Greenpoint Business Environmental Stewardship Project

In 2015, through a competitive process, ITAC received a $99,998 GCEF grant (and provided $197,812 in matching funds) to improve Greenpoint’s environment by helping businesses implement environmentally- and financially-beneficial improvements. The project focused on working with local manufacturing companies in Greenpoint to identify and implement green improvements that would provide sustained environmental benefits for the community.

Project activities funded through GCEF included: working with community partners, including the local Chamber of Commerce, to engage the Greenpoint manufacturing community in learning about sustainable best practices; screening up to 10 companies in Greenpoint for participation in the project, and providing three of the businesses with additional assessment and implementation support to green their manufacturing operations.

Improvements achieved through the grant’s lifecycle include:

• Development of a “Sustainable Supplier Program” for Argosy Designs, a Greenpoint metal fabricator, to enhance the sustainability of the company’s supply chain and meet customer demand for sustainably-sourced products;
• Creation of an alternative cookie recipe model at Ovenly, a Greenpoint bakery, that increased the useable finished product, thereby reducing waste generation, as well as providing operational savings and increased revenue; and
• Optimization of the layout of a walk-in freezer at Van Leeuwen, a Greenpoint ice cream manufacturer, and creation of an easy-to-use inventory management system resulting in energy reductions of 10% or more, and an increase in the useful life of the freezer equipment.

The case studies of the environmental improvements achieved by the three companies were presented by ITAC at a workshop on sustainable manufacturing best practices that was attended by local Greenpoint businesses, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and a local economic development corporation.

Photo Above: Dennis Hurd, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

• Invited 35 Greenpoint manufacturing firms to attend an orientation event to learn about best practices for environmental sustainability
• Screened up to 10 Greenpoint area manufacturing companies to identify those with the largest potential for environmental improvement in their manufacturing processes
• Conducted process assessments at 3 selected businesses, and provided direct financial and technical assistance to these businesses to reduce the environmental impact of their manufacturing processes
• Prepared 3 case studies  on improvements made by the selected companies, such as enhancing the quality of their water and air emissions, reducing toxic chemicals and waste streams, and increasing the efficiency of their use of resources
• Presented case studies on the environmental improvements achieved by all 3 companies at a workshop on sustainable manufacturing best practices

• Greenpoint Business Environmental Stewardship: Case Studies – Argosy, Ovenly, Van Leeuwen