WCBJ
WESTCHESTER COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNAL
YOUR only SOURCE FOR regional BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com
July 2, 2012 | VOL. 48, No. 27
Home building goes green, slowly BY PATRICK GALLAGHER pgallagher@westfairinc.com
C That week was spent in the Future Business Leaders Academy, held June 25-28 at Mercy for 20 students who will be high school seniors in the fall. Students took seminars with CEOs, Wall Street executives, nonprofit leaders and entrepreneurs. They took part in interactive exercises --- trading games, viral marketing, business plan competitions and team-building events – and also networked with young professionals from top
ontractors in White Plains are nearing completion on what they hope will be the third LEED-certified residential development in Westchester County. Among commercial developers, the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design certification system has gained widespread use since it was introduced 12 years ago by the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The newer LEED for Homes program is quickly gaining ground, though more slowly in Westchester. To date, there are nearly 46,000 LEEDcertified commercial and institutional properties across 120 countries that comprise more than 8.8 billion square feet of space. While the LEED residential program has only been in effect since 2008, more than 20,000 homes across the U.S. have already been certified, including 1,300 units at 285 developments in New York state. However, construction industry experts and a leading USGBC official said delays by the home appraisal industry in adopting changes that would attribute a fair value to homes featuring “green” components have stunted the program’s growth. “It is not just a LEED issue, it’s a green and an energy-efficient feature issue that has really held the industry back over the last several years,” said Nate Kredich, vice president of residential market development for
Mercy, page 6
Home building, page 6
New on the waterfront • 2
Wilson Kimball
Mercy dean is all business BY JANICE KIRKEL jkirkel@westfairinc.com
E
d Weis has only been dean of the business school at Mercy College since mid-May, but he spent much more time than that - 12 years - on Wall Street. He is used to life in the fast lane. Acting fast to boost Mercy’s stature, he has decided that the way to get the word out to prospective students about what the
school can offer is to bring them to campus and put them to work. “If you build it they will come, but not if they don’t know about it,” said Weis, a former managing director in investment banking at Merrill Lynch. “The millennials don’t trust advertising. We had to give them first-hand experience with what we can provide. Get to the juniors before they do their college applications. So we gave them an all-expensespaid week.”
a bag full of comfort • 25