Con Edison's newly minted 100^th substation in Queens, New York, U.S., is the utility's greenest. The company's Newtown substation has earned a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as a design award from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

LEED certification verifies the Long Island City substation is designed and built in an energy-saving way, reducing CO₂ emissions and producing improved water efficiency, indoor environmental quality and resource usage.

The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification provides building owners and operators with a framework to identify and implement practical green building design, construction, operations and maintenance.

The substation's green features include recycled construction materials and a reflective “cool” roof designed to keep the interior cooler in summer. High-efficiency water fixtures and Energy Star-rated appliances also add to the savings.

The new substation began delivering electricity to more than 36,000 customers in 2010 via two new networks — one 75 MW and the other 120 MW — in the Long Island City area. The interconnected system of localized networks increases reliability by reducing the need to run long lengths of distribution feeder cables.

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