Tag: nyserda
February 5, 2019
Monthly Forum: Affordable Housing Overview, The Path to Better Affordable Housing
The City, State, and Federal governments have provided subsidies for affordable housing for decades, but this housing is not built by them, it is built by developers. Many years ago, the belief was to build the housing as quickly as possible, which caused much affordable housing to be of modest yet horribly inefficient quality. Today, such housing meets or exceeds most sustainability standards, and tonight’s developers were among the leaders in this change over the years, and remain there to this day. Listen to the process and progress in this field, and decide if you might want to join this field by listening to these accomplished leaders.
Our speakers will include:
Les Bluestone has been involved in real estate development and construction industries for over 35 years working in New YOrk CIty and surrounding areas. Co-founder of Blue Sea Development Company and Blue Sea Construction Co., his firms developed and built New York State’s first affordable Energy Star Homes and New York State’s first three affordable LEED Platinum multifamily buildings. A former Board Chair of Habitat for Humanity NYC, Les is a founding board member of the Center for Active Design, sits on the boards of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, the NYC Workforce Investment Board, and was appointed by the Governor to the NYSERDA Green Jobs Green New York Advisory Council.
Luke Falk is Vice President of Technology for Related Companies. His group drives technological innovation (including capabilities around energy management, marketing, adtech, IoT, and integrated experiences) at Hudson Yards, the largest private real estate development in the history of the US. Previously he was the Assistant Vice President for Sustainability in Related’s New York Development Group. In that role he developed distributed and renewable energy generation projects, and improved the energy performance and resilience of new and existing developments. He led the sustainability design of over a dozen LEED silver, gold and platinum buildings representing over $5B in capital investment including the tallest passive house in the world for Cornell Tech in New York City.
May 29, 2018
March Forum Recap: Sustainable Policy 201
by Miaoru Guan
The Sustainable Policy 201 Forum featured four speakers working towards sustainable, affordable housing through diverse but connected roles. Michelle Andry works at New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), where she focuses on energy efficiency, clean energy, and energy affordability initiatives impacting low-income housing. Francesca Camillo, Project Manager at NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), assists building owners in procuring funding for rehabilitation. Elizabeth Kelly, Manager of Sustainability Programs at The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), leverages private capital to support sustainable multi-family housing and community revitalization projects. Andrea Mancino is Director of New Construction at Bright Power, and manages team members working on ground-up new construction and commissioning projects.
The panelists discussed how effective policy can encourage wider adoption of sustainable practices in housing by facilitating financing from government sources. For example, to qualify for government funding, new construction and rehabilitation buildings must receive building certification, such as Enterprise Green Communities or LEED certification. Mancino mentioned that achieving certification as an Enterprise Green Community requires buildings to outperform standard building code by 15%. Kelly discussed how these standards help the CPC and private lenders ensure projects have fulfilled a sustainability checklist, reducing the time projects spend in due diligence. Andry added that certified buildings are eligible for NYSERDA grants as well as HPD funding.
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December 3, 2017
NYC’s 80 x 50 Goal: Is it Realistic? How Do We Get There?
By: Tom Sahagian
As you probably know, “80×50” means reducing greenhouse gases produced in New York City 80 percent by the year 2050. As a practical matter this almost certainly means we must reduce the combustion of fossil fuels by 80 percent — either by increasing energy efficiency or by increasing the amount of energy we produce without using combustion (or, most likely, a combination of the two). This shift must take place in every sector — transportation, industry, buildings, etc., but I will focus here only on buildings.
Technically, there is no doubt that 80×50 is achievable. But it’s not going to be easy. The biggest obstacles to success will not be technological — in my experience they are almost always fear and inertia on the part of decision-makers.
But why? Inertia is easy to explain — it’s usually easier to do nothing than to take action — but the fear: what’s behind it? I believe the fear is the result of two factors; 1) the fear of making a costly mistake, and 2) the fear of being blamed for said costly mistake. If we can eliminate the first factor, it will go a long way towards eliminating the second, with the result that 80×50 could actually succeed. (more…)
March 1, 2017
Monthly Forum Recap: Everyday People and Sustainability
by Theresa Baker If you’re trying to make more sustainable choices in your daily life, the GreenHomeNYC February Forum offered plenty of options. The evening featured four speakers who spoke passionately about ways that “everyday people” in New York City can improve their quality of life, save energy and live more sustainably. Simple Steps for Everyone
Carmel Pratt, a Sustainability Consultant for Steven Winter Associates, spoke on the top ten ways to save energy in your apartment or home. Pratt pointed out a stunning statistic – the average American uses 140-170 gallons of water per day through choices they make in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry. By simply not running water when washing dishes, limiting shower time, and using cold water instead of hot when doing laundry, residents can significantly reduce this usage. (more…)
February 3, 2017
All the News From the Green Catwalk
by Thomas Storck
GreenHomeNYC launched another year of monthly forums with the annual Green Catwalk, featuring seven speakers who discussed the latest “green” news. From Saudi Arabia to New York City, challenges remain. But, in New York, in particular, much is being done to overcome them. The speakers offered insight into what needs to happen in order achieve our climate goals, the progress we’ve made already, and the programs and opportunities that are in the works right now.
Development in the Desert
While New York City has its own sustainability goals and initiatives, we can’t forget that the climate crisis is a global one. Duncan Prahl of IBACOS, began by taking the audience to the opposite end of the earth, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In 2015, Riyadh became home to the first LEED-Platinum building in the Middle East. Designed to achieve a net-zero energy balance, it holds 28 kW of rooftop solar PV and has enough batteries to last 24 hours. After two years of serving as a high-level consultant on the project, Prahl shared his thoughts on the challenges of building to such standards in the desert: “I would never recommend doing that again… to anyone.”
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June 30, 2016
June Forum Recap: Community Solar Comes to New York State
by Pamela Berns
According to Dennis Phayre of EnterSolar, even if we utilized all currently available sources, we’d only have about 100 years of energy left on the planet. But New York State isn’t waiting one more second to embark on innovative partnerships that will not only extend that timeframe but also significantly reduce the State’s carbon footprint.
On June 15, at the host offices of the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA), GreenHomeNYC introduced three key players in these new collaborations for an instructive and exciting program about community solar. Community solar brings together customers, utilities, solar companies, and the state government to develop an interconnected approach to electrical power that will not only impact the way in which we create and move energy, but also the way in which consumers participate in the energy marketplace.
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February 24, 2016
{Green Careers} February 2016 Recap – Green Financing & Incentives
By Keith Wong With the increasing demand in the green building industry for professionals who know how to make use of tax credits, grants, and unique financing options, green financing has become an important and viable career path. February’s Green Careers meet-up, held at Steven Winter Associates, focused on the green financing and incentives sector. The event featured three prominent professionals in this growing field.
The panel shared their experience in financing options for green building projects, grants, and tax credits. They talked about how they have navigated their career paths and provided useful suggestions for job seekers and career transitioners. While the advice came from three experts in green finance, it was invaluable for anyone looking to grow in their careers. That was especially good news for this varied audience, which included building managers, students, and entrepreneurs, as well as finance professionals.
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October 3, 2013
Countdown to BuildingEnergy NYC
For 2013, a bigger, more diverse conference
Discover how your buildings can be energy efficient, resilient and profitable at BuildingEnergy NYC (BE NYC) on Wednesday, October 16, 2013. With 24 fully-accredited sessions (AIA, BPI & USGBC) and five pre-conference workshops on October 15th, you’ll be able to cover timely topics like next steps in renewables, addressing air leakage in large buildings, new NYC Codes for resilience, cogeneration and more.
We’ve got an outstanding group of speakers for BE NYC. Here’s a sample:
Les Bluestone, Blue Sea Development
Warren Liebold, NYC Department of Environmental Protection
Pat Logan, Enterprise Community Partners
Dan Rieber, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation
Scott Schultz, Advanced Solar Products
Steven Winter, Steven Winter Associates
Get equipped with practical information and inspired for a sustainable future.
Register HERE
BE NYC is co-presented by GreenHomeNYC the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, and enjoys sponsorship from such notable organizations as The Community Preservation Corporation, The Natural Resources Defense Council, NYSERDA, ConEdison, NixonPeabody and The Bluestone Organization.
Hurricane Sandy: Point Taken – read Conference Chair Andy Padian’s BuildingEnergy Magazine
story on urban resilience.
September 20, 2013
The Green Spotlight on BE NYC: Pat Logan
Countdown to BE NYC!
With only
days until the conference, GreenHomeNYC is shining the spotlight on the experts who will be making the BE NYC an exceptional industry event!
Pat Logan is Director of Project Finance in the New York office of Enterprise Community Partners, a nationwide nonprofit focused on creating opportunities for low- and moderate-income people through affordable housing in diverse, thriving communities.
Pat will be appearing at BE NYC on a panel titled “Real Financing, Real Quick (Financing for People With Short Attention Spans),” which is part of the conference’s Multifamily track. Pat’s scheduled co-panelists are: John Skipper from Con Edison; Lindsay Robbins from NYSERDA; Chris Diamond from NYC Energy Efficiency Corp.; Sadie McKeown from Community Preservation Corp.; Lou Rizzo from National Grid; and Jesse Elton from LISC.
Pat’s interest in financing affordable housing comes from his longtime commitment to the public sector. He attended Fordham University first as an undergraduate, then earned a master’s degree there in international political economy and development. This was followed by a stint as an 8th grade teacher at St. Elizabeths in Washington Heights and an after-school program instructor in the Fordham section of the Bronx, where he made connections that eventually led to a position on the development team of a local nonprofit, the Fordham Bedford Housing Corp. Pat remains active in local community affairs to the present, serving on the board of the Bronx County Historical Society.
We sat down with Pat and talked about how he hopes to contribute to his BE NYC panel’s mission to introduce the audience to various funding and grant opportunities for retrofits and/or audits leading to energy-efficient renovations:
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February 3, 2011
A new New York Incentive Program
At the end of last year, a new initiative resulting from the Green Jobs-Green New York Act from last year was announced by Governor David A. Paterson: A NYSERDA program to provide homeowners with free or reduced-priced energy assessments and low-interest loans to finance energy-saving improvements. A revolving loan fund will be developed for homeowners and small business owners who will be able to pay back loans from the savings on their energy bills. The program will first focus on homeowners, then eventually include loans for small businesses, non-profits, and multifamily buildings. The plan also aims to create more green jobs by increasing the need for energy audits and improvements, and includes funding for green job training. The job training component will focus on new entrants to the workforce and displaced workers. For more information, see the Governor’s Office’s press release. STATE RANKINGS In light of this and other efforts in New York, the ACEEE has provided a nice visual to see how we stack up to the rest of the country: This fall the ACEEE released its annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard report that ranks all 50 states and D.C. on how “energy efficient” they are. New York ranked number 4 behind California, Massachusetts, and Oregon.