Why isn't your building going solar? Blame the expediters
Though somewhat discombobulated by the acronyms and energy politics soaring around the Cleantech Corridor solar energy panel we attended last night, BrickUnderground managed to latch on to two related tidbits.
Two years ago, near the beginning of his solar energy education, Mayor Bloomberg himself apparently had no idea what an expediter was (if you don't either, read our own Expediters: A profession built on a Kafka-esque nightmare).
More importantly, the cost of expediters--along with the other expensive red tape involved in obtaining Department of Buildings approval--has prompted one prominent solar energy installer, Quixotic Systems Inc., to steer clear of NYC residential buildings altogether, said the company's founder, Richard Klein.
To be fair, there are a few more reasons why more NYC apartment buildings aren't flaunting solar panels yet, or even contemplating it. The learning curve is steep, operating budgets are already under siege and the payoff in energy savings isn't immediate enough to offset the installation.
"Hopefully, newly proposed legislation will make solar energy more feasible for developers and owners in New York," says real estate attorney Jerome Strelov of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, which has been a supporter of Cleantech Corridor since the firm's Jerry Spiegel helped found the not-for-profit two years ago.
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