Arts and Culture, Astoria
Mar 03, 2016

Kaufman Cuts Carbon Footprint With New Solar Panels

Kaufman Astoria Studios has installed 373 solar panels on the roof of its Studio K.

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Photo credit: Kaufman Astoria Studios

There’s nothing sweeter sounding to an Astorian’s ear than the news of being able to pay less each month to ConEd. So, enjoy this story about Kaufman Astoria Studios doing just that by installing solar panels on their roof. And they’re helping clean up the air, too!

This week we learned that Kaufman, with the help of Solar One Energy, installed 373 solar panels on the roof of its Stage K building—that’s 3,000 square feet of rooftop space on the newest of the studio’s sound stages (in case you’re curious, here are all of Kaufman’s stages). For context, if you attended or watched on TV Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, you’ve seen Stage K (they also filmed the recently released How to Be Single movie there).

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Photo credit: Kaufman Astoria Studios

These panels will produce enough energy—121.2 kilowatts of electricity—to power up the building’s offices, lights, and elevators—and you can’t really operate a studio without these things. Even better, the solar energy will remove approximately 93 tons of carbon emissions each year. Holy business—with this, everybody wins.

Thanks to the power of the press release, we have a statement by Hal Rosenbluth, President and CEO of Kaufman Astoria Studios. He’s pretty happy with how the solar setup turned out, and sees it as a pretty positive thing for Astoria. He says, “We look at everything we do at KAS in terms of our role in the Astoria community—our relationship with the people who live here, the people who work at the studio who are part of this community, and our business neighbors. Along those same lines, we’re also committed to playing a positive role in the larger community by being environmentally responsible. We’re very pleased that the solar panels at Stage K will advance this mission and cut back on our carbon footprint.”

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If you’d like to learn more about the studios themselves, check out this recent AMNY article, Secrets of Kaufman Astoria Studios. The article’s author got a chance to tour the studios, something I wish would be accessible on a regular basis to the average Astorian and visitor to the neighborhood. I went on a media tour years ago, and let me tell you—seeing the studio and sound stages in person is very cool. If you ever get a chance to take a tour there, I highly recommend it.

About Meg Cotner

Meg Cotner was trained as a harpsichordist and now works as a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of "Food Lovers' Guide to Queens," and is a skilled and avid home cook, baker, and preserver.

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