Urban Green Live Urban Green Council

The Green Economy Action Plan is a first-of-its-kind roadmap to growing NYC’s green economy. The plan identifies the jobs and sectors that will help the city combat climate change. And its recommendations will help put New Yorkers—particularly those from environmentally disadvantaged communities—in a position to benefit from the nearly 400,000 ‘green-collar’ jobs expected in New York City by 2040.

With buildings-related work accounting for nearly half of these jobs, we’re excited to welcome Nse Esema, Senior Vice President of the Green Economy team at NYCEDC, to Urban Green Live. In this episode, Nse and Urban Green CEO John Mandyck unpack the plan and discuss how NYC’s growing green workforce will accelerate building decarbonization efforts.

SPEAKERS:


Nse Esema, Senior Vice President of the Green Economy Team, NYCEDC
John Mandyck, CEO, Urban Green Council

RESOURCES:


 Green Economy Action Plan

Arup is a global firm dedicated to sustainable development, and they recently answered a simple question: how much carbon could be saved by 2050 if New York City expanded the range of buildings eligible for office to residential conversions?

On this episode of Urban Green Live, John Mandyck talked to David Farnsworth and Tess McNamara about Arup’s research and the impetus, from a sustainability perspective, for making more of NYC’s office buildings eligible for residential conversions.

SPEAKERS:


David Farnsworth, Principal, Americas Property Market Leader, Arup
Tess McNamara, Senior Consultant, Climate & Sustainability, Arup
John Mandyck, CEO, Urban Green Council

RESOURCES:


Arup's presentation slides

Ian Shapiro—founder and co-owner of Taitem Engineering and Professor of Practice (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) at Syracuse University—is one of New York’s leading experts on building electrification, having recently helped the City of Ithaca develop a local energy code that reduces carbon emissions by 80 percent in new buildings and will require fossil-fuel-free buildings starting in 2026.

He joined us on Urban Green Live where we’ll talk to Ian about the building industry’s readiness to electrify and the challenges of growing the workforce and reducing construction costs. This wide-ranging discussion touched on everything from heat pumps to energy opportunities in New York State.

The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has helped provide companies with a clearly-defined and verified net zero pathway to reduce their emissions in alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement goals. And now, the SBTi is setting its sights on buildings—developing target setting methodologies, tools, and guidance for companies and stakeholders in the sector to set 1.5º aligned decarbonization targets.

Karl Downey is a Senior Technical Manager for the SBTi, and is leading their Building Sector project. He joined Urban Green Live to discuss what the SBTi is and how it works, what makes it different from previous and existing standards, and the development and upcoming release of the Building Sector guidance.

The New York City Department of Buildings recently created the Bureau of Sustainability, led by newly appointed Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability Laura Popa, a former member of the Urban Green Council Board of Directors. DOB’s first-ever climate-focused bureau will direct the department’s sustainability and energy efficiency initiatives, including the implementation of LL97.  

On December 15, we sat down with Laura to discuss the bureau’s work, its priorities for the coming months and what it all means for the buildings industry.

Healthy buildings are here to stay. So what's next? On November 10, we welcomed back Dr. Joe Allen, a leading voice influencing global healthy building design, to unpack his new book, Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Can Make You Sick—Or Keep You Well. Joe is an assistant professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Director of the Harvard Healthy Buildings Program. 

Joe discussed some highlights from the book, including how diseases spread indoors, the different ways building owners can create indoor spaces that keep occupants safe and healthy, and why healthy buildings are vital for sustainable urban centers.