Limba

Mike Deluise, Deveopment Officer, Dowling College
2007-01-19 00:00 (America/New_York)
This morning we were expecting to have as our speaker Dowling College’s President Bob Gaffney. Unfortunately Mr. Gaffney had an emergency that prevented his attendance. Instead Michael DeLuise, Dowling’s Development officer was there to fill in. Later we went on to other issues that are of concern to LIMBA and its membership.

In the portion of the meeting that Mike DeLuise handled he pointed out that many of Long Island’s teachers were graduates of Dowling, 5100 was the number he cited. I have had some knowledge of Dowling College for many years and that number was a surprise to me.

Mike’s attitude was that his college and other Long Island based higher education institutions are part of a very essential industry on Long Island. It is important that we retain as many of these graduates on Long Island as we can. According to DeLuise about 80% of all Dowling grads remain on Long Island. Cooperation with other schools is desirable and possible. The ultimate goal is to have students regard all of the schools on Long Island as quality institutions. Much can, and should, be done to foster that concept.

Later in the meeting we discussed the sale of Keyspan to National Grid some in the audience thought that if this sale should be completed, that perhaps that National Grid should make substantial promises to the community. For the sake of clean air and more power availability LIMBA has been advocating the repowering of the oldest and most polluting plants. Will National Grid be inclined to repower later? Frankly we don’t know, but we do know that additional power supplies coming in from new feeder cables will open a window of opportunity very soon, and we should take advantage of that fact.

we then went on to discuss the fact that the budget that the last congress past left Brookhaven National Lab without the funds to continue several of it’s most important research projects. This is an outrage when you consider our need to transform America and create a new energy policy. Our Congressional delegation is very aware of the BNL situation, and they are working together to correct the situation, but they need our support.

Lastly we briefly discussed the property at Kings Park. The site of the psychiatric hospital is in terrible condition and is a candidate for a “super fund” clean-up. The town of Smithtown is reluctant to do anything with it. These derelict buildings are mostly unused and the potential for a magnificent facility is not being realized. That will be a the subject of a panel discussion in March.

We didn’t start out to have a “Round Table” discussion, but it turned out that way
There is an acute interest in these topics, and we more than ran out the clock. We’ve got a lot to talk about going forward and great opportunities, if we have the good sense to make them happen.
Pictured: Terry Townsend, Dowling Trustee, Cynthia Grossman, Assistant Development Officer at Dowling, Jennefer Gunn Assistant to Congressman Tim Bishop, Michael DeLuise, Development Officer at Dowling and Ernie Fazio, LIMBA

Rob Dipple, Long Island Museum
2007-01-26 00:00
This morning the Long Island Museum of Art History and Carriages’ Development officer Ron Dippel made a presentation at LIMBA.

A large section of the museum has been dedicated to the carriage collection. Graves Brothers Carriage Builders of Massachusetts went out of business many years ago. Remarkably that facility has been preserved by the family that owned the property and recently they donated the artifacts to the museum. All of the tools and equipment used in the manufacture of their carriages were catalogued, disassembled, shipped and reconstructed at the Stony Brook location. They were also able to secure copies of the Studebaker carriages and a Studebaker automobile. Studebaker was able to make the transition to making cars while other carriage makers went out of business.

The Art section has collections from the many Long Island artists. It has the largest collection anywhere of Long Island artist, William Sidney Mount who lived in Stony Brook. There are also revolving expositions that had a showing of the stained glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany, who lived in Cold Spring Harbor.

The history of Long Island chronicles the many major innovations that were born on Long Island. One exhibit was dedicated to legacy of Robert Moses. The successes and controversy that surrounded the “Master Builder included the building of the parkway system, the beachfront parks of Jones beach and Robert Moses Park, which remain today as his great successes. The controversial projects include the Cross Bronx Expressway and the ill-conceived idea of building a road through the spine of Fire Island. (It was never built).

There is also the building of Levitown. Levitt was referred to as the Henry Ford of home building. At one point a new home owner was given the keys to a new house every 45 minutes. The methods of home building were replicated all over the country and some of them were built by the same Levitt organization that built on Long Island. On February 10th the museum will demonstrate a Levitt kitchen and some other rooms in those homes.

Recently the museum was named as an associate museum of the Smithsonian Institute. This is prestigious designation and in cooperation will be a part of the National Treasures tour where exhibits will travel throughout the country.

This museum is a dynamic institution that changes and builds. If you have been there before you will learn more if you return. They are in fact planning a new section to house the exhibits that are constantly growing.
On May 10th they will be hosting an event “Perfecting the Art of Business”. You may want to visit the website http://www.longislandmuseum.org/ Pictured: LIMBA’s Ernie Fazio, LI Museum Trustee, Michelle Zere, and Museum Development officer Rob Dippel

Ron -Terenzi Proposed Amusement Park, Calverton
2007-02-02 00:00
We had a presentation on a proposed amusement park for the Calverton Airport property that is near Riverhead. Ron Terenzi is the CEO of the developer, Island Amusement Ventures. His vision of the plan was discussed today in some detail.

Mr. Terenzi began by stating that Long Island does not lend itself to the mega amusement park model. Nor does he want to see something that is too small for a first class roller coaster. The total area of the proposed park will be 70 acres. That’s not small, but it is no Disney operation either.

Ron pointed out that the economics of this park will work. He used conservative models in terms of attendance, about 500,000. The other attractions in the vicinity include Splish Splash Water Park,and the Atlantis Aquarium. Each have succeeded with having a much narrower operating window and a narrower range of interest. For example Splish Splash only operates in very favorable weather and has a narrow calendar range. Splish Splash operates only in the warmest months, and even in the warm months it is not well attended in cloudy weather, much less rain. Their attendance is in the 600,000 person range. The aquarium has a somewhat wider window of optimum operating time, and they do numbers similar to Splish Splash.

The appeal for this park will be families. With the inclusion of major rides, such as a roller coaster, availability of healthy foods, an amphitheater, and midway games.The window of operation for most of the park that will start in April and go into October. Their will also be a 45,000 sq. ft. indoor facility that will be open year round. The enclosed portion will have an arcade, games, and rides.

When we moved on to the Q&A portion I voiced my concern for the airport runways that are adjacent to the facility. I asked if there was any danger of them being permanently closed. We have a need for those runways, and with the reasonable concern for air access in a national emergency with Homeland Security considerations we must retain them. Terenzi agreed wholeheartedly and in fact stated that he hoped that the park would be a fly-in destination for general aviation.

There were questions about the jobs that will be created. Ron said that the seasonal employment was cost estimated at a rate that would allow them to be competitive in the entry level employment, $8/hr. The technical jobs would be more in keeping with the craft workers rates, electricians, maintenance people etc.

After the formal part of the meeting many people stayed to peruse the displays that Mr. Terenzi and his partners had on tripods, and ask many more questions. You can learn more about this by going to the parks website. www.IslandAmusementVentures..com

Steve Schrier Ex Dir Suff Center on the Holocaust ......
2007-02-09 00:00
This program will address matters of race and mutual understanding between people.
Steve Schrier is the
Executive Director of the Suffolk Center on the Holocaust, Diversity & Human Understanding, Inc

Presidents Day Weekend NO MEETING
2007-02-16 00:00

Dr Sam Aronsen - Director of Brookhaven national Labs
2007-02-23 00:00
This morning we heard a presentation on the economic and scientific benefits of having Brookhaven National Laboratory in our backyard.
The director, Dr Sam Aronson came to LIMBA and within the fairly limited time we allot our speakers, gave us a good overview.
BNL has an annual budget of about $500 million and much of that goes to paying for high value people that contribute directly to the economy. The economic benefit of the science is enormous as well. In combination the total economic value to this region over the past 10 years has been about $10 billion.

BNL, is very diverse in the science that is done there. As the director pointed out some of the science is curiosity based and the final outcome cannot be explained because no one knows exactly where a particular area of inquiry is going to go. And while that pursuit of science is harder to explain and get funding for, it is the area of research that new ideas emanate from, according to Aronson.

Presently the lab is building a new collider and will phase out the old one when the new one is built. This is where a lot a basic research is done. The collider is able to create elements that have only existed within seconds of the “Big Bang” at the start of the universe. The practical purpose of this hard to explain, but it useful in studying things that are known to us.

The study of structure and properties of materials is important to the discovery of new materials, and is also very much a part of the labs goals.In this part of the discussion we talked about the significance of Nano Technology. According to Dr. Aronson, by being able to assemble materials at the nano level we can take materials that are known to us and cause them to behave in a way that is beneficial to new applications that would otherwise be impossible.

Creating a secure energy source for the purpose of energy independence was also discussed. We asked about the probabilities of new energy sources emerging. The director implied that he was optimistic about the long term prospects, but the short term prospects on energy reduction and independence would probably come from “bridge technologies” such as plug-in automobiles, bio-mass, solar panel efficiency improvements, and other known and improvable energy technologies. Fusion did not seem like a very promising technology, but a new and very large effort in this arena is being done on an international basis in France.

Life sciences and brain study at BNL has gotten a lot of attention from the press, and BNL scientists have been studying and observing the functions of the brain under normal and drug effected brains. Brains of people with addictive behavior apparently has a different look to it when studied under an MRI than a brain that is not subject to addiction.

Practical solutions to everyday problems are handled at the Lab in the Applied Science area. Better oil burners, homeland security devices, and many other developments come from this department, but the solutions are based on some “basic research” mentioned above that now are solutions looking for a place to be useful.

Geri Reichbach, Brookhaven Medical Center.
2007-03-02 00:00
This morning we tapped into one of our many hospitals for information on what they saw as their role in their particular community.
Brookhaven Hospital’s Colleen Valdini spoke at LIMBA and told us of specialties that have been developed at the hospital, and also the depth of services in facilities that are not attached to the hospital.
The hospital is a 321 bed facility and employs computerized patient information systems. Each patient is issued a bar code. That bar code is read for properly identifying a patient when dispensing medication. This avoids overmedication as well as contraindications caused by concurrent medications.

The hospital has developed expertise in stroke care. There that takes place when a stroke occurs is reversible if treated quickly. Rehabilitation of a stroke victim is greatly diminished after the first six weeks. They have learned that the rehab efforts must be intense during that period because the rehab results beyond six weeks is small.
Another area of expertise that has been developed at the hospital is the care of diabetes. Brookhaven has establishes several outreach units that serve Coram and two other locations. It is not always convenient for patients to come to the hospital. We expect “state of the art” medicine in large, well endowed colleges, but we are pleasantly surprised when the care we need is available and local.

The hospital owns a hyper baric unit where they can exert pressurized 100% oxygen on wounds that are difficult to heal. The oxygen helps in the topical contact to the wound as well as the inhaled content of the pure oxygen in the blood while the patient is encased in the treatment unit. This unit is being used to help diabetics with wound problems.

Still another expertise has been developed in obesities. Surgically remedied weight loss strategies have many important aspects to be considered. The doctors at Brookhaven have developed the knowledge base needed to perform these procedures with a safe successful record.

Kings Park Discussion at LaQuinta
2007-03-09 00:00
This morning’s meeting was held at LaQuinta instead of our usual location.The meeting was sponsored by Joe Oliveri and LaQuinta, as well as Cliff Sondock from The Land Use institute and Mike O’Reilly of Trade winds Environmental Restoration.
The topic was; “What Should Be Developed at Kings Park Psychiatric Center.” Most of the hospitals and facilities buildings were abandoned years ago. The property was severely polluted during its service life and the responsibility for cleaning it up is the source of most of the rhetoric that pervades any discussion.
The format of having a panel discuss any problem opens up the opportunities of having a “food fight.” This particularly true when you have strong personalities on the panel such as;Jack Kulka, Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio, Land Use Director Cliff Sondock and Carmine Martuscello from Racanelli Construction. Then there were the local people who are emotionally involved in the issue. It was a spirited discussion to say the least. The good news is, we all walked out of the room with the feeling that we agreed on at least one thing. That is;The property must be cleaned up, and the state has the responsibility of doing it. It is the state’s responsibility because the pollution was put there on their watch.
The discussions about whether or not any construction should take place and what that development should consist of, gave rise to some sharp exchanges. Despite that we were able to carry out a dialogue that gave us good information. Some of that information was new to me and new to a lot of other people too. For example the state has already set aside $25 million to be applied to the environmental clean-up. It was pointed out that the true cost estimate was over $50 million. Jack Kulka suggested that the money we have be applied to the first stage of the work at once, instead of waiting for the rest of the money. Later we can petition for the rest.

The prospect of developing the land for commercial use, or the building of homes for that, matter did not resonate well with most of the crowd.
We also learned that there is a power plant on the property that was completely modernized in the 1990’s and never used. It is a gas fired unit, and It has been “mothballed” and could be used if needed.
In any event the final use precludes total development, except for about 92 acres. The rest of the almost 500 acres would remain park. Perhaps that’s the way it should be, but that would only happen after a clean-up is completed. If this property ends up being a park then let’s make it a magnificent place where all of us can be proud of it.
Pictured: Carmine Martuscello (Racanelli Construction), Pat Vecchio (Town Supervisor), Jack Kulka (Kulka Construction), Clifford Sondock (Land Use Institute).

Jim Banks Cutural Diversity Officer at Suffolk Community Col
2007-03-16 00:00
This morning’s meeting was a little unusual, but I’ve said that in the past about other meetings. So maybe unusual is the norm for us. James Banks is the Coordinator of Multicultural Affairs of Suffolk County Community College. We had the pleasure of hearing Jim at this morning’s LIMBA meeting. Mr. Banks began by giving each of us a list of stereotypes and groups and asked us to match the stereotype with the group. Among the matchings were; policeman =donuts and Pakistanis= 7-11 franchisees. We all had the matches nearly the same. He then went on to tell us that a group of new arrivals to America would have not done “as well” as we did in the matching. Their preconceived notions would not have been developed yet. He then gave us a little exercise in non-verbal communications to demonstrate that messages are given and perceived even when nothing is being said. The purpose to these exercises are to demonstrate that we hold beliefs that are prejudicial. The word “prejudice” or pre judge really tells the story. By sensitizing ourselves to these pre-set traps we can avoid responding in a stereotypical way.Jim is a muscular looking man and is a former US Marine Sergeant. He belies his own masculine stereotype by engaging in non traditional activities for a man. His hobbies include, sewing, crocheting and quilting. He even organized an all male crocheting club. On the other hand he also enjoys pocket billiards, basketball, singing, and poetry writing. Each of these activities summon up an image and conclusions that, as they say in the song, “It Aint Necessarily So”Learning things about perception, as we did this morning is fun, even though at a deeper level we already knew them to be true. It was a tough morning to get out on the road, but for those of us who did, it was worth it.

Round Table discussion
2007-03-23 00:00
This morning we conducted an “round Table” discussion. These meetings tend to have a tentative agenda, that is, we wind up talking about things other than what we thought we would discuss. No matter. There are so many issues that are important to Long Island, we could start anywhere.
Taxes and multiple layers of government, and numerous school districts is where we began and that dominated most of the meeting.
The general consensus was that taxes are hampering our competitive edge and discouraging some people from moving here.
Here are some of the observations on schools;

We have too many layers of management in our schools.
Teachers use the example of the wealthiest districts to set the pay scales of teachers in less wealthy districts. In the next round of negotiations the process is repeated, jack-sawing the pay scales ever upward.
There are far too many school districts
Politicians see the same problems as the rest of us, but are fearful of being removed from office if they serve the people and not those vested interests
We spoke briefly about fire departments and how inefficient the resources are spent there.
Paid fire departments in wealthy northern Virginia spend less per capita on fire safety services than their “volunteer” counterparts on Long Island with no compromise in the service to the community. In fact the service is better because their is always a staff available.

These two issues are large burdens on the taxpayers and they can be addressed without compromising quality. Furthermore, there are some districts that are poorly run and corruption is no stranger. Regardless of the assets thrown at them they under perform. There is no agency big enough to audit all these entities.

Finally we spoke about energy. Alternative energy was discussed and we agreed that government bodies could lead the way by putting high efficiency projects into their own buildings. Alternative energy generation has not been fostered in any significant way. (Exceptions are the towns of Brookhaven and Babylon have adopted “Energy Star” specifications in their residential building codes.)

Sharon Cates-Williams and Doug Miller
2007-03-30 00:00
On Friday, March 30th, we had the distinct pleasure of hosting the CIO/Comissioner and Director of MIS, respectively, of Suffolk County. The indefatigueable Sharon Cates-Williams, and the engaging Doug Miller. Doug spoke about the work the county has done in the GIS field, creating a very rich database of geolocated information and making it available to all the municipalities and first responders in the field. The applications are manifold, from helping tax assessors make accurate assessments, ( groans from the audience… ) to helping first responders possess critical knowledge on residents with special needs. Fire departments can now have maps of their districts with an overlay of the houses that contain folks with disabilities, an extremely helpful feature. Doug also detailed some of the automated tools that the police are using, such as OCR camera that scans license plates as a cruiser drives, checking those plates against the State’s databases for outstanding warrants and other issues, and then notifying the officer that there’s something to be attended to around him.Ms. Cates-Williams came to speak about the Long Island Wi-Fi project, which has been a focus of my attention since the county executive mentioned it in his state of the county speech in 2006. Her vision for the project, is an outdoor focused network with three tiers of service, a free tier and two paid, higher speed grades, is one that enables mobile county workers to be more efficient, and timelier in their responses to changing conditions, with the ability to stay connected to data on the road. Department of Social Services workers and Probation officers were just two of the departments where she illustrated the benefits of mobility. She detailed the steps involved in the county issuing the RFP, first producing a lightweight RFI to gauge interest, and based on the healthy group of responses, spurred the formation of the committee, the addition of Nassau County to the project, and the RFP’s issuance. At the February 8th pre-proposal conference, it was evident that the project had attracted many of the major players in the industry. Sharon is expecting some good responses that address the issues of security, privacy, and a full coverage requirement. Of course, the LIMBA audience peppered her with questions, on both the technology and business sides. Ernie’s question in absentia was “How much will this cost?”, and the answer is that it won’t cost the taxpayers anything because it is being built with private money and there will be a free tier of service. A quick tutorial about the differences between WiMAX and Wi-Fi was gone through, and discussions about mounting assets and real estate also ensued.It was a tremendous coup for our group to have Sharon and Doug come and speak about these vital initiatives to an engaged audience, where at LIMBA, you learn something every time you go.

GOOD FRIDAY - NO MEETING
2007-04-06 00:00

Keyspan- Bob Teetz, Director of Environmental Engineering
2007-04-13 00:00
Today at LIMBA we had the opportunity to hear about what is going on with Keyspan Energy’s Emissions and Air Quality initiatives. Bob Teetz, Directory of Environmental Engineering and Compliance for Keyspan, gave a broad and deep presentation of where our electricity comes from, what fuels are used to generate it, and what is being done to make the on island power generation cleaner. An overview of the external interconnects for power importation, Keyspan’s own plants and third party plants was the first part of the presentation. Keyspan doesn’t use any coal to fuel their plants, only #6 fuel oil, Jet Fuel, and Natural Gas are used. These more expensive, cleaner fuels, contribute to our higher rates here. The imported power is generated in several ways, including nuclear and coal. Lower priced imported power is projected to serve a larger percentage of demand as the Neptune project comes online. Most of Keyspan’s larger plants are dual-fuel, switching between Natural Gas and #6 low-sulfur oil.Given this setup, an over view of emissions was presented, with some controversy. In total pollutant output, Keyspan has the #2 producer, in the Northport power station. This is mostly unavoidable, because it is the largest power station in the system at 1500 Megawatts, and I believe the largest station on the east coast. When compared on a pollution quantity per megawatt generated, Keyspan comes out better than the national average, but you are also comparing that to coal-fired plants. There was some contesting of the measurement of pollution and Keyspan’s standings in it, but a good picture of what is going on in general was presented.We moved on to a primer on repowering generating stations, describing the way that the current power plants are architected. Older technology conventional power plants run at approximately 34% efficiency. Newer, combined cycle plants run at about 50% efficiency, and produce 90% less pollution. They also use higher priced fuel, either natural gas or jet fuel. Newer plants, also cannot use what is called once-through cooling, which takes massive amounts of seawater in and out of the plant to cool it. They must use cooling towers, which sap efficiency, but don’t impact the aquatic environment as much. The options for repowering each of the older base load stations were discussed, pros and cons. Mr Teetz pointed out that some locations are not suitable for repowering. Northport would have to improve transmission lines to the site and the cost would be several hundred $million dollars. Port Jefferson on the other hand is less amenable to repowering because there is no more flat land on which to build.The opportunities for the future in terms of increasing capacity, burning cleaner fuels and scrubbing emissions were outlined. A lively Q and A was held throughout, with our resident skeptics holding Bob’s feet to the fire, which he handled with aplomb. In sum, there are some opportunities to make great strides in reducing powerplant pollution on Long Island, but there is some debate about whether this will make a big impact on air quality here, as our regional air quality is affected mostly by wind-borne pollution from the west, and locally generated transport pollution, cars and trucks. Again, an important presentation on issues that affect us directly, in both our lungs and pocketbooks. Another Friday morning well spent and well informed at LIMBA.

Phil Nolan- New Initiative to keep Islip vibrant.
2007-04-20 00:00
Phil Nolan, the recently ( November 2006 ) elected Supervisor of the Town of Islip, came to speak at LIMBA this morning, introducing himself and talking about his experiences to date. Islip is a town of about 330,000 people, with many challenges and bumps in the road, some of which were discussed today. Phil is a super busy fellow handling the day to day issues of government in a progressive town. Rather than a standard stump speech, the session was conducted mostly as a Q and A session. He brought some key people in his administration to help him address some of the questions posed today. The most frequent ones were prompted by the largest asset that the town has, MacArthur Airport. There are two developments regarding the airport, the resolution of the concrete apron problems at the new terminal, and the west side redevelopment project.
The apron problems are in the beginning stages of being resolved, and they will be because the problem is putting a crimp in the ability for the airport to be better utilized. Phil would like to see the marketing focus of the airport be changed to start selling it to carriers instead of passengers, to attract a more diverse base of airlines. The Smithtown Avenue side of the airport will get a makeover, which is in the planning stages of finding a new home for the existing businesses there, and then making way for new structures.
In the Q & A portion of the meeting, Charlie Widener’s question about the Plumber’s Examining Board prompted a long give and take about the day to day machinations of government, the challenges of two-party politics in a town long dominated by one party, and the difficulty of separating the actions necessary for the greater good from the impacts on the narrow groups sometimes affected. This is going to be an issue when talking about the ground leases on the islands of the Great South Bay that are in Islip, Captree, Sexton, and Havemeyer Islands, as the families that have deep roots on the islands will have to pay quite a bit more to lease that ground, as the market value of the leases has grown substantially since they were last priced.
Walter Bernstein brought up the question of addressing the "Youth Drain" on Long Island by reducing the cost of living through regional consolidation of government departments. Phil addressed this by describing the "Collisions of Power" that happen when you actually try to make changes. The higher the dollars at stake, the better the advocates are at arguing for the status quo. It is apparent that there are savings to be had, but what is the correct formula to achieve it, is the question.
The last question was regarding how the working relationships are going between the new guy in town and the traditional incumbents that are still a large part of town government. After being the first Democrat elected in the town in 35 years, Phil has done a few things to upset the apple carts, but he feels that he is there to do his job, and that they have a mostly good working relationship. Out of every twenty resolutions brought to a vote, nineteen are unanimously agreed on, but that twentieth one that has a sticking point is usually a high profile issue that is attractive to the news media. Phil says he isn’t needlessly confrontational, but won’t back down when he feels his convictions are challenged. His formula is to say what you are going to do, and do it.
When we have a LIMBA meeting that has a focus on a person in the public eye rather than a subject focus, we always get a good sense of the person that is unobtainable by reading press accounts. You hear the person, get to talk to them, and really get a feel for their character. Our thanks are extended to the affable and plain spoken Mr. Nolan in coming out to talk to our group about his town and his agenda in governing it.
Pictured, left to right: Al Werner, Gene Murphy, Bill Mannix, Ernie Fazio, Phil Nolan, and Gina La Vecchia
Video supplied by MyLITV.Com:

Phillip Cardinale, Supervisor, Town of Riverhead
2007-04-27 00:00
This morning Riverhead Town Supervisor Phil Cardinale made a presentation on the planning and restoration projects in Riverhead. There are a number of things being planned, including riverfront improvements, Calverton airport redevelopment, and Rt 58 transportation improvements.
In the downtown Main Street, which is relatively small, there are plans for the restoration of the theater. Mr. Cardinale would like to see the parking be located on the north side of Main Street, leaving the riverfront available for park-like amenities. A three part zoning plan would accommodate retail, commercial, and residential uses in the downtown area.
Much of the cost that would ordinarily be borne by the municipality, is being shouldered by the winning redevelopment company. That company, Apollo, is a multi-billion dollar company that will have an opportunity to earn back some of their outlay from other development companies that may appear in the next three years. This arrangement has been applauded by the supervisor because all the risk falls on the shoulders of the developer.
Later in his presentation Mr Cardinale gave us some insight on the redevelopment of Calverton. There appears to be no attempt to destroy the excellent runways at the airport. We told him that this was important to us, because they can accommodate any size aircraft and would be essential if their were an emergency that warranted their use. The airport development will be multiple use. They expect to build out 7.5 million square feet in industrial park space, and commercial space.
I asked about rail freight, and light rail for passenger movement. There has been some planning and thought on that issue, but other than a rail spur in Calverton, I did not get the impression that that planning had been given high priority.

Wayne Horsley, Suffolk Legislator
2007-05-04 00:00
On May 4th, we had the privilege of Suffolk County Legislator Wayne Horsley give us a perspective of how important sewers are to the ecology and economic growth of Long Island. Wayne apologized for picking such an unsavory topic to be the subject of a breakfast meeting, but as usual, the large crowd of LIMBA faithful ate it up. With his perspective as an adjunct professor of Modern World History at St. John’s university, we got some ancient history as well. The earliest known sewers were found in the Indus valley, around 3300-1700 BC, but Suffolk County still is not widely sewered in this modern age. To preserve the open space that is left by concentrating development, we need sewers. The recent development of the Route 110 corridor’s new hotel and pharmaceutical plants would not have been possible without connecting them to the Southwest Sewer District.There are 1.5 Million people in Suffolk County, 400,000 of them are served with sewers. This is distributed among the Southwest Sewer District (SWSD), and about 22 other smaller plants sprinkled around the county. The new Tanger retail development in Deer Park, on the old AIL Property, will be connected to the SWSD, consuming .5% of the total daily capacity of 30.5 million gallons. The development is expected to generate 250 million in spending by completion. Without the district connection the development would not be possible at all. The benefits of sewering are clear, so are the obstacles.Money is the foremost barrier. Sewers are expensive and disruptive to put in. Back in the day, 87% of the projects were funded by the State and Federal governments. Plus, the history of corruption that is one of the legacies of the SWSD is always present when you talk about sewers on Long Island. The total cost to build the district was over a billion dollars, but the district is functioning well today. To overcome the stigma of sewers, Wayne is forming a “Sewer Club” with Mark Herbst of the Long Island Contractors Association to help Long Island learn to love sewers.Wayne closed with a short discussion on the issue of Coal Gas Plant cleanups, the addressing of which he is trying to make a condition of the National Grid/Keyspan merger process. Vincent Frigeria of Keyspan gave us some details on the work that is being done to clean up the Clinton Avenue site in Bay Shore.The Q & A session was fruitful, touching on “What else can we bury, along with the sewer lines?” “What are the treatment plant siting issues?”, and “How do we focus on the ecological benefits, rather than the history of corruption?” An altogether appetizing session about an unsavory subject. Another well-spent Friday morning at LIMBA.

Larry Austin, Chairman of the LI philharmonic
2007-05-11 00:00
The Long Island Philharmonic at LIMBA

Larry Austin, chairman of Austin Travel and The Long Island Philharmonic Board of Directors, came by to give us an update on the Philharmonic close to the finale of their 28th season. Larry is a past president of LIMBA, like the Philharmonic, a long running show. The final two concerts of the season will take place at the Staller Center on Saturday, May 19th, and at the Tilles Center, Sunday, May 20th. Mr. Austin opened with the story of how he got involved with the Philharmonic, relating stories about its founder, Harry Chapin, and his philosophy of having a base for the classical performing arts on Long Island, consisting of the Eglevsky ballet, the Philharmonic, and the PAF playhouse. The philharmonic has had its ups and downs, over the years, with the past three being on an uptrend, on the way to erasing what was a $900,000 deficit when Mr. Austin took over as director. David Wiley is the current music director, producing an eclectic program of classical symphony pieces, pops concerts and children’s outreach in the schools.

The Philharmonic also takes pride in both its stability, having only 4 music directors over its history, and its quality of those directors. Marin Alsop, the current music director of the Baltimore Symphony, was the director from 1989 to 1995, leaving after winning a MacArthur Fellowship. The turnaround in the fortunes of the Philharmonic has been led on the creative side by Mr. Wiley and the business side by the stewardship of Mr. Austin and the excecutive director, Stephen Belth. Corporate and governmental sponsorship has been instrumental in turning things around, with Sen. Hilary Clinton’s steadfast support, along with State Senator Carl Marcellino, having delivered grants at both the federal and state level. UBS made a generous 5-year challenge grant of $250,000, which was matched by individual donors such as Charles Dolan, David Lerner, Marvin Sussman, and Billy Joel. Mr. Austin let us know about the formation of a Chairman’s council, in an effort to form a larger core group of supporters.The Q and A session was mostly a bunch of suggestions from the audience on how to help build the community of the philharmonic, modeling some aspects on the success of the Gateway Playhouse, and the adoption of iPod culture in an effort to stay connected with the audience and draw them out to live performances. The final concerts in the season will be Great Moments In Opera, with a full chorus. This morning’s meeting was sponsored by www.Islip.tv and Waldo Cabrera. There is a wealth of local information at that website.

Hon. Steve Bellone, Supv Town of Babylon
2007-05-18 00:00
This morning’s speaker was Town of Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone. Mr. Bellone began by telling us of his efforts to bring green thinking to the town. The town has ordered Hi-Brid vehicles for it’s fleet, and is installing green technologies in all it’s new construction. Babylon is setting an example according to Bellone. The rationale for the Supervisor appears to be, that setting an example of what should be done is more productive than preaching, or even the legislation Babylon has embraced requiring Energy Star building standards.

The town will oversee the building of an energy self sustaining house. Steve did not go into a lot of details on the technologies that would be used in the house, but it will be opened when completed for the purpose of displaying to the public what can be accomplished. Solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, geothermal heating and cooling, heat sinks, and orientation to the sun are all possibilities.

Mr. Bellone did not speak favorably of the LIPA plan to build a wind farm in the ocean off Fire Island and Jones Beach. Esthetics were not the motivating argument against the LIPA Wind Farm. Steve’s Point was that the wind farm would be for less productive than advertised. The LIPA plan calls for the installation of enough windmills to generate 140 megawatts, but because of the variances in wind conditions the average output could be very low, 25% of the stated amount. If that is true the average cost/KW to produce this electric would even be much higher than even the much criticized Shoreham Nuclear plant.

Designing downtowns that have apartments over retail space such as we have in Babylon, Northport, Patchogue and other places are being considered by Bellone for places like Wyandanch, Copaigue and other places in Babylon town. These arrangements are friendly to pedestrians and allow for the density that is required to house our citizens while still capturing open space for posterity.

Public transportation, and class A building office building proposals on Rt 110 south of Conklin Street were also discussed. Mr. Bellone laid out a very ambitious vision for Babylon.

NO MEETING Memorial Day celebrated
2007-05-25 00:00

Ray Kenny, acting President, LIRR
2007-06-01 00:00
This morning we had a presentation from the acting president of the LIRR.
Mr Ray Kenny started with an overview of the railroads performance
records. The performance can be summarized here by saying that the best
year on record was 2002 at 94% for on time trains. Currently we are on
schedule to do slightly better than that. Customer satisfaction is
presently at 6.6 out of a possible 10.
We spent some time on customer accidents particularly accidents caused
by the platform gap. The immediate response to the gap problem is
creating public awareness of the possible danger. But Kenny realizes
that that is not enough. He then explained the technical fixes that
may be used, including moveable platforms and the hazards associated
with that fix. Weather, signaling, and high speed trains through a
station are all things that must be considered.
What I considered to be the most important part of the presentation was
the future developments of the railroad.
We discussed East Side Access, Third Track on the LIRR main line, and
the community resistance to any changes.
East Side Access would allow LIRR trains to go into Grand Central
Station. By having that access, the LIRR could route an additional 300
trains per day. Presently 736 trains enter Penn Station. With the East
Side Access the total number of trains would be 1056. This would have a
very large impact on the road use of cars, as mant more people convert
their traveling habits to rails.
The Third Track on the main line would allow the possibility of moving
passengers in the opposite direction, that is going to Long Island. As
long Island creates more jobs, the employers of Long Island, and workers
in the city will have better access to each other.
These projects are so large, they are reminiscent of our fathers and
grandfathers efforts to build this region. Their efforts have served us
well when you think of the bridges, tunnels, and subways our forebears
created.
The leadership that has been shown in New York City and at the state
level has been better in recent years than the long malaise we have seen
in the past. Frankly it is exciting and encouraging.

Keyspan-National Grid merger/acquisition
2007-06-08 00:00
Friday we had a most unusual meeting with no scheduled speaker we
used the opportunity to discuss any major issue facing Long Island.
The topic of the Keyspan-National Grid merger/acquisition was
introduced and as luck would have it, Dr Matt Cordaro was in the
room. Cordaro began his career with LILCO, and left LILCO more than
25 years ago. Since then he has headed up several other utility
companies.

In recent years he has made his mark in academia, as a dean at LIU.
There was an interesting discussion about whether or not the
Keyspan-Grid transaction would be good for Long Island. We asked for
his comments.

Cordaro gave us his insights on the matter and while he said there
are very little benefits to Long Island, his take was that it was
not particularly scary either. According to Matt there are some
doubts that the deal can be completed due to some conditions imposed
by the state agencies that regulate these matters. Conditions that
make the end result less attractive to National Grid. We’ll see.

Later an idea was introduced by Carol Lucca. An idea that would
promote local talent, while at the same time help a charity. Her
premise is that in a population the size of Long Island there is
theatrical and performing talent that is excellent, but because of
great economic opportunity outside of the world of entertainment
"went corporate" as the expression goes. Technically these folks are
amateurs, but many of them practice their skills and play among
friends keeping themselves sharp. Her idea is to give them a format
that allows them to demonstrate their abilities in a major showcase.
The process would allow the really good performers to be selected
for such a showcase. The event is scheduled for Oct 1, 2007 and will
benefit Breast Cancer Help Inc. Anybody who would like to audition
or help the effort can email

brestcancerinc@optline.net

Dr Andaz, Nassau County Medical Center (Hilton Gardens)
2007-06-15 00:00
Dr Andaz an oncologist from South Nassau Hospital gave a talk on
cancer. the focus was on lung cancer and the devastating statistics
on smoking. Smoking however, according to Dr Andaz, accounts for a
lot more than lung cancer. Primarily all the cancers associated in
the mouth and upper respiratory as well as cancers we often
do not attribute to cancer. Namely pancreatic cancer and bladder
cancer.

Lung cancer is so often lethal because its detection is usually too
late to stop the progression. The hospital is embarking on an
ambitious study to screen cancer by using low-dose CT scans. The
belief is that while the stats on breast cancer have improved
dramatically, lung cancer sufferers are not experiencing the same
success rates. Early detection, it is believed, will change lung
cancer to a chronic rather than a deadly affliction.
To enter the screening you must have been a smoker of 20 or more
years and the screening is free. The participants must contact the
South Nassau Hospital and ask Gail Carlin at Community Relations at
516 377-5371

Bob Boerner, Conservation Services Group
2007-06-22 00:00
New Page 1

On Friday our expected speaker did not show up. This rarely happens at
LIMBA (I can’t even remember it happening without any notice).

We have the most astute, speakers that respond to our call. Fortunately
we have an equally astute group of people who attend our meetings. The
topic was the Energy Star Program that has been adopted by several of
the towns, and what it means. The contractor that will be training the
new personnel that will make the program work is Conservation Services
Group. Bob Boerner works for the company and he is in charge of the
program. Bob immediately told us that he does not ordinarily do public
speaking, but his ability to convey a cogent message was immediately
apparent.

The mandates of the Energy Star Program sets a standard of energy use
efficiency in new homes that must indicate a 30% reduction of energy as
opposed to a standard code constructed house. Bear in mind the present
code is substantially more efficient that the codes of 25 years ago.
According to Boerner, we could even do better.

Among the criteria that will be evaluated are the air infiltration of
the house. This can be measured by the use of a device that sucks out
the air in the dwelling and air filtering into the house can be
measured. If the infiltration is too high, the house will fail
inspection. Boerner also addressed the need for air conditioning to be
efficient. The integrity of the system can be lost to leaks in ducts.
These leaks may not be obvious, but they can be measured. If the house
fails, the leaks must be fixed. Air conditioning systems must also be
properly sized. The conventional wisdom is "bigger is better". Not rue,
says Boerner. A smaller system will take a little longer to cool the
house but the humidity will be driven out of the house due to the longer
cycling. Moreover the installed system will cost less to buy and cost
less to run. And, as a result of the lower humidity the comfortable
temperature will be slightly higher, further reducing operating costs.

There was some discussion on the training program for the technicians
that will be needed for the task of rating these new homes so that they
are in compliance. In that discussion we covered the compensation these
techs could expect doing this work. It appears to be a high paid, high
skill job for technically oriented people. That sounds like a plus all
around.

Bob Boerner did an excellent job in his presentation and during the Q&A,
particularly since he was a last minute substitute. We did well by
having him.

Dr Joseph Mcdonell, Associate Dean of Bus. at Stony Brook
2007-06-29 00:00
Our speaker this morning was SUNY Stony Brook, Associate Dean of Business, Joseph McDonnell Phd.
China, the fearsome juggernaut? Maybe, maybe not so much, According to Dr McDonnell. While China is being recognized as the “worlds factory,” they have a long way to go before they surpass or marginalize the economic giant that is the United States. That was my take on the talk given at this morning’s LIMBA breakfast.
China is growing at an unprecedented rate over the past 25 years, and with that rate of growth are numerous problems. Dr W. Edwards Deming introduced management techniques to Japan that made them a formidable competitor, China has not embraced the “quality” idea yet (pet food, toothpaste etc). More than that, they are not the great innovators that they consider the Americans to be. According to McDonnell they admire us. On the other hand America is treated with wariness, as are many western countries. They almost expect others to rake them over the coals (my words, not his). As a result the Chinese are difficult to deal with.
McDonnell went on to say that the Chinese desire to save, has made them small consumers. China being a low cost provider of goods is actually a double edge sword that tends to give them great growth. But there is not a lot of wages paid out to support a home grown demand for products. That fact will limit growth going forward. And now they are beginning to deal with pollution.
As we work to make trade with China, safer and fairer, we probably have perceived them as a bigger threat than they actually are.

4th of July Week - NO MEETING
2007-07-06 00:00

Frank Boulton, Owner, Long Island Ducks
2007-07-13 00:00
LI Ducks owner Frank Boulton began with a 5 minute news piece that
appeared on CNBC. As Boulton put it, "this was coverage you cannot buy."
Frank’s affection for the game of baseball, the players, and the
community is undeniable. Bud Harrelson and Boulton came to LIMBA eight
years ago and made a presentation on what they hoped to accomplish.
Today the dream they had, creating excellent and affordable baseball on
Long Island is a reality. The tickets are $10 and they maintain the low
cost through good corporate sponsorship.

This is not amateur baseball. Sometimes a player gets bumped from the
majors, and instead of languishing waiting for his million dollar plus
contract to return, he will opt to work for $2100 to $3000 per month
just to keep up his skills. A player may restart his big league
career after playing a year or two, and little or no restrictions are
put on them. Frank did not say this, but I’m sure that the fair
treatment gives them an never ending supply of talent.

From a business point of view, whatever they are doing is working.
Maxing-out on the income revenues is always tempting, but to be
sustainable in a sector of the economy, that is not notably successful,
(minor league baseball), they have done very well. Most of their seats
are presold. They are technically, usually "sold out." Although, if you
come to the park as a Standing Room Only customer, you can find a seat
after the first inning when they can identify the "no-show" seats. This
also explains why they have a 103% sold capacity.

The owners are very sensitive to the community in which they operate.
They have hosted large events for Breast Cancer Awareness as well as
other charities. They really get into the spirit. The players all wore
pink campaign shirts and used pink bats. It was a big success.

The team has 3 million fans and that number was reached in less time
than any team in history in the country. I came away believing these
owners care about the players. They want to provide quality family
entertainment. They routinely test for drugs such as marijuana, and
reprimand players when drugs are found. Steroids tests have not been
routine, and every year the debate the value of doing so.

Pictured: Bill Miller, LIMBA & Frank Boulton

Duke Dufresne, Northrop Grumman
2007-07-20 00:00
Members and friends
Friday morning at LIMBA, on the 38th anniversary of the first moon
landing, we had
Duke Dufresne, the current chief of Northrop Grumman
Corporation’s Integrated
Systems Eastern Region (Ticker NOC), the current incarnation of the
Lunar Module
builder, give us an update on what is going on with the storied
aerospace
corporation, long a mainstay of the Long Island economy.
Duke is head of the eastern region of NGC Integrated Systems, which is
a 2
Billion dollar division of the company, working with the Navy and Air
Force to
connect the warfighter on the ground, sea, and air, with the
information they
need to execute their missions. Today, there are
approximately 4,600 employees
in the Eastern Division of which 2000 are on Long Island. A
recent highlight
was the win of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye pilot production contract,
totaling 408
Million dollars to build 3 new aircraft. Duke expects the
Navy to buy 75
aircraft in the full production program, and the Bethpage location will
have a
strong role in the engineering functions, with the airframes being
built in St.
Augustine in Florida. The team is busy pursuing opportunities
on the Navy’s
BAMS project and the AF’s Tanker replacement program, which
are both due to be
awarded later this year.
Duke discussed some of the challenges that doing business on Long Island
presents, such as the cost of housing, and the recruiting problems that
they
present. He also detailed some of the programs that Northrop
has in place to
address these issues, such as a grant program for employees that are
first time
home buyers. One of the great programs that they run is an
outreach program to
get school kids interested in careers in engineering, that not only
goes into
high schools, but starts in the middle schools, catching their interest
early,
and hopefully recruiting more local talent that will stay on Long
Island. An
avid boater, the southern California transplant was effusive in his
praise for
his new home, a reminder that some of us natives take what we
have here for
granted because we grew up with it.
The aerospace community was well represented at our meeting, with many
partners
of Northrop Grumman on hand to educate us on the extensive programs
that affect
subcontractors during the Q and A session. It was again, a
very well spent
morning at LIMBA with a chance to meet and greet Duke Dufresne, one of
the region’s most
influential people, and NGC’s partners. Included in the mix was;

Joseph Battaglia — President, Telephonics
Ed Palacio — Vice President, EDO
John Capacchione — CAPY Machine
Peter Rettaliata — President, Air Industries
Kenneth Nevor — NDIA (National Defense Industrial
Association) Conference

also in attendance were Northrop Grumman associates:

Diane Dufresne
Patricia McMahon
Dianne Baumert-Moyik
Stacy Simpson

and of course the ever curious and involved LIMBA
membership

Officiating for LIMBA, Bill Miller, Pres
Presiding over meeting Dick Dunne, LIMBA Board Member
Report Written by;Craig Plunkett, CEDX Corporation

Thanks to all. The meeting was a big success

Subi Chakraborti, NY State DOT, Regional Director
2007-07-27 00:00
Members and friends

This morning’s speaker, NY State Department of Transportation Regional
Director, Subi Chakraborti, gave us an overview of the
responsibilities of the NYSDOT. We also discussed specific projects that
are either planned or in progress.

The department does not have direct responsibilities to rail service,
however where rail service has an impact on the roads there is
cooperation. One of LIMBA’s long standing goals has been increasing rail
freight because it significantly reduces the impact of pollution and
road damage caused by trucks on the roads. The NYSDOT believes strongly
that an inter-modal rail truck transfer station would be a good idea for
the Pilgrim State hospital property. We agree! With less than 2% of all
freight coming to Long Island by rail, an increase to 10% would remove
325,000 trucks each year. (these statistics were developed by NY &
Atlantic RR)

While a lot of NYSDOT’s works are not ribbon cutting events because they
are maintaining the enormous infrastructure we already have, there have
some noteable changes. The HOV lane , like it or not, was one of them.
Most the of the NYSDOT budget is devoted to rebuilding the roads and
briges that we have in place. There was the redecking of the southbound
Robert Moses Causeway bridge a few years ago. There are now plans to
rebuild the northbound lanes of that structure. They will be redesigning
the traffic circle at Jones Beach. The revised situation is called a
"Roundabout"The nature of the changes will produce less accidents. One
more thing on Jones Beach, there will be a bicycle path built along
Ocean Parkway from Jones Beach to Captree, a 12 mile link. Now what we
need is a bicycle path over Robert Moses Causeway.

Other projects around Long Island include the rebuilding and redesigning
Rt 347. This is a very large project involving at least 2 overpasses and
additional lanes. That contract will be let in sections.

The NYSDOT has already converted 80% of its traffic signals to Light
Emitting Diode technology (LED). This technology reduces power
consumption by about 90% and reduces service needs significantly.

Subi or someone in his department will now be giving LIMBA updates on an
annual basis.

Michael White, Long Island Regional Plan Director
2007-08-03 00:00
This morning’s speaker was Michael White, Michael is the Executive Director of
the Long Island Regional Board. Mr White outlined the breadth and scope of the
planning group. Workforce housing, transportation, energy issues, and
environmental planning are all considerations. All of the planning must consider
the ramifications that each piece of the planning puzzle creates for another
piece.

Workforce housing must take into consideration the ability of the schools to
absorb the children that will be new to the district. That means having a tax
base that supports that move. In turn there is a need to create industrial
viability to provide the taxes that will be needed. It’s a complex puzzle. The
transportation needs of any such development must be addressed too, whether the
solution is road access or public transportation.

Water supplies and waste water management are essential to good planning. The
stigma of the Southwest Sewer District scandal still hangs over any planning to
create new sewers. This timidity on the part of policy makers may be
understandable, but that does not change the fact that these infrastructure
needs must be met.

Mr White spoke about the need to work with,and communicate with Nassau County
as well as the towns and villages of both counties. The Regional Plan
Association of New York is a big player in the city’s planning and has been
effectively guiding development for many years. A few years ago the RPA made an
outreach to Long Island to help us with issues that affect both regions. (the
RPA has also reached out to northern New Jersey and western Conecticutt). LIMBA
is a part of the RPA Long Island Committee, and we have been looking at issues
such as ferries, road and rail transportation. Seeing ourselves as part of a
larger region is useful and instructive. Mr White seems to have the scope and
technical trainning to take advantage of the input that is available.
We questioned Michael with the fact that planning in the past, as good as it may
have been, it went largely ignored. Our question to him why was "Why is this
time different?" His answer was that "We are probably ready". Maybe? We’ll see!

In Today’s Newsday
In today’s paper there was an article citing support by Senators Flanagan,
Trunzo, and Johnson for disgruntled activists who do not want to see a freight
rail/truck transfer at Pilgrim State. Blocking the building of that facility is
the wrong way to go. Politicians who demonstrate no vision and courage have sunk
the planning process in the past. Perhaps we are seeing more of the same.
LIMBA’s position on rail freight is established. We believe that more rail
freight will reduces wear and tear on our roads, cut down on pollution, reduce
air pollution and lower the cost of goods. LIMBA will give the Senators a forum
to explain their positions, if they are interested. We will publish exactly what
they say. I placed the calls to each of their offices this afternoon.
Pictured: Michael White and Ernie Fazio

NYIT Solar Decathlon Program; Mathew Mathosian Dan Ripka
2007-08-10 00:00
Members and friends
This morning we had a presentation about building energy efficient dwellings. NY
Institute of Technology’s Dan Rapka told us about The Solar Decathlon This is an
international competition to create the right design and combination of
technologies to create a low energy use house. The competition includes
prestigious engineering schools around the US and Europe. The NYIT entry was
built on the campus of NYIT and will be disassembled and reconstructed on The
Mall in Washington DC. NYIT alumnus and LIMBA Energy expert, John Eff introduced
the speakers.

Over the years we have seen the prospects of new sources of energy and new
ways to use this precious resource. Most of it was encouraging. The photo
voltaic technology has been a factor for about 40 years. Geothermal has been
around in some form or another an equally long time. Structural insulated panels
(SIP), as they are often referred to are also a known and trusted technology. So
if these avenues of energy conservation are so proven, why aren’t we using them
on a large scale? Actually we did not pose that question to our presenters this
morning, at least not directly. However we are now at a juncture that may make
these technologies more commonplace in our structures.

One of the technologies that I thought was very interesting is Geothermal.
Geothermal uses the same basic principles as a refrigerator or an air
conditioner. The system can extract room temperature (72 degrees) from the
ground in even subfreezing weather even though the ground may not be any warmer
than 55 degrees. In the summertime the system can extract room temperature (72
degrees) and the ground temperature is again 55 degrees. The mechanical
components are pumps and compressors. They are far more energy efficient than
traditional furnace and air conditioning technology and there is no on site
pollution.

Integrating Solar PV and Solar Thermal systems into homes that require
minimal energy by virtue of their designs. The idea that we supplant the energy
use in homes of a design that wastes energy is not the way to go. The Solar
Decathlon project takes advantage of the building "envelope" technology that
reduces the need for energy and then manufactures that energy, or efficiently
uses grid supplied power. By combining various technologies and then applying
highly sophisticated control systems we can deliver an energy efficient home
within reasonable costs. By doing all of these things in concert we can create a
better functioning home.- With all this the house is in a symbiotic relationship
with the utility grid, using grid power when needed.

The emphasis is on comfort, dependability, and cost. The implication is we do
not require a sacrifice in comfort to achieve what is needed for our times. We
can do more with less
