Tag: forum

January 7, 2021

Monthly Forum – Green Catwalk 2021: The Circular Economy in Quick Soundbites

It’s been a GreenHomeNYC tradition to kick off our year of programming with our Green Catwalk, a dynamic event in which our speakers showcase exciting developments in our sustainable world through a series of rapid-fire presentations.

  This year’s presenters will share programs and projects that are redefining waste as a resource, moving us towards a more efficient, circular economy. Join us as we explore the many ways to “re” to decrease the size of both our carbon and our landfill footprints.  The circular economy spurs economic development worldwide by redesigning, reducing, reusing, repurposing, recovering, refurbishing, regenerating, and recycling biological and technical materials to meet the growing resource needs of our consumptive society.

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November 26, 2020

GreenHomeNYC’s Pandemic Pivot Proves the Power of Commitment and Community

By Melanie Mason   We have spent the better part of our year in throes of the COVID-19 pandemic—social distancing, Zooming, washing our hands like crazy, and carrying out GreenHomeNYC’s mission from the kitchen table. This has almost begun to feel like a normal part of our routines. But at the beginning of the lockdowns back in March, the challenges to life as usual suddenly felt very far from “normal.” Just like everyone else, GreenHomeNYC had to quickly adapt to this new way of being. A testimony to our incredibly driven volunteers, together we dove headfirst into tackling how GreenHomeNYC would go from a live and lively in-person community to operating fully remotely.   Said GreenHomeNYC’s board president Lucie Dupas, “The board is so thankful for all the amazing work that our volunteers are able to get done safely from their homes—this year has been incredibly challenging in all aspects of life, and we are amazed on a daily basis by how passionate and resilient our whole community is!” (more…)

September 28, 2020

Advancing Toward A Circular New York

By Kirstie Dabbs   New York City’s latest OneNYC 2050 strategy outlines an ambitious sustainability agenda that includes goals to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. New Yorkers who track city- and state-wide environmental goals and regulations are likely aware of the importance of renewable energy and energy efficiency in achieving this climate strategy, but those actions alone won’t fulfill New York’s ambitions. A circular economy must also be adopted in order to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste, while also conserving resources. Although the OneNYC strategy does make note of this shift, many New Yorkers remain unfamiliar with even the concept of the circular economy, let alone its principles, practices and potential impact. (more…)

August 3, 2020

Community Solar Generates  Economic and Social Power 

By Ansh Sandhu   Conventional power plants produce energy by burning fossil fuel to run turbines that produce electricity, which is then distributed via an extensive transmission system into our homes and businesses.  Such systems are expensive to lay out, so utilities worldwide prefer to set these up in urban areas where the population density is higher.  For cities already struggling to reduce emissions from buildings and transportation, conventional power systems have exacerbated the problem. In more remote areas, the fossil fuel model has led to a power disparity, particularly in disadvantaged communities (DACs).   (more…)

March 1, 2018

January Forum Recap: The Green Catwalk

by Jenny Nicolas   At the annual GreenHomeNYC Green Catwalk, seven speakers presented the latest information on everything from ventilation to greening the moving industry to O&M to-do lists within the sustainability space.   Part 1: Eat, Breathe, Move, & Check Sustainably   Changing Our Relationship with Food Ricky Stephens, co-founder of AgTech X, set the stage by presenting some of the biggest flaws within our country’s current food system. He indicated that 80% of the food grown today is not meant for human consumption, with 40% grown to support animals and 40% to be processed into biofuels. Additionally, though the plant kingdom is diverse, 84% of total US cropland is dedicated to just three crops: corn, soybean, and wheat. The long term prospects for the system are also in jeopardy as farming is not attracting new folks to the industry – the average age of a U.S. farmer is 58.     What can be done to fix our current system? The goal of AgTech X is to create a new food economy, using urban farming as a vehicle to educate, decentralize, and make farming exciting again. AgTech X fosters a collective community by hosting classes, workshops and tours. Its co-lab workspace supports decentralized urban farming methods like Farm One and Smallhold, indoor farms housed in restaurants that produce farm-to-table microgreens. And a recent “Intro to Aquaponics” class by Oko Farms explained the closed-loop system of raising fish, creating fertilizer for plant growth and filtering the water. While urban farming is not a new concept, innovations in the past five years are making it a more intriguing career option for young professionals! (more…)

December 4, 2017

GreenHomeNYC Year in Review: Taking on the Environmental Challenge

by Pamela Berns   It’s been a year marked by extreme weather events, with hurricanes, fires, droughts, and flooding all across the globe. In the United States we saw Houston drown and Santa Rosa burn just a few months after Trump’s pullout from the Paris agreement in June. Climate advocacy groups, local policy makers, corporations, entrepreneurs, individuals, and nonprofits all stepped up their game in defense of the planet, and GreenHomeNYC was no exception.   Thanks to the dedication of our volunteers, we were able to deepen our commitment to providing education and calls to action. Our speakers and our blog writers shared critical information on local policy, business actions, and academic initiatives. Record numbers of event attendees turned up to hear from innovators in energy, food waste, recycling, and sustainable building. Green careerists came out to find out where to point their compasses in the new paradigm.   We’re proud of the hard work that went into this challenging year, and hope that our contributions made a difference. Here are just a few GreenHomeNYC highlights for 2017:   (more…)

October 2, 2017

October Forum: Women of Green: Pecha Kucha Night

Join GreenHomeNYC and the Center on Global Energy Policy’s Women in Energy program for the “Women in Green” October Forum!   Several established experts in the “green” universe will take the stage to talk about the myriad paths that lead them to where they are now in the sustainable field.  The only catch is, the presentation will be Pecha Kucha format, where each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds – that’s six minutes and forty seconds of fast-paced enlightenment before the next presenter is up! If you enjoy being entertained, enlightened and inspired, this forum is for you, so REGISTER TODAY!   Our speakers will include: Jacquie Ottman, We Hate to Waste & J. Ottman Consulting Sharon Gaber North American Passive House Lucie Dupas, Entersolar Lisbeth Shepard, Green City Force Andrea Mancino, Bright Power Laura Tajima, Mayor’s Office for Recovery and Resiliency Allison Kling, ConEd Katie Schwamb, Steven Winter Associates (more…)

April 17, 2017

March Forum Recap: Patty Noonan Memorial Policy Forum – Beware The Ides of March: Outlook for Our Sustainable Future

by Thomas Storck     This year’s Patty Noonan Memorial Forum on Policy addressed concerns over proposed policy changes made by the current White House administration to undermine ongoing sustainability initiatives. Drawing inspiration from the legacy of founding GreenHomeNYC member Patty Noonan, Andy Padian, President, PadianNYC Consulting, joined Marcia Bystryn, President, NY League of Conservation Voters, and Charles Komanoff, Director, Carbon Tax Center/Komanoff Energy Associates, to share past experiences and to offer insight into how to be an affective environmental advocate.   THIS IS WHAT AN ADVOCATE LOOKS LIKE It was 14 years ago that a group of 30 affordable homes in the South Bronx became the first of their kind in New York State to be built to Energy Star standards. Compared to typical affordable housing in the area, the project cost $1.36 more per ft2 and used one-fifth the energy. Today, all affordable housing is built to similar standards, but we didn’t get there without a fight. “This was thought of as completely berserk,” said Andy Padian. “[The developer] wouldn’t have done it without Patty kicking really hard.”   To provide some historical context, Padian recalled the mood among his colleagues at Mayor Ed Koch’s Energy Office when President Reagan was elected. “We were horrifically depressed.” Yet despite the President zeroing out both weatherization funding and the Home Energy Assistance Program in every budget, he encountered push back from a variety of groups who worked together to voice their opposition. As a result, funding for these programs actually increased under Reagan. When NY Representative Bill Green opposed federal solar and conservation tax credits because his low-income constituents failed to take advantage, Padian called Green’s Legislative Assistant on Housing and Energy and explained how these credits could be useful. Much to Reagan’s disappointment, Green was persuaded to change his vote. “This is what advocacy is about,” Padian said. (more…)

December 1, 2016

It Pays to Volunteer! Meet the Winners of the 2016 GreenHomeNYC Scholarship

By Pamela Berns

 As an educational non-profit, GreenHomeNYC is committed to the advancement of people in the energy efficiency and renewable energy fields, especially those GreenHomeNYC volunteers who have made outstanding contributions to the organization.   Says Board President Jim Henderson, “Our partnership with the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) creates a great opportunity for our volunteers to increase their knowledge and connect directly with sustainability leaders. This year we selected four outstanding volunteers to attend NESEA’s BuildingEnergy NYC conference held at the TKP New York Conference Center. The conference offers a full day of workshops, networking and content sharing on energy efficiency in commercial and multifamily buildings in New York City and it attracts all the key players from the building, sustainability, and resilience sectors. We are pleased to announce our 2016 winners!”   It takes a lot of hard work, coordination, and teamwork to produce a GreenHomeNYC event: speaker recruitment, venue procurement, outreach and marketing, on site logistics, and post-event communication.  This year’s scholarship winners were selected for their diligence in producing these events. In addition to thanking these volunteers for their hard work, the GreenHomeNYC scholarship award aims to enrich their knowledge and career potential, and build on their strong commitment to further the organization’s mission to create an energy efficient, resilient, and sustainable New York. (more…)

January 28, 2016

February Forum: Water Management in the City

Water is a central aspect of all of our lives, and yet the complexities we face with managing it in a city of nearly 8.5 million people, often fly under the radar. Constantly supplying it, managing demand, keeping it clean, protecting ourselves from it (i.e. sewage, storms, sea level rise, etc), using it more efficiently and also teaching people about it, are all critically important to keeping such a massive city running. At a time where one American city is facing a major health crisis due to water contamination, we want to examine what is being done in our own city to keep us healthy and safe, and what we can do to support that. For our February Forum, we will hear about how the City of New York manages water in the present and the plans being pursued for the future.

Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 Time: 6:30-8:00pm Place: Hafele America Co., 25 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010

Click here to register! 

To speak on this topic we are bringing in:

Vlada Kenniff, Managing Director of the Demand Management and Resiliency group in the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. She manages a portfolio of sustainability and resiliency projects that cover a Water Demand Management Program, Climate Resiliency Program, and Green Infrastructure Projects. In the last five years with the agency, Vlada worked on the Sustainable Storm Water Management Plan, Managed the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan, and the Water Demand Management Plan

Michele Moore, Senior Advisor to the VP of Disaster Recovery at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). She oversees over $3 billion in disaster recovery funds to repair and protect from future storms, over 33 NYCHA developments severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy. Looking at these 33 developments as campuses, Michele is part of a team working to change the way water is managed on these sites through NYCHA’s Stormwater Management Through Placemaking Initiative. Recently NYCHA was awarded funding for this initiative for our Sandy damaged developments on the Lower East Side of Manhattan through the National Disaster Resiliency Competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.