Recognizing the importance of the environment, Long Island is beginning to embrace green building practices and it could not have come at a more critical time. As we work towards implementing more sustainable development practices, the emerging techniques will play a significant role in addressing another pressing issue: Affordable housing.

The U.S. Green Building Council sees the green building movement is an opportunity to address some of the most important challenges we face as a society in the form of global climate change and the dependence on non-sustainable and expensive sources of energy.

In the past, incorporating green building aspects into a new home—or one being renovated—meant greater expense. The technology used to create super energy efficient and healthier materials was new and, as a result, costly. But now those prices are starting to come down, and though still more costly, the gap between current building practices and those incorporating green design is narrowing.

“It’s good for the environment and a given home will be less expensive to operate if built to green standards,” explains Long Island Housing Partnership (LIHP) President Peter Elkowitz. The Hauppauge-based not for profit he leads has spent the last 20 years working towards developing affordable homes for Long Island’s working class, the dearth of which has been labeled the most pressing threat to the economic health of the region. Now, the premise of incorporating green building principles in the development of those homes “is the right thing to do,” he said, and municipalities across Nassau and Suffolk have adopted—or plan to adopt—green building requirements into building codes.

The LIHP is pursuing an affordable green pilot project in the Village of Hempstead in cooperation with the Nassau County and the Roosevelt Development Corp. The six townhouses will be built according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, those by which green buildings are judged. There are a number of LEED criteria—energy efficiency, water efficiency, sustainability, indoor environmental quality and materials and resources—that determine the status of a green building. The initial ranking is Certified, with the top being Platinum with Silver and Gold in between.

The Platinum rating is the most inclusive, difficult to attain and the level LIHP is shooting for in regard to the Hempstead development. It also has a similar project planned for the Bay Shore area. The LIHP is seeking subsidies to counter the greater cost anticipated with the projects, but Elkowitz indicated the homes will cost 80 percent of the median income of the areas involved. Presently, the cost penalty for building green is about 15 percent.

Achieving Platinum LEED status is no easy feat. Matthias Altwicker, the architect for the Hempstead project, notes multiple issues in the design process that must be addressed to earn the recognition. They include the orientation and design of the facilities, which are intended to take advantage of natural energy sources and reduce energy costs.

For example, the roof is maximized for solar gain and the photovoltaic panels placed there will generate 75 percent of the Hempstead project’s electricity needs. Rainwater from the roof will be collected, stored and re-used within the building, as will the grey water, reducing the water requirements by 50 percent. Drought resistant, native vegetation will be used to minimize water use for irrigation along with providing natural shading and air pollution control. And paints, materials and insulation with low VOCs will be used, along with local materials, to minimize impact of construction and transportation costs on natural resources.