We’re gearing up for our 7th year of Green Building Monthly Forums!

The Green Building Forum is held on the third Wednesday of each month (except December) at 6:30 PM and features presentations by green building practitioners followed by discussion. The events are always free and open to the general public.

The 2009 dates and topics are listed below. We’re continuing the tradition of mixing in case-studies of green building with discussions around policy and how-to’s.

Mark your calendars and check the events calendar for details & venues!

1. January 21: Showcase: Green Building Materials Catwalk
2. February 18: Green Building 101
3. March 18: DIY: Take your building’s energy pulse
4. April 15: Showcase: Bronx Green Building
5. May 20: Policy Roundtable
6. June 17: Showcase: Green Philly
7. July 15: Greening the Code: Status Check!
8. August 19: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Retrofit
9. September 16: Showcase: BIG Green Projects
10. October 21: Green Jobs / Green Careers
11. November 18: Showcase: International Green Building

“I use the double flush method all the time,” cackles a construction worker learning about dual flush toilets in the film, ‘The Greening of Southie’. Told from the point of view of the people responsible for designing, building, and selling the first LEED-Gold residential building in Boston, the film replaces regular folks for talking heads in this exploration of what it means to be green. (more…)

The Green Building Forum is held on the third Wednesday of each month (except December) @6:30 PM and features presentations by green building practitioners followed by discussion. The events are always free and open to the general public.

Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008
Reception: 6:00pm (refreshments courtesy of Hafele Americas)
Presentation 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Hafele Showroom at Madison Square Park (25 E. 26th St.)

The August 20th forum presented by GreenHomeNYC will focus on water issues in New York City, such as stormwater run-off and combined sewer overflows. NYC’s leading umbrella organization on stormwater infrastructure, S.W.I.M., will frame the discussion with an overview of water issues, followed by a more detailed review of Local Law 5 of 2008 and the green roof tax abatement. Local Law 5 requires the City to adopt a stormwater management plan by the end of the calendar year. The green roof tax abatement, also known as SO7553, passed the State Assembly and Senate in June 2008. It provides for an abatement of $4.50 per square foot, up to $100,000. Following the review of these legislative changes, EDAW’s Ecological Design division will present on their cutting edge research and design endeavors in the metro area. AIA Continuing Education Credits will be available for this session.

The forum presenters will be representatives of NRDC, Sustainable South Bronx, and EDAW.

Session Objectives:

1. To understand key stormwater infrastructure issues facing NYC, including policy preventing or supporting best management practices.
2. To understand Local Law 5 of 2008, which requires the City of New York to approve a stormwater management plan by the end of the year; particularly to review the technical requirements to be included in the plan.
3. To understand the Green Roof Tax Abatement passed by the NY State legislature in June 2008, in particular the definition of green roof, the amount of the abatement, the requirements to obtaining the abatement.
4. To engage in discussion and review of cutting-edge urban experimental ecology research.
5. To broaden understanding of stormwater infrastructure issues such as stormwater run-off coefficients, green intensive and green extensive roofs, blue roofs, tree pits, combined sewer overflows, etc.

The Green Building Forum is held on the third Wednesday of each month (except December) @6:30 PM and features presentations by green building practitioners followed by discussion. The events are always free and open to the general public.

Delivering on the Promise of Green Collar Jobs: Challenges & Opportunities

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Presentation 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Pratt Manhattan 144 W 14th St, Rm. 213

This event is co-sponsored and hosted by Pratt.

Speakers

• Kris Reed, Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (Moderator)
• Emmaia Gelman, Center for Working Families
• Rob Crauderueff, Sustainable South Bronx

Kristine Reed is Director of the Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn, within the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation. BEDC, founded in 1979, focuses on neighborhood and business support to create and sustain living wage jobs for Brooklyn residents; the Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn identifies specific industry segments with special potential to grow and thrive over the next 5-7 years. She joined BEDC in 2006 after 25 years in financial services, both on staff and freelancing, with a specialty in marketing and product management with Citibank, Chase, and Mellon among others. A graduate of Barnard College, she and her family are long time Brooklyn residents

Emmaia Gelman has worked on housing, queer rights and other democracy issues in New York, Palestine and Ireland over the last 15 years. She is currently Senior Policy Organizer at the Center for Working Families, focusing on scaling up New York State’s green economy with mass residential retrofits, green job ladders and tenant affordability safeguards. Her work includes bringing together labor, housing, environmental and community workforce groups to generate greening policy plans.

Rob Crauderueff, Policy Director of Sustainable South Bronx, oversees the political advocacy component of SSBx that focuses on creating equitable and effective land use, economic development, and environmental policies. Rob co-founded and chairs the Policy Committee of Storm Water Infrastructure Matters (S.W.I.M.), a coalition comprised of over 50 organizations citywide that advocates for swimmable waterways throughout NYC through green, cost-effective solutions. S.W.I.M. was instrumental in New York City Council’s passage of Local Law 5, which mandates the city to create a Sustainable Storm Water Management Plan that includes green-collar job training & development. He also spearheaded S.W.I.M.’s successful effort to pass a green roof tax abatment for property owners in New York City. Rob earned a degree in Urban Studies from Columbia University, where he worked for the Columbia Earth Institute. He also performed a program analysis of sustainability initiatives in the “ecological and healthy” city of Loja, Ecuador, voted the 3rd most ecological city in the world by the United Nations.

Speakers are Ariella Maron and Laurie Kerr of the NYC Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability:

Unfortunately, Ariella Maron was not able to join us for this forum.

Ariella Maron is the Deputy Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, the office responsible for the implementation of PlaNYC, the city’s long-term sustainability plan. Prior to this, she worked in the Energy Division of the New York City Economic Development Corporation where she specialized in energy efficiency and sustainability and as an urban planner in The Bronx for the New York City Department of City Planning and as an analyst at the energy, economic consulting firm PA Consulting Group (formerly PHB Hagler Bailly). She received her Master in City Planning from MIT where she concentrated on environmental policy and urban design and focused her thesis research on mainstreaming green building in NYC. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Laurie Kerr is a Senior Policy Advisor for the New York City�s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, where she has contributed to the development of the city�s greenhouse gas reduction plan and green building strategies. Her previous position was as the Chief of Sustainable Research for New York City�s Department of Design and Construction, the agency which pioneered green building practices in New York City government. She has over fifteen years experience practicing architecture, and her architectural criticism has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, and Architectural Record. Prior to receiving her M. Arch. from Harvard, Laurie earned degrees in engineering and physics.

This event is hosted and co-sponsored by Pratt Institute.

The Green Building Forum is held on the third Wednesday of each month (except December) @6:30 PM and features presentations by green building practitioners followed by discussion. The events are always free and open to the general public, but space is limited.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Presentation 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Pratt Manhattan, 144 W 14th St, Rm. 213

The April forum featured 10 local green building experts presenting his/her favorite green material or technology.

Presenters:

• Gita Nandan,Thread Collective, GreenHomeNYC Board Member
• Ryan Merkin, Steven Winter Assoc., GreenHomeNYC Volunteer
• Tim Keating, Director Rainforest Relief / Owner Earthbilt
• Wendy Meguro, Atelier Ten
• Debra Krueger, Bettencourt Green Building Supplies
• David Bergman
• Catherine Barton, Green Depot
• Andy McNamara, Bright Power
• Neil Chambers
• Chris Benedict

Click here for full presenter bios.

Session PowerPoint

Download

• Presenter bios.
• View session notes

The Green Building Forum is held on the third Wednesday of each month (except December) @6:30 PM and features presentations by green building practitioners followed by discussion. The events are always free and open to the general public.

Location: Pratt Manhattan, 144 W 14th St, Rm. 213

This month’s forum will look at how to shop for a green apartment and what to do when you move in to your green (or not so green) home.

Emma Hamilton, a certified eco-broker, of the Corcoran Group will walk us through the process, from arming yourself with the right questions for the broker, seller, or owner to moving in. Then, Erica Brabon of Steven Winter Associates will tell us about energy and indoor environmental issues that you should watch out for once you’ve moved in.

View full notes

Emma Hamilton: As New York City’s second ever Certified EcoBroker, Emma joins the movement of professionals pushing the real estate industry toward energy-efficient, sustainable, high-end green design in individual apartments and throughout entire buildings. As a Senior Associate Broker with the Corcoran Group, this distinction allows Emma to bring a different perspective to the table for sellers, buyers and developers alike. Originally from Santa Barbara, CA, Emma was raised in London, England and is no stranger to the intricacies of real estate. She gained first-hand knowledge from her family who are highly involved in various aspects of the business, from lending and sales to landowners, developers and investors. An long time East Village condo owner with her Swiss husband Dave, a product designer, Emma also resides on The Nature Conservancy’s Young Professionals Development Committee and is a proud member of the East Village Community Coalition, the East Village Parks Conservancy, the New York Restoration Project and The US Green Building Council’s NY Chapter where she sits on the LEED for Homes evaluation committee. She also resides on the board of her condo association and is currently “greening” her own building. Outside of work she can be found cruising the city on her bike, playing tennis or discussing food at great length. Emma has also volunteered as a one-on-one mentor since 2002. Her “little sister”, now 17, stands a head taller than Emma and is receiving high honors in her junior year of high school!

This event is hosted and co-sponsored by Pratt Institute.

Environmental lawyer Gail Suchman walked us through the current regulations and incentives available for energy-efficiency retrofits in residential buildings, then looks ahead to changes that could lower the cost of such renovations.

Gail Suchman of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP has over 25 years of experience in all facets of environmental and energy law and policy. She also teaches at Columbia Law School, Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, and is senior legal advisor to the Urban Design Lab for Sustainable Development at Columbia’s Earth Institute.

Click to view complete notes

Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Hafele NYC at Madison Square Park (25 E. 26th St.)

Download the speakers’ presentations (7.6MB PDF)

Summary:

Our January Green Building Forum invites you to come hear about how some affordable housing developments have come to be counted among the greenest buildings in NYC.

Many banks, housing organizations, and advocates are now requiring that their affordable housing developments be “green”. Many definitions of green exist in the marketplace, yet some developers have succeeded in taking off-the-shelf technologies to design buildings that perform exceptionally well – the true hallmark of sustainable design. Some of the buildings featured in tonight’s presentation use 65% less heating energy per square foot than the typical multifamily building in NYC. Listen to the experience of developers, bankers, and consultants who have successfully completed high performance green buildings in New York City.

By attending this session, participants will learn:

• Successful developers have built affordable housing that meets LEED and/or Energy Star standards and performs spectacularly
• The most effective technologies are not the bells and whistles, but tried and true technologies, some decades old, which are fully proven in the field.
• Some financial projections of energy usage in affordable housing are substantially lower than actual, particularly in buildings that do not meet code or attempt to achieve certain sustainability standards

Speakers:

Mark Zimet is the Director of Development for Dunn Development Corp., one of the most successful affordable housing developers in NYS. Mark was actively involved in the design and construction oversight for the first and only two High Rise Energy Star Buildings in the US , both affordable housing developments in NYC, and is now overseeing two new buildings in NYSERDA’s Multifamily Building Performance Program. Mark joined Dunn Development Corp. after nearly eight years at Volunteers of America – Greater New York, a large non-profit human services organization.

Les Bluestone is the co-founder of Blue Sea Development Company, LLC, and has been involved in the real estate development and construction industries for over 30 years. In addition to the first Energy Star and first LEED affordable homes in NYC, Les has developed and constructed a wide range of market-rate and affordable housing units throughout the New York City metropolitan area under a variety of programs, including the NYC Housing Partnership New Homes Program, the NYC Housing Development Corporation’s 80/20 Program, NYS Housing Trust Fund and Homes for Working Families, and both Federal and NYS Low Income Housing Tax Credit programs. Les serves as Chair of the board for NYC Habitat for Humanity, is a member of the Housing First! advocacy group, the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Brownfield Association, a board member of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, and an advisory board member to The Housing Partnership Development Corporation and the Long Island Housing Partnership.

Sam Marks is Assistant Vice President for Deutsche Bank’s Community Development Finance Group, with a focus on lending and investing in local and national affordable housing development and other social ventures. He is also helping to coordinate the bank’s participation in the Clinton Climate Initiative. He earned a Masters in Public Policy & Urban Planning at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Sam previously served as Director of Housing & Community Development at the nonprofit community development organization WHEDCo, where he acted as lead representative on a $45 million development of 174 units of affordable housing in Bronx, NY, which were included in NYSERDA’s Multifamily Energy Star pilot program. While at WHEDCo, Sam also started the Urban Horizons Retrofit Program, an initiative to retrofit its existing building to improve energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Sam founded Breakthrough New York, an academic enrichment program in which high school and college students teach motivated middle school students from public schools.

Panel Moderator:

F.L. Andrew Padian of Steven Winter Associates has over 28 years of experience in the unique building science of multifamily buildings. He has performed detailed energy analysis on hundreds of multifamily buildings across the country, providing recommendations for energy and water efficiency, comfort, durability, and health & safety for both new and existing buildings. He runs the Multifamily Buildings Division for Steven Winter Associates, Inc., a nationally recognized consulting firm and leader in sustainable building practices. Mr. Padian is a frequent contributor to energy and sustainable publications, and has spoken at numerous conferences across the country over the last 20 years. He lives in NYC, and is involved in many sustainable causes there, including GreenHomeNYC, the Clinton Community Garden , and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association.