Expo features new energy technologies

For business owners who wanted to marry up with new energy technology, what better place to meet than Leonard's of Great Neck, known for its weddings.

About 700 people -- contractors, architects, engineers, property managers and representatives of commercial and industrial buildings -- on Wednesday filled a basement room at the Fourth Annual Educational and Energy Efficiency Trade Expo at Leonard's. The event was sponsored by National Grid and Con Ed.

They looked at advanced hot-water systems, high-efficiency heating systems, and a gaggle of instruments that control heat.

To be sure, not everyone would be captivated. But the expo was the first to feature new energy technologies, said Louis Rizzo, a lead program manager in National Grid's energy efficiency department.

"The [renewable] technology has grown quite a bit," Rizzo said.

Energy customers, he said, are demanding the new products.

Among them was Sasha Tsakh, a sales and marketing rep for a Brooklyn plumbing company.

"People are paying [home heating] oil prices of $700 a month," she said. "They're fed up."

There were 56 exhibitors. United Thermography Corp. of Fresh Meadows, Queens, sells infrared imaging equipment that "basically shows heat loss or cold air escaping," from buildings said company president Marah Howard.

Chris Crean, a department manager with Islandia-based Wales Darby, manufacturing representatives, said the company has become more involved with photovoltaic tubes, which generate electricity.

"It comes down to price," Crean said. "The market has been demanding these kinds of products."

Rick Constantino, owner of New Hyde Park-based Boileroom Equipment Sales Llc, sells gas boosters that raise gas pressure into a new housing development where pressure may be diminished.

Constantino said that while gas boosters have been around for some 50 years, "they have been improved with the new and latest technology to make them compatible with the new green technology."

For example, the boosters are now equipped with devices that control the speed of a motor, saving electricity.

"The industry is maturing," said Rizzo. "It still has a way to go, but it has progressed because it is more reliable. It's not all as futuristic as it once was."