For Immediate Release

Contacts:
Glenn Goldstein, NESCCAF/QCAP 631-472-0011
Cindy Drucker, NESCCAF/QCAP 617-259-2000
Luis Rodriguez, NYPA 718-626-8239

New Queens Clean Air Project Awards $380,000 to Fund Energy and Green Roof Projects

Issues Request for Proposals with Additional Funding

Queens, NY (May 17, 2004) -- Two imaginative and different approaches toward the same end - clean, efficient energy and more healthful air - have been awarded a total of $380,000 in the first round of funding distributed by the Queens Clean Air Project, a partnership launched in 2003 by Northeast States Center for a Clean Air Future (NESCCAF) with a contribution of nearly $2 million from the New York Power Authority (NYPA).

Coalition Helping Organize a Kleaner Environment (CHOKE), a Long Island City-based community clean air group, will receive $150,000 for a three-pronged strategy to reduce harmful emissions: 1) installation of a 60-kilowatt micro-turbine cogeneration system at North Queensview Housing Cooperative that will provide electricity, heat, hot water and emergency power; 2) a series of five ENERGY STAR® appliance and lighting fairs at housing complexes in Queens; and 3) a system of neighborhood cooperatives for low-cost distribution of compact fluorescent bulbs.

The second grant, awarded to Long Island City Business Development Corporation (LICBDC), will total $230,000 to install a "green roof" atop Silvercup Studios, a film and television production facility. Widely used in Europe and Japan, green roof technology employs a thin layer of vegetation that helps to insulate a building, thus reducing energy consumption and absorbing particulates and carbon dioxide from the ambient air.

"These two initiatives exemplify our Queens Clean Air Project objectives: to combine the power of creative partnerships, leveraged funding, and technical assistance to achieve measurable emissions reductions and energy savings in neighborhoods that need it most," said NESCCAF Executive Director Ken Colburn. "We encourage other organizations to follow suit in designing cost-effective projects for cleaner air and a safer environment."

Colburn announced that Queens Clean Air Project today issued a second Request for Proposals (RFP), welcoming additional proposals from community groups and partners for local projects designed to benefit the environment and public health. The RFP and related information are available at www.cleanaircommunities.org Queens Clean Air Project is a venture of Clean Air Communities, a NESCCAF program established in 2000 that works with community groups toward cleaner air, more efficient energy and environmental justice in low-income New York City neighborhoods.

"We are always striving to find and utilize new technologies and new applications of old ones to help clean the environment while continuing to provide reliable and lower-cost electricity to our municipal customers in New York City," said Eugene W. Zeltmann, president and chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority. "That's why I am very happy to be part of the Queens Clean Air Project."

"Cleaner air is essential to the health of area residents, and we are encouraged to know that the microturbine at North Queensview Housing Cooperative alone is expected to reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxide by more than 1.5 tons and of carbon dioxide by nearly 1.6 tons," said CHOKE President Anthony J. Gigantiello Jr.

"Western Queens is home to much of the city's electricity generating capacity, and air pollution in the area is a significant health issue. Green roofs will be a part of New York City's future, helping to reduce air pollution and to lower energy bills," said LICBDC Senior Vice President Dan Miner. "We estimate that this green roof alone will remove approximately 3.2 tons of particulates from the air every year."

In addition to NESCCAF and NYPA, Queens Clean Air Project partners include Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the Queens Borough President's Office.

Since its inception in 2000, Clean Air Communities has directed $5 million to projects ranging from an advanced truck stop electrification installation at Hunts Point Cooperative Market to a commercial rooftop solar system at Greenpoint Manufacturing Development Corporation (GMDC) to an emissions reduction project for construction equipment at 7 World Trade Center and Battery Park City. Through matching funds, leveraged funding and in-kind contributions from project partners, that $5 million has translated into more than $10 million in value to date.