Creativity with a Purpose: A Green Corridor Vision for Kingston

July 5th, 2011

With such a vibrant arts and new media community, Kingston’s is a natural creative economy.  But so are many places.  To stand out, Kingston’s creative economy would benefit from asking the question, “What for?”   In other words, creativity is good, but creativity with a unifying purpose might be even better. 

Solar Trash compactors on Broadway

The City’s Climate Smart Community/ Green Jobs Pledge offers one answer to that question.   Through this forward-thinking pledge – created by the Department of Environmental Conservation and signed by over 93 local governments –  Kingston is committed to energy conservation and innovation, water efficiency, improved recycling, transportation alternatives,  and planning to adapt to unpreventable climate change risks such as increased storms and floods.  All this environmental virtue comes straight home in the potential for jobs – for energy-efficiency technicians and trainers; installers of solar, geothermal, and maybe wind power; architects, engineers and landscape architects; historic preservation specialists; bike rental shops and more.  That is, the Pledge will create jobs if we are successful in translating vision into economic development strategy, to support and expand our local businesses in these arenas. 

Geothermal at the Kirkland Hotel

Several years ago, a group of us started exploring how to grow those green jobs, beginning with the heart of the City, the Broadway Corridor.  We were not only motivated by virtue, but by money!  We had an opportunity to propose green building demonstration projects for consideration by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York’s green building program.  We began by identifying some existing models of energy-efficiency and green innovations:

  • The Kirkland Hotel,  a restored, 17th century boardinghouse with geothermal energy and pervious pavement to manage rainwater;
  • Seven21 Media Center,  which has experimented with rooftop gardening;
  • Benedictine Hospital’s Oncology Support Center,  designed green by health care architect Robin Guenther, a part-time resident of Kingston;
  • The Ulster County Building and Kingston City Hall, both early adopters of energy audits and upgrades. 

We also talked with the owners of local businesses like Monkey Joe Coffee Roasters, who have taken serious steps to offer green products and supplies; Darmstadt Overhead Doors, a pioneer in going solar;  Lowe Plumbing and Heating where you can buy a geothermal heat pump or thermostat timer; and Kingston Kitchen and Restaurant Supply, where you can replace your disposable coffee filters with a nice mesh brewing basket, and get information on appliance energy efficiency.

Carnegie Library under contruction

Since our conversations began, the hospital has installed a major solar hot water system with help from The Solar Energy Consortium; the King’s Inn site has been the focus of a design charrette for the creation of a mixed-use live/work space; the Land Trust’s community gardening program has blossomed; and construction has begun on the Carnegie Library, set to become a teaching center for arts and technology.   With Guy Kempe of Rural Ulster Preservation Company as the ambassador, Kingston’s collaborative efforts have been highlighted at the National Main Streets Conference. 

The Green Innovations Committee has just met once (and welcomes new participants). Our initial brainstorms include:

  • Create a model district – a “green corridor” – with visible demonstration projects of technology, building restoration, and landscaping;
  • Include space(s) for exhibits and business incubation;
  • Assess the feasibility of a Zero Net Energy District that produces its own clean energy, as they’re working on in Fort Collins, CO (www.fortzed.com) and other places;
  • Strengthen university/community connections, starting by locally promoting the clean energy training available at SUNY Ulster’s Business Resource Center (www.sustainhv.org/cettc)
  • Consider industries that bring multiple benefits, such as solar-powered urban greenhouses that can produce food, green roof plants & more
  • Integrate these ideas with the City’s key focus on arts and digital media;
  • Advocate for local policies to strengthen the green economy and build the tax base.

Does all this green stuff threaten the city’s priority focus on arts?  Not for a second!   Just think of all the ways that arts and innovation can complement each other.  For example,  arts can make a community more welcoming to cleantech knowledge workers, as this video on Iowa City shows.  What’s more,  the creative aspects of green building – from architecture to furniture design to landscape – can be one of its strongest selling points.   Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) provide a special connection for creativity, as illustrated by Atlantis SunSlates (with manufacturing and sales office in Poughkeepsie):  Build it and they’ll come?  Not exactly.  The Green Corridor is coming to life as we realize how much innovation is already here.

 -By Melissa Everett, Ph.D., Coordinator, Green Innovations Committee, Kingston Climate Action Task Force

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Kingston Goes Clean and Green

April 19th, 2010

Many local businesses are committed to making Kingston a cleaner, greener city. Dominick Vanacore, owner of Dominick’s Cafe and Dream Weavers, corner of Wall and North Front. Vanacore spends $500 a week on tidying up his corner of the city. Keeping your storefront polished and shiny and sidewalk swept clean is a no-brainer–good for business and also an expression of pride in a city “that’s one of the most historic places in the U.S.,” he said.

 

Down on Abeel Street, in the Rondout, Merle Borenstein, owner of Armadillo Bar and Grill, recycles as much waste as she can and also composts vegetable scraps and other organic waste. For the last three years, Merle has planted a garden on an adjacent lot, with the help of several volunteers. She is arranging to have Kingston children visit and participate. In past years, the garden has been planted with arugula, peppers, herbs, eggplants, chives, beets and tomatoes, all of which are used by the chef.

 Gabe Cicale, owner of Monkey Joe Roasting Company, 478 Broadway, is doing his best to shrink his carbon footprint. The café and coffee wholesaler purchases wind power for all of its electricity needs, even though it adds 12 to 15 percent cost to the utility bill. All plastic cups are recycled and Monkey Joe’s encourages customers to bring their own reusable cups and bags for purchasing coffee (the store also sells reusable packaging). Grounds are collected in five-gallon buckets and given away to composters (including to the Seven21 Media Center, which has a rooftop garden). Coffee chaff from the roasted beans is also collected and composted. People can purchase jute coffee bags as mulch for a small donation, with the proceeds going to charitable groups in coffee-growing communities.

 Monkey Joe’s doesn’t sell any drinks in plastic bottles, and it doesn’t offer disposal cup sleeves. (Customers can purchase reusable ones.) Each year on Earth Day the café sponsors a gift drawing for its regular customers, including a grand prize (this year’s it’s a hybrid bike). “We need to minimize as much as possible what we’re leaving behind,” Cicale said. “We’re trying to set an example.”

 A couple blocks away, Gwen Sorensen, co-owner of Stone Soup Restaurant Company, at 470 Broadway, is also a committed recycler. “We recycle everything and we compost as well,” she said, noting that organic scraps are given away to a local resident who uses the compost in her garden. Sorensen said litter is a constant problem and the city desperately needs to install more trash and recycling cans on the street.

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