Tag: greenhouse-gas-emissions

May 9, 2020

Monthly Forum: Virtual Edition – Quantifying Climate Change

Quantifying the effects of climate change can be a daunting task to even the brightest scientific minds! To help demystify this complex topic, GreenHomeNYC is bringing leading climate change experts together to discuss their most recent efforts around quantifying our changing environment, and what it means for New York City.     Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2020 Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Place: Online   Speakers at this event will include:   Susan Golden /// Environmental educator and member of the Climate Reality Project Leadership Corps Luis Ortiz /// Postdoctoral research fellow with the Urban Systems Lab at The New School Peter Marsters /// Research Associate at the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy   REGISTER HERE!   (more…)

September 30, 2019

Monthly Forum: The Heart of the NYC Green New Deal – LL97

New York City recently enacted one of the most revolutionary initiatives in its history, aimed at reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Mobilization Act (nicknamed by some as “a Green New Deal for New York City”) significantly limits carbon emissions for most buildings larger than 25,000 square feet. The centerpiece, known as Local Law 97, compels medium-to-large building owners to reduce emissions by, typically, around 40% by 2030. With nearly 60% of these buildings being residential, many of our homes are about to undergo significant transformation.     This month’s Forum will focus on LL97 and its impact on NYC’s residential buildings. How will it affect where YOU live? * How will management comply with LL97 in your building? * How will it affect your wallet, your building’s amenities and your quality of life at home? * How will it affect affordable and rent-regulated buildings?   Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2019 Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Place: Knoll Showroom, 1330 Ave of the Americas, 2nd floor, New York, NY, 10019   REGISTER HERE!   (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 1, 2016

Building Energy NYC: Sustainable Solutions for New York City

by Kimberly Stempien   Imagine a city with clean air, solar energy, plenty of pedestrian spaces and no cars. It’s not at all far-off; these are all on the agenda for New York City in coming years. In fact, some of the projects are already in progress. The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association held their annual Building Energy NYC conference on November 3, bringing together leaders in energy, building maintenance, real estate, policy, product, and new technologies. Many topics were discussed, but three of the main takeaways were long term planning, regional-district planning, and enhanced resiliency for the city of New York.   In a talk by Jenna Tatum, Kate Gouin, Benjamin Mandel and John Lee from the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, the focus was on 80×50, the de Blasio administration’s commitment to reduce GHG emissions 80% from 2005 levels by 2050 (80×50). NYC’s Sustainability 80X50 plan states, “It is the level the UN projects is necessary to avert the most disastrous impacts of climate change.” The plan is essentially a roadmap that is broken into four areas of focus: Buildings, Energy Supply, Waste, and Transportation, with comprehensive reporting and modeling done for each category. Following are the four main takeaways of the plan’s goals in each sector. (more…)