(By Michael Fairlie - Long Island Business News) - Many Long Island businesses and residents have taken steps to use less energy and otherwise reduce their carbon footprint. But if you don't know how much you're impacting the planet in the first place, how do you know if you're improving?

Multiple organizations have recently launched programs to assess the energy usage and other environmental impacts of individual buildings, companies and the whole region, with the goal of creating a basis of comparison to gauge improvements going forward.

"Benchmarking is a great analytical tool that establishes a baseline for the energy usage profile of a building," said Rudy Holesek, founder and president of Apollo HV AC Corp. in Bay Shore.  

Holesek also serves as vice president of the commercial real estate trade group BOMA-Long Island, which advises its members on bench-marking and sustainability initiatives, among other matters. "You can compare the energy efficiency of your building to others in the region. Through the use of ECMs [energy conservation measures], you can see where to go to improve your building," said Holesek, who encourages building owners to use the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Star Portfolio Manager, which allows them to compare their building to similar structures nationwide, with the goal of elevating their efficiency rating.

"Most people don't realize how far you can go with the Energy Star system," Holesek said. "It is one of the easiest and most effective energy-saving tools that helps in finding simple things that are often over-looked. You can register your building and plug it in online in order to track and assess energy consumption."

Holesek also advises companies to con-tact the Long Island Power Authority, which, through its Commercial Efficiency Program, will provide rebates of up to $50,000 for complex energy efficiency projects.

In February, the New York Institute of Technology released the results of its Long Island Carbon Footprint Project. The goal of the study, funded by a grant from the Garden City-based Rauch Foundation, was to update and improve upon a carbon foot-print study performed on Long Island by the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives in 2005.

"Through the hard work of graduate students in the energy management and environmental technology programs, we were able to establish and compare energy use and resultant greenhouse gas emissions on Long Island for 2010 with the baseline year of 2005," said Greg Banhazl, director of business development for Old Westbury-based NYIT.

The findings of the study point to a 9.75 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 to 2010, which Banhazl said was encouraging, while acknowledging there is much work left to do.

Utilizing the 2010 data compiled by NYIT as a baseline, two state initiatives -the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's Cleaner Greener Communities and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Climate Smart Communities -were-launched with the goal of reducing green-house gas emissions.

Farmingdale-based Sustainable Long Island recently embarked on a project to help the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System measure and reduce its carbon footprint. Funded with a $20,000 grant from the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute's Community Grants Program Committee, the Carbon Foot-print Challenge is aimed at increasing awareness of pollution prevention through the education of workers on all levels of the health system and the sharing of strategies to reduce pollution and improve sustainability.

According to Engel, 54 percent of participants indicated that the tips, resources and mobile apps distributed through the initiative helped them in taking steps to-ward sustainability at home and at work. Another 32 percent of respondents found the resources "somewhat" helpful. Six in 10 respondents said the project helped to raise their awareness of actions that can be taken to improve sustainability.

"We are most excited about being successful in getting the message across to participants that they can personally make a positive impact through their actions in the home and in the workplace," Engel said.

Along with project partners, Sustainable Long Island is excited to announce it is a part of one of the winning teams for NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's New York State Community Reconstruction Zones (CRZ) program.

This bottom-up, community driven program will empower localities that were severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, or Tropical Storm Lee to develop comprehensive and innovative local rebuilding plans that will be funded by the state and federal government. The program will be funded by Federal Supplemental disaster aid fought for by Governor Cuomo and approved by Congress and signed by the President earlier this year.

To develop its rebuilding plan, a specific community will convene a CRZ Planning Committee, which will include a representative from the County, Town or Village, elected legislative representatives, local residents, and local community, academic and business leaders. The development of a successful plan will qualify a community to receive further federal funding to implement identified projects. The State will conduct workshops to help the Planning Committees develop their plans.

The planning process is expected to take approximately eight months and will include the following important steps:

• Asset Inventory
• Public Engagement
• Risk Assessment
• Needs and Opportunities Assessment
• Strategies for Investment and Action
• Implementation Schedule
• Assessment of risk to key assets and systems
• Projects and actions to restore and increase the resilience of key assets
• Protection of vulnerable populations 
• Projects with economic growth co-benefits
• Regional coordination
• Detailed implementation agendas 

The City of Long Beach and Sustainable Long Island invite all Long Beach Residents to an upcoming community meeting to discuss the inclusion of a community garden in the reconstruction of Leroy Conyers Playground. Sustainable Long Island's community gardens initiative is funded by Bank of America. 

Monday, July 8, 2013 | 7:00PM

Christian Light Missionary Church

620 Rev. JJ Evans Blvd

Long Beach, NY 11561

Discussion will include: 

• What is a community garden?
• How does it benefit the community?
• Why is it being proposed at this site?

A community garden is defined as a public or private land upon which citizens of the state have the opportunity to garden on lands which they do not individually own. Some of the benefits of community gardens include:

• Improving the quality of life for all involved 
• Providing a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
• Stimulating social interaction
• Encouraging self-reliance
• Beautifying neighborhoods 
• Producing nutritious foods
• Preserving green space
• Spuring economic development
• Promoting a sense of place
• Reducing local crime   

Please help spread the word and check out the flyer here! 

The U.S. Housing Market Conditions (USHMC) quarterly report, compiled by economists from HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, has transitioned from a print report to a more user-friendly online resource.  

The timeliness, accessibility of data, and organization of the website is substantially improved in the new digital format.

The new USHMC interactive website is organized into three sections: national, regional, and local. The national section allows users to access data and view charts of national housing market indicators, and also includes a quarterly National Summary from PD&R's housing market research team. The regional and local sections provide online users with easy access to PD&R's regional and local reports and data sources, including the Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis and Market-at-a-Glance.

Other features of the USHMC web page include links to PD&R's quarterly briefings on national housing market indicators and the monthly National Housing Scorecard reports prepared by HUD and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.