The Green Father: Jimmy Carchietta’s Sustainability Mission
By: James Meade
The Cotocon Group, a leading sustainability consulting firm, was founded in 2010 by New Yorker Jimmy Carchietta to provide turnkey solutions for clients in the commercial and residential building space, to maximize peak performance and devise strategies for sustainable and low carbon-footprint buildings throughout the United States.
Carchietta’s strong passion for green and energy-efficient buildings and his inspiration to work in the sustainable building space comes from his 25 years of experience in large-scale contracting and his young sons’ diagnosis of a rare cancer attributed to environmental contamination on Long Island. This personal crisis radicalized his consciousness and set him on the path of renewed climate responsibility and stewardess for his family and the broader environment.
A landmark climate law will come into effect in 2025, known as Local Law 97, as part of a plan to make New York City carbon neutral by 2050. The law sets aggressive emissions restrictions on buildings, which account for nearly 70% of the city’s carbon pollution and will impose fines on owners and landlords who do not reach emission-reducing goals. The Cotocon Group has the broad and seasoned expertise to negotiate and work with every element and take a building to sustainability, whether it’s a newly constructed building or a building to be renovated and retrofitted to green standards.
Cotocon is working with clients in New York to cut through the complexity of NYC’s decarbonization compliance by clarifying the ever-changing laws, initiatives & regulatory requirements throughout clients’ highly diversified real estate portfolios. Cotocon helps owners, managers & developers reduce energy costs and GHG emissions and increase asset values. The company works with city partners such as Con Edison, NYSERDA, PSEG-LI(TA), ENERGY STAR and National Grid’s EV Make Ready Program.
About Jimmy Carchietta LEED AP+ BD&C, CPHC, founder of COTOCON Group
Jimmy Carchietta’s strong passion for green and energy-efficient buildings is rooted in his love and devotion to his family and his 25 years of experience in large-scale contracting. As an infant, Carchietta’s eldest son was diagnosed with a rare cancer attributed to environmental contamination on Long Island. This crisis radicalized Carchietta’s consciousness and led him to create the Cotocon Group. He encountered a renewed sense of responsibility for the environment that would extend to his children and the world we would all inherit. With his practical, real-world building experience, he saw what he was destined to accomplish and decided to enter and contribute towards a greener built environment.
Carchietta began working with green building technology in 1995, when, as owner, he built one of the first solid waste management facilities on Long Island. This Department of Energy and Conservation (DEC)- approved concrete recycling facility processed nearly 2,000 tons of waste a day. Carchietta’s concrete recycling facility led to other large-scale environmental projects, such as the construction of a wastewater treatment facility for the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and an iron removal facility for the Long Island Water Authority.
Today, Mr. Carchietta members the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the USGBC – Long Island Chapter and NYC’s Urban Green Council, the NYC chapter of the USGBC, the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA); and also members -the Associated General Contractors of America (AGCA).
Mr. Carchietta is currently active in philanthropic efforts for charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, A Mother’s Kiss (Children’s Cancer Charity), Schneider’s Children’s Hospital, the Michael Anthony Foundation, and the Starlight Foundation. In 2001, Mr. Carchietta personally provided rescue and recovery services at Ground Zero.
Published By: Aize Perez
