White Plains Resident Honored For Commitment to Sustainability
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach presented Ms. Gerry Angel of 64 Holbrooke Road, with her Gold LEED for Homes Certificate, along with a proclamation, declaring December 20th “Gerry Angel Day” in the City of White Plains at a ceremony held at her recently renovated home.
State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins sent a Proclamation as well congratulating Ms. Angel for her efforts in raising awareness on the benefits and need for more green residential construction. “It’s been a great experience working with Gerry Angel who generously opened her house to allow seminars and tours to bring awareness to environmentally conscious design,” said project architect Christina Griffin.
Achieving a LEED Gold Certification for this Green retrofit was very much a team effort. “Making a home environmentally responsible, energy efficient and beautifully designed requires teamwork,” added Murphy Brothers VP Sean Murphy, the contractors hired to do the job. “We happened to have been blessed to assemble quite a group of dedicated professionals.”
Murphy presented Angel with a Certificate of Merit on behalf the County Executive’s office in grateful appreciation for her commitment to sustainable building practices. “This is yet another outstanding example of the environmental consciousness of Westchester businesses and residents,” said County Executive Robert P. Astorino in a written statement. “LEED Gold certification is an important accomplishment, and I congratulate everyone involved with this renovation.”
Gerry Angel remarked that it is a privilege to live in this stunning LEED Gold retrofit of a 50’s ranch style home and truly hopes that others will be encouraged to create their own GREEN living environments. “The financial lesson learned from my experience is the need for local government to join the successful examples of Federal and State governments in offering homeowners incentives that will enable them to make sustainable energy efficient GREEN decisions when building, retrofitting or upgrading their homes,” said Angel.
Pasquale Strocchia, the project LEED verifier did note that Governor Cuomo approved into law last year, the Green Residential Building Property Tax Credit. While the law does not mandate local municipalities to offer property tax relief for LEED-certified homes, it does enable them to do so. Perhaps this is the first step toward local governments offering incentives for green residential projects.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
