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Peter Caradonna is trying his best to be an environmentally responsible architect. But his green principles have been a tough sell.
Even though colleagues, energy suppliers and even the government hail his ideas and agree it's time to start designing buildings with energy use and the environment in mind, the "green architecture" movement can't claim much headway yet on Long Island.
"It's hard to convince owners to spend the extra dollars," said Charles Baldassano, principal in The Baldassano Architectural group in Ronkonkoma, the Island's fourth largest architecture firm. Baldassano said he suggests green elements to most of his clients, but they often refuse, citing costs.
...Island, given its constant concerns about an energy shortage every hot and humid summer day.
Other elements of green architecture include building in developed areas that are within walking distance of basic services and public transportation so car pollutants are minimized. Still others: making use of high levels of insulation and rooftop water catchment systems that collect rainwater and reuse it for landscape irrigation.
Bert Cunningham, a spokesperson for the Long Island Power Authority, said LIPA is pushing for green elements by offering rebates and discounts to companies that incorporate geothermal heat pumps into their commercial facilities. These systems, such as the one used by Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, use energy stored in the earth to provide heating, cooling and hot water.
Baldassano said it's the "innate responsibility" of architects today to try to blend green elements into their designs in view of today's scarce resources and ever-present pollution.
The United States Green Building Council, a Washington-based industry group, focuses on the design and construction of buildings that are environmentally responsible and profitable. It established Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, a design process that outlines points that construction professionals should take into account. For example, LEED suggests a lighter shade of paint on the ceilings to increase the reflection of natural sunlight and reduce the need for lighting and energy use.
Last year, Gov. George Pataki issued an executive order encouraging state projects to use LEED elements. And a year earlier, the state Legislature enacted a law providing benefits to builders who incorporate "green" elements in their projects.
Caradonna, who received his bachelor's in architecture from New York Institute of Technology, said he is the only LEED-accredited professional in Suffolk County.
The son of architect, he was first introduced to the concept of green architecture while working at the New York City firm of John Ciardullo & Associates. The firm was asked to examine the Kensington Branch of the Brooklyn Public Lubrary and explore the possibile uses of green elements in the design.
"We didn't know what we were doing," Caradonna said, adding that the project never blossomed, although his interest in the green architecture did.
And after 10 years of trying to incorporate green elements in design at the city firm he moved to Setauket to found his own in March 2000.
Caradonna is married and has two children - his screensaver is an image of his boys, Aleksander, 7, and Laurence, 6. He said he doesn't want to leave them a tainted environment.
