#taliakula

What’s Our Problem?

John Gilbert of Rudin Management and Thomas Sahagian, formerly of Enterprise Community Partners, went to the mat last week at the New York League of Conservation Voters’ 80x50 forum on buildings.

BE-Ex’s very own Executive Director, Richard Yancey, moderated a fascinating panel exploring ways we can radically improve efficiency in NYC’s building stock quickly enough to meet New York City’s goal of 80% reduction by 2050. One of the most interesting moments of the event was the surfacing of an ongoing debate in the building industry: Do we have a technology problem or is it something else (think education, implementation, priorities)?

This debate is not new; technocrats and non-technocrats have been going at it for years. In this author’s opinion we will likely need both technology and behavioral change to solve our problems. However, this conversation remains interesting because with limited monetary and human resources, it is clear that the side that makes a more compelling case will win a larger share of those resources.

Sahagian came down strongly that technology cannot solve all our problems. There are age-old, easy and cheap ways to save energy in buildings, such as air sealing and weather-stripping, that we have not managed to implement at a large-scale. We need to figure out how to get the most basic things done before imagining that technology will save the day.

Gilbert, on the other hand, explained that Rudin Management has achieved 20% energy savings in their base buildings by developing new hardware and software. Specifically, Rudin has developed a technology that optimizes energy use based on occupancy, in real time. Furthermore, this software and the results it produced has allowed them to make a compelling case to their tenants to do the same. It’s hard to argue with results!

At last week’s State of the City, held at the Apollo Theater, Mayor Bill de Blasio firmly linked energy efficiency to his mission of making New York City more equitable. The event opened with a video. It paid homage to the best of what New York has to offer: opportunity, diversity, culture, progress. As part of his introductory remarks, the Mayor added that “we need to praise every day New Yorkers...they do all that is asked of them to realize that dream. That is part of what has made New York City such an extraordinary place: the openness, the possibility, the fact that anyone had a shot here.”

The Mayor went on to explain that this part of New York City, the part that embodies the American dream, is very vulnerable right now. It’s threatened by discrimination, fear, and an “affordability crisis.” To combat this affordability crisis, the Mayor declared that we need higher incomes, more affordable housing, and better jobs.

One of the methods though which he promised to create better jobs was a “Green Jobs Corps” that will train 3,000 workers over the next three years to retrofit buildings.  

According to New York City benchmarking reports, about 70% of citywide greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. So when the Mayor  said that “...the number-one source of pollution is our buildings. They can be retrofitted. When you retrofit them you make them much more efficient. It's good for the earth and it saves money,” he was not exaggerating. 

In BE-Ex’s report, Retrofitting Affordability*, we discovered that by actually completing the energy conservation measures recommended by the LL87** energy auditors, New York’s big multifamily building owners save about $360 million a year on their energy bills, while reducing base building energy and greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 11%.

We know what the stakes are, but questions remain: what will the Green Jobs Corps look like? And how will we achieve our efficiency objectives? BE-Ex looks forward to continuing to work with the City to realize these critical goals through our trainings, events, and resources. And we are excited for Mayor de Blasio’s team to tell us more detail about their plans soon. In the mean time, I am proud to live in a city committed to creating good, un-exportable jobs that will help create a more local, sustainable, and livable city. Because boy do we need it!  

The new year is well on its way! But that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about 2016 just yet. And for us here at BE-Ex, the WISE (Women in Sustainability and Energy) Holiday Party was definitely a 2016 highlight.

On December 19, 65+ people gathered in our Lighting the Future exhibit room to eat, drink, and celebrate women’s leadership in the sustainability and energy fields. As a special addition, we heard from some of the women who work for the organizations and companies that sponsored WISE this past year.

Lindsay O’Neill-Caffrey, from Gotham360, explained how meaningful it is for Gotham360, a woman-owned business, to be able to support an initiative like WISE. She noted that it feels especially important to cultivate a community of women professionals after the 2016 election, a time when it felt and continues to feel like women’s rights and safety are too often forgotten or ignored. 

Vicki Kuo, the Director of Energy Efficiency Demand Management at ConEd and a BE-Ex board member, told the best story of the night. She shared that it was actually at a WISE event in March 2015 that she met a young woman who, soon after, she hired for a position at ConEd! 

Vanessa Ulmer, of NYSERDA, spoke specifically about the role she believes women will play in bringing REV (Reinventing the Energy Vision), New York State’s comprehensive energy strategy, to fruition. Women tend to thrive at bringing people together and synthesizing information. Both of which are skills that will be absolutely crucial as we work to innovate our energy system and empower consumers to make more informed energy choices. 

Kit Kennedy, representing NRDC, spoke more directly about the influence of the 2016 presidential election. She generously shared her post election mantra with the room. Resist. Recharge. Redirect. Resist unjust and backward-thinking policies, make sure to take time to personally recharge, and continue to fight for progress and justice. 

Here at BE-Ex we are definitely taking this to heart as we continue to work hard to create a more sustainable New York City in 2017. 

Historically, the Fourth of July celebrates America’s independence from England, an event that eventually led to the formation of the United States. Today, the Fourth of July is mostly used as an opportunity to barbecue and drink beer while watching fireworks on the beach. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love barbecue and the beach very much - and I plan to participate in both activities this weekend. I imagine, however, that the primary motivation of our founding fathers 240 years ago was not, in fact, the possibility of eating 69 Nathan’s hotdogs on Coney Island, but rather the chance to create a new way of living in the world. They wanted to build their own set of rules, to no longer live their lives under the specific customs and norms dictated to them by the British. For me, what is so inspiring about the story of America’s independence is that a group of people had the courage, conviction, and creativity to imagine and fight for a way of life and a system of government different from what they had always known.  

With that in mind, I propose a challenge to all of us. What if this Fourth of July we each ask ourselves this: “If I had a chance to build a new system, with new rules and standards, what would it look like?” 

At BEEx we imagine a future where New York City buildings have efficient lighting and HVAC systems, where due to effective insulation and sophisticated ventilation, our homes and offices require limited heating and cooling, and where our government does everything in its power to incentivize this progress. But mostly we imagine a future where our buildings are comfortable, resilient, and are no longer responsible for 70% of New York’s greenhouse gas emissions.  

Last week, BEEx launched Lighting the Future, our new exhibit on advanced lighting and shading control systems. We celebrated with professionals from every corner of the sustainability and energy sector as well as family and friends. The 100+ guests who attended represented the lighting, building, utility, non-profit, and government industries - to name just a few.

Attendees had the opportunity to hear from BEEx’s Executive Director, Richard Yancey; Nilda Mesa, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability; John Shipman, Department Manager of Distributed Resources Integration at ConEdison; Michael Colgrove, beloved BEEx Board Member and Director of Multifamily Programs at NYSERDA; and New York City Council Member, Costa Constantinides. 

Guests spent the night testing out the dimming and brightening functions of lighting made by Encelium, OSRAM, Lutron, Crestron, and Enlighted. They saw automated shading designed by MechoSystems and Lutron, and they learned about best practices for completing successful retrofits. The room was abuzz with the overwhelming feeling that improving building efficiency presents opportunities for each of us do our part to combat climate change. 

In case you missed the launch, the exhibit will continue to be on view in our downtown resource center at the Surrogates Courthouse. Additionally, the exhibit is accessible virtually, on our website. 

Oh, and I can’t forget the photo-booth! BEEx staff and our guests took photos with props ranging from LED light bulbs to green wigs. Check out the hilarious results on the BEEx Flickr stream.