United States
I am a freelance reporter specializing in real estate, business, the transition to clean energy and climate change. I am a regular contributor to The New York Times and Energy News Network. My work has also frequently appeared in The Boston Globe, CNBC.com, Next City, and many other outlets/publications. I am the author of "Snob Zones: Fear, Prejudice and Real Estate" (Beacon Press, 2013).
Contact: [email protected]
The statewide community power coalition will become the state's second-largest electrical supplier this spring after it adds another 29 communities to the program.
Campuses across the nation are promoting the sustainable construction material as a low-carbon alternative to steel and concrete. It is included not only as a concept in the curriculum but also as a material in campus buildings.
As a state committee studies ways to wean RI off of fossil fuel gas, many members say switching to renewable natural gas should be off the table.
When it came time to clean out my parents' house to ready it for sale just over a year ago, my brother Rick was nowhere to be found. This, he said, was his silent protest.
Recent studies show that public utility commissions lack diversity, and appointees are more likely to have utility or fossil fuel connections than environmental backgrounds.
Employers are providing affordable housing to recruit employees as the extreme shortage of housing has caused rents and home prices to soar.
Looking to downsize from their home in Westport, Frederic Chiu and Jeanine Esposito strategized about the best way to downsize to find a forever home they could afford -- with room for a grand piano. These were their options.
A noise issue at a solar farm in East Windsor is already being leveraged by opponents, thanks to the failure of the site's owner to address it.
Vermont Gas Systems is offering to install electric heat pumps in their customers' homes, the latest example of how state policy is nudging the utility to adapt its business model.
Throughout affluent Fairfield County, local residents and elected officials are seeking to block large housing projects, warning that increased density could change the character of their towns.
Long a proponent of allowing the free market to dictate energy sources and prices, the administration of Gov. Chris Sununu is now having second thoughts. The governor wants to allow utilities to buy power directly from generators, instead of relying on regional wholesale markets.
A freshman lawmaker in Rhode Island has opened a provocative discussion: why not mandate solar panels on most new construction?
Hoping to tap into the billions of dollars in federal incentives coming available for renewable energy projects, Connecticut is preparing to lay out a strategic plan for developing a clean hydrogen economy. But first they have to define it.
When it comes to the availability of electric vehicle chargers, New Hampshire is a "charging desert," which tourism officials worry may soon discourage out-of-state vacationers.
A group that sought to create Connecticut's first experiment in collaborative living fell short. Some of the investors lost their life savings. What went wrong?
A new study headed by National Grid will pinpoint future critical charging locations along highways in nine Northeast states.
New Hampshire is "rolling out the welcome mat" for the so-called advanced recycling of plastics, but skeptics are calling for tighter regulation of the process.
Vermont’s only natural gas company is exploring possible sites for its first fossil-fuel-free, networked geothermal project, a heating and cooling technology that could be a natural fit for a company already skilled at designing and constructing piping systems.
Rhode Island's top utility regulator says a statewide moratorium on new gas hookups is on the table as the state works to meet its ambitious climate goals.
For the fourth year in a row, Democratic lawmakers and their allies in New Hampshire will push for the state to join the rest of New England in codifying state-level greenhouse gas reduction goals.
With more than 2,800 new housing units approved in the last three years, 'Port Chester is certainly on the move.' Not everyone is happy about it.
The non-profit WindowDressers, based in Maine, assembles volunteers to produce thousands of low-cost, energy-saving window inserts in four New England states every fall.
Kenneth McKinney planned to cover the south-facing back roof of his home in Granby, Connecticut with solar panels. His homeowner's association rejected the idea. But a little-known state law makes such prohibitions illegal.
This former manufacturing center in New Haven County is gaining popularity with New Yorkers, thanks to its relative affordability and ongoing efforts at revitalization.
New England's reliance on natural gas for electricity generation is expected to cost the region dearly this winter. Political leaders in Connecticut and other states are frustrated with the inability to get transmission lines approved through Maine and New Hampshire.
Green Mountain Power's resiliency zone initiative is creating durable microgrids in areas most vulnerable to outages during severe weather.
Accessory dwelling units, long popular on the West Coast, are coming to the Northeast. And high-priced Princeton, N.J., seeking to replenish the 'missing middle' of housing, is the guinea pig.
Years of work crafting climate and clean energy plans have left New England states in a prime position to take advantage of renewable energy incentives in the historic climate bill enacted by Congress over the summer, advocates say.
Taking its cues from a successful program in Connecticut, Rhode Island is poised to launch a new initiative to deploy solar and reduce electricity costs in homes owned by low- to moderate-income residents.
More cities are adopting deconstruction ordinances that require older homes to be taken down for salvageable parts, but they face challenges in trying to expand their efforts.
Researchers at the University of Vermont have made a potentially lucrative discovery: saffron can successfully be grown around a solar array.
A developer converting a Brutalist office building in New Haven, Conn., into a hotel with net-zero energy standards hopes it will be a model for the industry.
The largest electric distribution co-op in New England is experimenting with real-time energy rates meant to help members wring more value out of their electric vehicles and battery storage devices.
Rhode Island utility regulators are beginning to consider what the state's mandate to zero out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 means for its natural gas system. Changes could include a moratorium on new hookups and incentives for renewable natural gas.
Aiming to reduce mercury hazards and boost energy efficiency, Vermont will prohibit the sale of the long, tube-shaped fluorescent lamps that light up supermarkets, office buildings and classrooms as of January 2024.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu's administration is taking aim at the five other New England states, blaming their investments in renewable energy for higher electricity costs regionwide. Clean energy experts say that message is completely off base.
Connecticut residents who struggle to pay their energy bills often suffer from physical and mental health issues as a result.
Electric heat pumps are moving front and center in Connecticut's energy efficiency program as the state seeks to speed adoption with a free consultation service and significant rebates.
Dartmouth College is one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters in New Hampshire, but at an innovation and technology festival last month, the Ivy League institution showcased its efforts to reduce that footprint.
The U.S. Dept. of Energy will award $10 million for research into "energy sheds," a concept borrowed from hydrology to study how the increasingly complex grid system works.
A new consortium in Vermont aims to capitalize on the state's compact size and collaborative culture to make it a national role model for clean energy innovation.
A proposal from New England's grid operator to delay a key reform that would enable more renewable energy sources to bid into the capacity market is prompting a torrent of protests in a proceeding before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Connecticut regulators want to immediately halt a ratepayer-funded program that incentivizes homeowners and businesses to convert to natural gas.
A years-long study to determine a fair rate to pay New Hampshire utility customers for their unused solar power and other generation is nearing completion, but some Republican state lawmakers don't want to wait.
The day after Rhode Island regulators approved the proposed sale of the state's largest gas and electricity distribution utility, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha filed for an emergency stay of the decision pending an appeal over the buyer's climate commitments.
A new study from researchers at Brown University found that powerful utility and business interests routinely oppose environmental and clean energy legislation in Connecticut, while the public overwhelmingly supports such measures.
National Grid is looking to recruit as many as 50 grocery stores in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to test an artificial intelligence software platform designed to lower their refrigeration energy use during peak demand periods, thereby reducing their costs and easing stress on the electrical grid.
Children in seven environmental justice communities in Connecticut will soon be breathing fewer diesel fumes thanks to the latest round of state grants from the Volkswagen settlement funds.
A broad-based zoning reform movement is gathering momentum in Connecticut, as racial justice activists step up their efforts to break down barriers to affordable housing and economic opportunity at a time of national awakening around such issues.
As the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, known as RGGI, undergoes a thorough review by participating states, environmental advocates are demanding more ambitious emission reduction targets and a mandate for equitable distribution of the revenues.
New Hampshire is the latest state to adopt a law that prohibits any type of restriction on new natural gas hookups, a fossil fuel industry-driven legislative effort that now extends across 20 states.
The pandemic has turned cleaning and other mundane building tasks into a challenge, stoking interest in autonomous robots as cost-effective solutions.
The Rhode Island Attorney General's Office says state regulators should block the sale of the state's largest electric distribution utility until the buyer assures that it can comply with the state's ambitious new climate law.
A new study finds that Connecticut could generate a third of its electricity consumption with solar canopies built over large parking lots.
Sharon Gold loves her Chevy Volt, but charging it is hardly convenient. Like many renters, she can't charge at home. That lack of access is a barrier to EV adoption, and one state officials hope to ease with a new charging infrastructure plan.
A proposal to site a 9.66-megawatt fuel cell power plant in the South End of Bridgeport is drawing fire from residents who say the neighborhood already hosts more than its share of industrial facilities.
Greenhouse gas emissions from heating and cooling buildings continue to rise in Connecticut despite the state's efforts to improve energy efficiency. Climate activists are calling for an end to gas-heating subsidies, and more focus on electric heat pumps.
Thomas Melone is president of a Connecticut solar company. He is also a lawyer. And between the two, observers say, he is something of an enigma.
A bill signed into law last week will require electric distribution companies to solicit 30 megawatts of new generation from fuel cells powered by natural gas. Critics say the state should not be subsidizing 'dirty energy.'
Grey Sail Brewing is the second craft brewery in New England to install carbon-capturing technology specially designed for microbreweries.
Offshore wind developers are reassessing projects with new confidence about their timelines following the Biden administration's approval this week of the country's first large-scale offshore wind project.
As more large-scale solar projects line up for connections, developers are being charged upfront for the full cost of the infrastructure upgrades required, a long-common practice that they say is now becoming untenable.
Connecticut homebuilders are pushing back against legislation that would allow municipalities to require new buildings to meet high efficiency standards.
Several projects before the state's siting board propose integrating grazing sheep with photovoltaic installations located on prime farmland.
Almost a year after nine wind turbines began spinning atop the Tuttle Hill ridgeline in the small town of Antrim, few area residents appear to have changed their minds about the hotly debated project.
Thousands of New Yorkers left the city and headed to the suburbs during the pandemic, and real estate there hasn't been the same since.
A voluntary benchmarking program launched a few years ago hasn't caught on with commercial building owners, so city leaders want to make it mandatory.
Opponents of the planned Killingly Energy Center want Gov. Ned Lamont to intervene to block the 650-megawatt project.
Research conducted by fishermen in collaboration with Orsted concluded that construction of 35 wind turbines off the coast of England had no impact on the area's highly productive lobster fishing grounds.
Women remain severely underrepresented in senior real estate development and investment roles. The 'she build' could help change that.
One of the most comprehensive studies to date on how solar projects affect housing values suggests that siting large arrays on suburban greenspace can harm home values within a 1-mile radius.
Fearing the spread of Covid-19, many towns in Connecticut and Long Island are trying to keep nonresidents off the sand, butting up against legal mandates that require them to maintain public access.
Green banks are offering businesses like Rhode Island's Green Line Apothecary a chance to borrow against previous investments in energy-saving upgrades.
Sustainable engineered wood products are starting to turn up in large-scale construction projects in New England, as architects, developers and institutions look for ways to reduce the building industry's substantial carbon footprint.
A fire destroyed the Treadmark apartment building in Dorchester, Mass. just days before opening. The developer overcame a host of challenges in order to rebuild.
Since becoming chair of the state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority last year, Marissa Gillett has supercharged efforts around modernizing Connecticut's electric grid and vowed to reform the utility landscape.
The Connecticut Green Bank will bring to market about $16 million in "mini" green bonds, a new way to generate capital for clean energy projects while also engaging the public.
After decades of unreliable power, a new utility model and a connection to the mainland grid has boosted reliability. Now comes a focus on efficiency.
Colby College is aiming to supercharge an economic revival in Waterville, Maine by pumping tens of millions into the hollowed-out downtown.
Under Gov. Chris Sununu, the Granite State has attained an increasingly conspicuous position as an outlier within a region that is otherwise fairly proactive on climate change goals.
Proposals for large solar facilities routinely generate opposition from nearby homeowners who fear the impact on their property values. But some data suggests the impact is generally minimal.
As schools focus more on safety, some architects are pushing back against a rush to load buildings with security equipment. They are calling for transparency over isolation.
As Danish wind giant Ørsted prepares to open an offshore wind "innovation hub" in Providence, some business and economic development leaders hope it could help seed a much larger "blue tech" sector in the state.
Walls are a particularly sensitive subject these days, given the national conversation. In New Canaan, a slab of concrete in the center of town has many residents fuming.
A state report released in April sets out a pathway for getting at least 10 times as many electric vehicles on Connecticut roadways by 2025. Gaining traction toward that target will be difficult as the country slides into recession.
Residents of an affordable housing development under construction in Providence, RI, will get more than a break on the home price - they will have zero energy bills.
As wireless technology changes how and where people do their jobs, giving many the freedom to work remotely at least part of the time, so too is it changing their thinking about real estate.
Boothbay Harbor is deeply divided over a wealthy businessman's push to open up the town's working waterfront to hotel development. Similar clashes are playing out down the coast.
An ongoing study of how the country's first offshore wind farm is affecting recreational anglers so far points toward a fairly peaceful coexistence.
Student housing is shifting away from recreational dazzle and toward amenities that reflect the gig economy: stronger Wi-Fi, room for collaboration and 3-D printers.
As tiny living becomes more popular, tiny-house owners are discovering an outsize problem: finding somewhere to put down roots.
The heating oil industry sees biodiesel as the key to lowering its emissions, but environmental groups say it's more complicated.
Athletic shoe companies are using dazzling work spaces to attract design talent in the sneaker hub of Boston.
This modern, concrete-and-glass home stretches horizontally across the South West England landscape, providing sweeping views of the Wye Valley below.
At the local level, would-be medical dispensary operators routinely encounter layers of regulations, if not moratoriums or outright bans, as well as angry neighbors.
The state of CT has siphoned more than $100 million in energy efficiency funds over the last two years to balance the budget. Meanwhile, the state of Vermont is expanding a similar program.
Households of renters aged 60 and up swelled by 43% over the past decade, more than any other age group.
The house that Bruce Beinfield built overlooking a picturesque tidal estuary in Connecticut comes with a whimsical barn-themed facade and a contentious back story.
Venture capital investment in 'proptech' is soaring, and New York City is the global hub.
Nonprofits that deliver healthy meals to the chronically ill are expanding in cities like Boston, where Community Servings' new facility will churn out 1.5 million meals annually.
A growing number of cities and towns are using marketing campaigns and social media blitzes to spruce up their image and attract younger residents.
When it comes to tiny houses, the future is female.
The transportation technology revolution is a major issue for universities, as they wrestle with how and whether to add parking.
The 19th-century Manchester Millyard, in NH, is a fertile ecosystem for tech firms, and the site of a new institute focused on the biofabrication of human tissue and organs.
In Lake Dallas, Texas, people are lining up to get a spot in what could be the country's first city-sanctioned tiny home community.
A modern farmhouse brings creature comforts and urbane style to a rustic setting.
A Connecticut architect is accused of wanting to erect "a monstrosity on stilts" in a tidal estuary known as Farm Creek.
Hartford Flavor Co. represents just the sort of grass-roots success story that Connecticut hopes to cultivate through a new grant program aimed at creating innovation places.
The mutual fund investor Charles M. Royce has spent millions buying up properties in this waterfront community. But vague downtown plans have stalled, worrying residents.
Gentrification is creating tension in this former industrial center, particularly as the village considers its biggest development proposal yet.
Most boards overseeing NYC co-ops and condos do not have anti-harassment policies in place for building employees. That's a big risk.
On the site of the Big Dig, Boston is welcoming the first 100 percent income-restricted development to be built downtown in 25 years.
A $1.85 million addition to a waterfront home has quite literally put a wedge between the homeowners and their neighbors.
When New Canaan's historic Maples Inn collapsed during renovation, the developer blamed high winds. A subsequent investigation came to a different conclusion: negligence.
A couple tried to build affordable housing in lily-white Darien, Conn. Then it got ugly.
A developer is remaking the dull corridors around the Fenway ball park, while playing up its grittier side and catering to a young demographic.
In Connecticut's Litchfield County, builders cater to wealthy weekenders with homes constructed from barns moved from elsewhere.
Life at Dreamy Hollow, a 164-unit co-op in Norwalk, Conn., has often been nightmarish, due to heavy debt and lax management. Now, it faces dissolution.
What happens when a divorcing couple meet a slow housing market? Usually, it's not pretty.
The $15.3 million makeover of the Commons, which had not changed much in 40 years, is both emblematic of and a stimulus for the rapidly changing face of downtown Ithaca.
New Haven, Conn., is converting an urban-renewal-era highway spur into a walkable boulevard, opening up 10 acres for development.
Real estate websites increasingly cater to home buyers who have both the desire and the ability to cherry-pick their surroundings.
A bid for affordable housing upsets the social order in northern Maine.
From its eyeglasses logo to its “Food for Thought” room service menu, the Study at Yale aims to make guests feel connected to their Ivy League surroundings.
The hall’s contemporary wood-and-glass design is defined by a roof slanted like the sweeping curve of a wave.
Of the estimated 11.1 million illegal immigrants in the United States, an estimated 3 million would buy homes if they became legal residents.
The housing markets in Edinburgh and Glasgow are strong, thanks in part to a UK economy that is performing better than expected.