May 1, 2009
The First Annual Patty Noonan Memorial Policy Roundtable:
Overcoming Barriers to Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings
Presented by GreenHomeNYC in cooperation with NYU Wagner and NYU Gallatin.
The Patty Noonan Memorial Policy Roundtable is organized by
GreenHomeNYC in cooperation with NYU Wagner as an annual event honoring the memory of Patty Noonan, who was an early advocate of sustainable affordable housing, a friend to many in the green building field, and a supporter of GreenHomeNYC.
Patty participated actively both in financing sustainable affordable housing and in shaping the policy environment in New York. At the time of her passing, Patty served as Senior Vice President of Policy & Economic Development at the New York City Investment Fund, the director of the research & policy department at the Partnership for New York City, and represented the partnership on the Mayor’s Energy Policy Task Force. Previously, she directed the Partnership’s High Performance “Green” Building program, which produced the first affordable ENERGY STAR homes in New York State. Patty earned a Masters degree in Public Administration from NYU Wagner and was a member of the 2000-2001 Coro Foundation’s “Leadership New York” class, a yearlong program designed to develop the next generation of city leaders from among the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Wednesday May 20th, 6:30-8pm.
715 Broadway, 1st Floor, The Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts (enter on Washington Place @ 1 Washington Place).
Introduction:
Welcome from NYU Wagner by Jerry Salama, Adjunct Professor, NYU Wagner & NYU School of Law
Moderator:
Ariella Rosenberg-Maron. Deputy Commissioner of Energy Management, NYC.
Speakers:
Les Bluestone – Principal, Blue Sea Construction
Ashok Gupta – Air and Energy Program Director, NRDC
Kathryn Wylde – President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City
F.L. Andrew Padian, VP for Energy Initiatives, The Community Preservation Corporation
The emergence of the green initiatives at the City, State and Federal level has brought advocates of all types together to ask the same question: Can’t we just make our buildings more efficient now? The answer is “yes”, but the combination of available programs, financing, and misleading information in some quarters makes the process difficult at best. Listen to some of our areas true believers, and discover that the programs and policies are in place, and that with determination, most buildings can reduce their carbon footprint substantially.
About the Speakers
Les Bluestone
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.
Ashok Gupta
Ashok Gupta is NRDC’s Air and Energy Program Director. He leads NRDC’s advocacy in the Northeast on climate change, electric utility restructuring, energy efficiency, renewables, sustainable building design and reducing petroleum dependence. Prior to joining NRDC in 1991, Ashok worked with New York City’s Department of Telecommunications and Energy. He has a bachelor’s degree in physics and math from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in economics from American University. Mr. Gupta also serves on the Boards of Directors of: Hudson River Foundation, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies, U.S. Green Building Council – New York; Clean Air-Cool Planet, Citizen’s Union Foundation, and, Earth Pledge. He received Environmental Advocates’ 2001 Advocate Award for leadership in support of clean air and energy and in 2003 the Environmental Professional of the Year from the Association of Energy Engineers. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 550,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Kathy Wilde
Kathryn Wylde is President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization of the city’s business leaders. The Partnership is dedicated to maintaining New York City as a center of world commerce, finance and innovation. Its public policy focus is on issues in the areas of education, infrastructure and the economy. The Partnership’s economic development arm is the New York City Investment Fund. Wylde served as founding President & CEO of this $110 million civic fund.
Wylde was also founding President & CEO of the Housing Partnership, serving from 1982-96. In that capacity, she was instrumental in creation of a number of pioneering initiatives in affordable housing at the local, state and national levels.
An internationally known expert in housing, economic development and urban policy, Wylde serves on a number of boards and advisory groups, including the New York State Commission to Modernize the Regulation of Financial Services, the Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board, NYC Economic Development Corporation, NYC Leadership Academy, the Research Alliance for NYC Public Schools, the Manhattan Institute, the Biomedical Research Alliance of New York, Lutheran Medical Center and the Special Commission on the Future of NYS Courts.
F.L. Andrew Padian
F.L. Andrew Padian is Vice President for Energy Initiatives for The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), a not-for-profit affordable housing lender throughout NY, NJ, and CT. At CPC, he is assisting in the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Loan Program, working with CPC staff and building owners across the tri-state area.
Prior to CPC, Andy ran the Multifamily Buildings Division for Steven Winter Associates, Inc. He has 30 years of experience in the unique building science of multifamily buildings, with an emphasis on the affordable housing sector. He has performed detailed energy analysis on hundreds of buildings across the country, providing recommendations for energy and water efficiency, comfort, durability, and health & safety for both new and existing buildings.
Previously, Andy worked for the Association for Energy Affordability, worked as an independent consultant, and toiled in the NYC Mayor’s Energy Office and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Andy 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.
Ariella Rosenberg Maron
Ariella Rosenberg Maron is the Deputy Commissioner for Energy Management at the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Prior to this role, she was 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. She was part of the core team that developed PlaNYC, focusing on air and water quality, energy, and climate change. She has also worked as a senior project manager in the Energy Division of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, as an urban planner in the Bronx Office of 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). Ariella currently teaches a course on sustainability indicators at the Pratt Institute. 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.
About GreenHomeNYC
Since 2002, GreenHomeNYC has been connecting NYC residents with local experts and actionable information to help them improve the energy and environmental performance of their homes and buildings. GreenHomeNYC uses a peer-learning model that brings together interested volunteers to organize our programs, and to learn and teach others about green building in New York City.
Read about our programs.
About the GreenHomeNYC Monthly Green Building Forum
2009 will be GreenHomeNYC’s seventh year of organizing the Monthly Green Building Forum. 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.
