Sustainable Series: Towns of Islip and Brookhaven Already in the Green Game

If you read the first installment of this series you might remember that out of 50 Sachem resident randomly surveyed not one could name a renewable energy (RE) project in the area. Yet, as previously stated, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. 

Getting the word out and informing the public of the RE and energy efficiency (EE) activity on Long Island is an important task in the clean energy movement. It's a task this series aims to achieve and it's also a task taken on by the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College. 

For those unfamiliar with the Sustainability Institute (SI), it was launched in April of 2009 as Long Island’s first-ever venture combining sustainability education and policy analysis within an academic institution.  

“The Sustainability Institute at Molloy College is dedicated to promoting a series of initiatives that will make Long Island a more sustainable community and do it in a manner that is consistent with broader goals,” said Neal Lewis, the Executive Director of the SI at Molloy College. “When we look at these issues we believe we need a multi-prong approach; we need to educate future generations, government, and businesses that will implement a difference.”

Part of that multi-prong approach is the Clean Energy Leadership Task Force (CELTF), which brings together Townships, the two counties, and a handful of villages on Long Island to take action on clean energy at a local level. In addition to the CELTF meeting three times a year since 2004, it has also helped put together the ‘Leading the Way clean energy solutions report two of the past three years. This report, which is composed by the SI, aims at informing the public of the actions taken locally. In a way it’s like a report card, but one that is completed by each Township, county, and village themselves. 

“We believe government should lead by examples,” Mr. Lewis said. “There is a fair amount that is happening. A lot of towns are taking the kind of steps that can serve as models.”

Both Brookhaven and Islip, which harbors the Sachem area, are apart of the CELTF and do in fact serve as models. Though neither leads the way amongst townships – based on the report that would be the Town of Babylon – but both are not that far behind. If fact, Mr. Lewis was quick to point out the success of the Go Solar Program and the Green Homes Program in the Town of Brookhaven, both of which use stimulus funds, one to alleviate the cost of solar instillation, and one to alleviate the cost of EE on residential homes. 

“The Town program they are doing, one for energy efficiency and one for solar, are very popular,” Mr. Lewis said. “They both received a big turnout at Town Hall.”

According to the report, both Brookhaven and Islip have adopted a Clean Energy Action Plan, and are two of seven towns in Suffolk to do so along with Oyster Bay in Nassau County. This action plan is a step-by-step list of goals that Townships adopt to work towards.

Over the past three years, both Brookhaven and Islip have taken considerable steps in renewable energy technology. Brookhaven struck first with a 10-kilowatt wind turbine system  installed on Town Hall property in 2003, and then struck again in 2009 by constructing a 5.28kW system on top of Safety Town in the Holstville Ecology Center, a $44,800 project that received a LIPA rebate of $23,760 ($4.75 per watt). 

Islip on the other hand reported minimal renewable activity in 2007, but has taken considerable steps since. For instance, the Town of Islip, in 2009, became the first municipality on Long Island to amend its zoning code to allow the installation of accessory wind energy turbines on residential and industrial properties. The Town has also streamlined its permitting process for rooftop solar. Moreover, Islip is currently pursuing solar installation at the Blydenburgh Landfill and has also accepted the donation of a $90,000, 10-kW system from National Photovoltaics Inc. in Holbrook which will be installed at the MacArthur Airport.

Though  a 2010 report is not yet composed, the 2009 report in its entirety can be viewed here.

Read the first story in the series by clicking here and check out the Sustainable Energy Series glossary.