Mount Pleasant Goes Electric With Summer Lawn Equipment
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Michael Gold
Mount Pleasant recently purchased $15,000 of electric lawn equipment for its parks and pools, another step in the town’s efforts to lower carbon emissions.
The leaf blowers, weed whackers and pruning chainsaws will be used primarily during the summer months, explained Gibson Craig, a member of the Mount Pleasant Conservation Advisory Council (CAC). Craig helped obtain a $15,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to buy the equipment.
Using the equipment during the summer means patrons at Mount Pleasant’s parks and pool-goers will enjoy a quieter experience, Craig said. These electric tools are less disruptive and require less maintenance, he explained.
To earn the NYSERDA grant, Mount Pleasant’s CAC directed a public awareness campaign to educate the public on the advantage of using heat pumps. It documented 15 town residents had installed heat pumps.
“In heat pumps that provide heat (heat pump furnaces), heat is absorbed from the air outside (even in New York’s sub-freezing temperatures) and is then amplified by an efficient heating process and sent indoors to heat your home,” the NYSERDA website states.
“In heat pumps that provide cool air (heat pump air conditioners), heat is absorbed and removed from the indoor living space, making the cold air added by the heat pump that much more effective,” NYSERDA states.
A big plus of heat pumps is that they don’t use fossil fuels. A homeowner who installs heat pumps will be free from paying an oil and gas company to heat their house in winter.
By earning the grant, Mount Pleasant had the option of spending it on lawn equipment, contributing toward the purchase of an electric vehicle, upgrading street lights to LED or performing studies and implementing upgrades to municipal buildings with energy efficient measures, Craig said.
“We gravitated toward lawn equipment, because it’s out in the open. People can see it,” Craig said.
“It’s part of the town’s strategy to lead by example,” he said. “The town has solar panels (at Town Hall and the pool) and electric car charging stations at Town Hall,” Craig pointed out. Mount Pleasant’s building inspector also drives a town-owned electric car.
“The town is really good at implementing bold, sustainable solutions,” Craig said.
Craig also serves on Pleasantville’s Climate Smart Committee (CSC). Pleasantville was awarded $35,000 in NYSERDA grants recently. Part of the grant was used for its gas lawn mower buyback program, Craig said. To earn the grant, Craig helped Pleasantville document 40 heat pump installations over a two-year period.
Craig grew up in Pleasantville and moved back in 2015. He joined the Mount Pleasant CAC because he wanted to volunteer his knowledge to the town, he explained.
“Whether it’s hiking, mountain biking, surfing, jogs in Rockefeller Park, being in and around nature has always been a personal passion of mine,” he wrote in an e-mail after our interview.
Also, he and a friend recently started a small beekeeping and maple syrup operation. They sell their honey at a Pleasantville deli.
“The CAC felt like a perfect fit for me,” he wrote. “The council provides a formal structure to advise on the development, management and protection of local natural resources, so it taps into my professional building background and personal passion for nature.”
“We live in an area that has a big need for quality housing and protection of local natural resources,” Craig explained. “Balancing both needs is tricky, and I do my best to help the CAC advise the town on these matters.”
Craig fuses his love for nature with his professional work, too. He’s a preconstruction director for a Westchester developer that builds sustainable, affordable housing. With degrees in architectural and structural engineering, he manages multifamily projects through the design phase.
The company recently completed a 109-unit apartment senior rental development in Tarrytown, with both geothermal and solar installations. The developer also recently built a 45-unit affordable housing residence in Scarsdale, with geothermal and solar systems designed to passive house standards.
“Passive houses require very little energy to achieve a comfortable temperature year-round, making conventional heating and air conditioning systems obsolete,” according to the International Passive House Association website.
The Scarsdale apartments have “very well-insulated windows” and are extremely energy efficient, Craig said. “The windows have three panes of glass.” Plus, the units have an additional two inches of insulation outside the walls, before the siding goes on.
“The additional insulation coupled with the HVAC system reduces the energy bills by more than half while keeping the apartments resistant to humidity and extreme hot and cold weather,” he said.
Michael Gold has had articles published in the New York Daily News, the Albany Times Union and other newspapers, and The Hardy Society Journal, a British literary publication.
Examiner Media – Keeping you informed with professionally-reported local news, features, and sports coverage.
