feet of New York City roofs with white, reflective coating, for the Mayor’s Cool Roofs Program. And they have gone into 5,881 apartments at Brooklyn’s Spring Creek Towers (formerly Starrett City), to help the non-profit Community Environmental Center perform energy audits.

“There’s no substitution for hard work,” Jordan told the admiring crowd, as the Queens resident described how the group of 19, which includes a couple who live in shelters, learned, bonded and grew both personally and intellectually. “Growth is honest,” said the young man, “Growth nurtured by patience and birthed by baby steps.”

On Tuesday evening, from 6 to 8 p.m., the graduates had doffed their work clothes for skirts or slacks and ties (presenting yourself well is part of the GCF training). Practically all the graduates have lined up green jobs or internships. Eleven of them, in fact, were scheduled to begin work at CEC the next morning.

As CEC’s president, Richard Cherry, told the audience, “I was right to believe in these young people and in GCF. It is going to be a model for the country.”

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For information about how to become a Green City Force 2011 Clean Energy Corps member, email Erika@greencityforce.org

For information about CEC: Alexis Greene, 718-784-1444, ext. 156; agreene@cecenter.org

Wilson of Green City Force

Brooklyn, NY–Nov. 2, 2010–Twenty-one-year-old Jarrett felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness, and Wilson, at 19, was about to be a father and needed a job. Shatia had just graduated high school and was looking for a challenge.

All three found their needs answered by Green City Force (GCF), a young, not-for-profit Brooklyn organization that prepares New York City youth for careers in the clean energy economy.

On Tuesday, November 9, the three will be among 19 young people graduating from GCF. The ceremony will take place from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Whitman Ingersoll Houses, 177 Myrtle Avenue, in Brooklyn. Speakers will include NYC Housing Authority Commissioner Margarita Lopez; Chief Services Officer Diahann Billings-Burford; and Richard Cherry, President of Community Environmental Center (CEC), the Queens-based company dedicated to energy efficiency and green building.

Founded in 2009 by Lisbeth Shepherd, formerly chair of the national Clean Energy Corps Working Group–and nourished by technical support from CEC–GCF is that invaluable urban asset: a community group on a mission.

“GCF,” says Shepherd, “is designed on the principles of the Clean Energy Service Corps recently adopted by President Obama, which aims to train people to conduct energy audits and weatherize low-income homes, among other green jobs.”

With an annual budget of $1.5 million, GCF focuses on 18- to 24-year-olds who have a GED or high-school diploma and come from the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. So far, GCF has offered two 6-month courses, and 26 young men and women have completed the program.

Wilson, who lives in the Bronx, says, “I had been applying for jobs left and right, online and in written applications. I was about to completely give up.”

When his girlfriend became pregnant, Wilson knew that he “really needed to buckle down.” She showed him a GCF flyer, but Wilson admits that he was only interested “because it paid $250 a week and a free monthly Metro Card.” He had no knowledge of, and little concern about, the environment.

“Some of the zaniest things I’ve heard,” he recalls about that flyer. “Ranging from painting roofs white to helping save energy to career development workshops that would help place me in a job after the program was over. I hated the fact that it was a program. I never really had a job before, and my first choice is a program!”

Indeed, GCF has high standards. You can’t just walk off the street and become a GCF member. First you need to apply and pass the T.A.B.E. exam (Test of Basic Adult Education), and only then will you get an interview. If you are accepted, you must prove that you are both disciplined and collegial: arrive for work on time, dress appropriately and demonstrate that you are a team player.

As Wilson discovered, the program is rigorous. “After a couple of months,” he complains good-naturedly, “it got really hard to stay on top of going to work extremely early and not being cranky or tired. My body was going through a metamorphosis from lazy to overworked.”

Monday through Thursday, GCF corps members are in the field. Last summer, many of them prepped and painted New York City roofs, as part of the city’s campaign to coat one million square feet of roof with reflective white paint (in October, the campaign passed the one-million mark).

Corps members have also worked at Spring Creek Towers (formerly Starrett City), the 5,881-unit apartment complex in Brooklyn. There, trained by Community Environmental Center’s weatherization crews, GCF members assisted with energy audits, the vital first step in bringing weatherization to a building. Among other things, the young workers examined refrigerators to see if they were energy efficient and learned to use an item called a Monoxor, which tests levels of carbon monoxide.

On Fridays all corps members take part in Green City Academy, for GCF executive director Shepherd believes that classroom education must supplement hands-on labor.

This can mean technical training at CEC or its affiliate Solar One, to learn such things as OSHA safety rules and acquire BPI pre-certification for being an air sealer and installer. Or it can mean taking classes in GCF’s offices at 150 Court Street. Squeezing into a conference room, the young men and women learn to draw up a professional résumé that will land a job interview, and they receive tips about presenting themselves well, so they actually get the job. They also hear about how to start a green business.

GCF’s results validate Shepherd’s goal of equipping these young men and women with new, marketable skills. All the members of GCF’s initial group found work either in internships or full-time jobs, and Erika Symmonds, GCF Program Director, intends to have the same success with the second group, graduating next Tuesday.

Even if they do not ultimately pursue green careers, the young men and women of GCF have learned how to perform in a work situation and learned about themselves.

Twenty-one-year-old Jarrett credits GCF with renewing his self-confidence. “Looking back on my life six months ago,” he says, “I’m more vocal now. My reading and math grades have improved, and my all-around demeanor has changed. I show professionalism on the work site.”

Corps members have also learned to appreciate the dangers of the climate crisis and the urgent need to protect the environment.  “GCF has introduced me to what Green really is,” says Shatia, “and how we can be affected if we don’t help sustain our planet.”

Even Wilson, who once laughed at GCF’s flyer, now says, “I want to help restore the planet’s vitality.”

Wilson, in fact, wants to go back to school and finish college, “So I can go on to be a leader in one of the promising green-job fields.”

GCF is currently accepting applications for the next 6-month course, which begins in January 2011.To apply for the trainee program at GCF, contact Erika Symmonds: Erika@greencityforce.org

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Press Contact, CEC: Alexis Greene, agreene@cecenter.org / 718-784-1444, ext. 156

Press Contact, GCF: Bob Schneck, 718-923-1400