BEACON RECORD The Village
Mount Sinai • Miller Place • Sound Beach • rocky Point • ShorehaM • Wading river • leiSure country July 30, 2015
volume 31, no. 1
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Flying through summer
Historic Amusement Parks of Long Island also: ‘The Cottage’ in Northport; beautiful babies; Stony Brook Film Festival winners announced
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Photo by giselle Barkley
Believe it or not, the sun is setting on July and only a month of summer fun remains. above, children enjoy a ride at the terryville Fire department’s annual July carnival on Friday. See more photos on page A8.
Homes for heroes Suffolk County fights veteran homelessness
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NY’s first net-zero energy use store opens in Miller Place By victoria eSPinoza
The first net-zero energy use store in New York opened in Miller Place on Friday. Brinkmann True Value Hardware is the first building in the state to earn the net-zero status, according to PSEG Long Island. This means the total amount of annual energy used is approximately equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the property. Local elected officials, members of PSEG Long Island and GreenLogic Energy, a renewable energy design and installation company, attended the grand opening.
“We were always interested in solar power, but when we met Al, it grew into something bigger. Net-zero energy got in our head; as soon as we heard of the idea, we fell in love with it,” coowner Ben Brinkmann said. Al, or Albert Harsch, renewable energy consultant for GreenLogic Energy, was very excited to see the idea come to fruition. “It stands as an example of what businesses can do on Long Island and I want to congratulate the Brinkmann family for being pioneers in this.” GreenLogic Energy was contracted by the Brinkmann family to design and enhance the
Photo by Victoria espinoza
Brinkmann true value hardware in Miller Place celebrates its grand opening on Friday.
different technologies needed to effectively and efficiently create a net-zero result. During the planning and construction phase, the family also worked with PSEG, through the utility’s Commercial Efficiency Program, which
offers resources as well as rebates to customers who install energy-efficient equipment. The Brinkmann family was surprised to find out that they were the first net-zero building not only in their industry, but also the NeT-ZeRO continued on page a10