Bank On It
Banks set standards for Kyoto carbon offsets to improve reliability. Get a grip
June 29, 2007
Ain't That Swede
The Swedish tax code supports Saab and Volvo. But now, these carbon colossuses may have to consider their climate footprint. Read more
Senate Stirs on Climate
Republican Senator Warner has agreed to work with Democrats on climate legislation. Stay tuned
Straighten Up & Drive Right
Go straight to sustainable solutions. The keys are fuel efficiency and the right biofuels. Get moving [1.2 MB]
“If We Don't Act Now, When? And If We Don't Act, Who Will?”
I was moved to quote Mayor Bloomberg’s stirring challenge to make PlaNYC 2030 a reality in my previous Torchlight column. Now I want to use it as a lodestone for our elected officials and for ourselves. Of the 127 proposals made when the Mayor launched PlaNYC 2030 in April 2007, congestion pricing received the lion’s share of media attention but its ill-fated bill died in Albany at the end of the recent legislative session. Maybe it will be revived. Other major elements of the 2030 plan, as currently construed, will also require State legislation. In particular, a call for creation of two new energy authorities that would shift considerable power and revenue to the City carry the weight of great hope but have scant potential for swift action in Albany.
Instead of putting so much of PlaNYC’s fate in the hands of the State legislature, let’s get moving now on the major pieces of the climate change challenge that New York City can control itself. Since we now know that 79% of the City’s carbon “footprint” is linked to heating, cooling and providing electricity to its buildings, let’s direct our might and main to making high performance, super energy-efficient buildings New York’s “new normal”. It’s a tall order for a vertical city, but if we don’t succeed we’ll have only ourselves to blame. We can already point to a number of outstanding “green buildings”, commercial, public and residential in four of the five boroughs, so we already have some real-world experience under our belts.
What we need are more such buildings, and more experience in how to construct, operate and maintain them. And we need enough of these better buildings to have a deep and enduring impact on our overall electricity and fuel consumption at a scale able to deliver on the promise of slashing our GHG emissions by 30% by the year 2030. To make this happen we’ll also an improved building code. Although the Building Code changes legislated in June 2007 authorize the Building Department to grant permit fee rebates to projects that incorporate features from a green design menu as well acknowledging the value of cool roofs, these are just a bare beginning. Making New York really sustainable also will call for smart local tax legislation and high performance mandates, in addition to an army of developers, bankers, architects, engineers, designers, contractors and workers to construct and manage this great granite garden of the 21st Century. As buyers and renters we need to demand nothing less.
Why give top billing to green buildings for meeting our GHG reduction goals? Like Willy Sutton once said when asked why he robbed banks, “because that’s where the money is.” Now we need to say with a similar bluntness (but staying on the right side of the law), PlaNYC 2030 should make high performance building the City’s new normal because that’s where the climate payoff is. The City already has one high performance building law; Local Law 86 requires new construction and renovations funded with City dollars to meet United States Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards and to incorporate enhanced energy efficient designs into qualifying projects. Local economic benefits should also flow from these requirements as new, greener building products find local markets and demand increases for construction and building maintenance skills erect and operate these high performance structures. The promise of Local Law 86 is to begin transforming markets and leading by example, even if it can’t achieve climate-related emission reduction scales on its own. City government is also adding to this carbon-cutting momentum with its “Green Desk” at the Economic Development Corporation, which provides assistance to green firms moving to New York City and to existing firms expanding into the green market.
It’s clear from all this ferment that both market transformation and real cuts in the energy demand of our built environment are more than wishful thinking. It’s equally clear that New York won’t be the only major city to find its way to the high road for cutting carbon by building smart.
For example, Berlin Germany and that city’s energy agency manage a program for retrofitting public and private commercial buildings and it’s led to a cut in CO2 emissions an average of 26% per project To date, 1,400 buildings have been made so much more energy efficient that they’re reducing Berlin’s carbon footprint by 60,400 tons a years at a cost of 45 million euros. What’s more, these building upgrades cost property owners nothing while providing a total guaranteed savings of 10 million euros. Average payback periods are 8 – 12 years, with savings beginning immediately due to lower fuel and electric bills. Energy service companies, called ESCOs, perform this work. Typically, ESCOs develop, install and finance projects designed to improve the energy efficiency and maintenance costs for a wide range of facilities. In Berlin, ESCOs bid competitively for the work. ESCOs must guarantee energy savings to the building by deploying innovation, state-of-the-art technology, ideas and value for the money. The winning ESCOs pay upfront for the retrofits and building owners pay them back over an agreed time period.
At the C40 conference hosted by NYC in May 2007, a major announcement by the President Clinton Foundation heralded development of powerful tools to carry out and verify an urban climate policy that relies on a high performance, energy efficient built environment. More specifically, the Clinton Foundation and Microsoft announced a partnership to devise new software tools, pioneered by the climate change advocacy group ICLEI, that will help large cities forge, track and share strategies to reduce GHG emissions. Just like the profound impact made by the Ford assembly line, which standardized 20th Century mass industrial production, this software could create standardized ways for cities to measure GHG; with that ability they will be able to track the effectiveness of their carbon-cutting tools and rules.
While this Microsoft web-based tool to deliver evidence-based climate policy will take some time to develop, NYC should start working today on its next cycle of Building Code upgrades to forge the routine regulatory tools for greening our built environment. This is consistent with the PlaNYC 2030 promise to speed up the cycle for reviewing and revising the Building Code from once every generation to once every three years. At the same time, the City should invest in staff training and, if necessary, increased inspections to make sure that greener building code provisions are fully executed and never ignored. In this way, promises will be kept and any gaps between what’s in the Plan and what’s on the ground can be sealed shut. Delivering on all these eminently practical tools and rules is within the City’s reach and none of them require State legislation.
In keeping with PlanNYC 2030’s fertile vision, some high performance, energy efficiency programs are already beginning to bloom. Nine NYC universities announced that they would “lead by example” and cut their GHG emissions by 30% within ten years, far faster than the citywide goal of a 30% cut by the year 2030. The three largest participating universities occupy 38 million square feet of space; that’s a lot of room for improvement. The City promises to act an as informational clearing house and to share best practices and develop knowledge that can help all participating universities to meet their targets effectively and efficiently. According to the Mayor’s press release, the City has the goal of “improving data logging, installing more modern, efficient, equipment, tuning up equipment that is already in place and improving operations and maintenance practices” in some of its own buildings.
What New York must and can avoid is the Chicago Climate Curse. The essence of this curse is making promises and setting climate targets but finding that GHG emissions are on the rise. From this distance it’s hard to say whether the Chicago’s current failure springs from false promises, false premises or simply botched implementation, but what’s clear is that energy demand hasn’t been contained. The Big Apple can do better, but it will take a willingness to spend both financial and serious political capital, and it will take a willingness by citizens, communities, advocates and myriad businesses to try out new ways of doing things. If New York fails to reach its climate goals, we’ll all have to look in the mirror to figure out what went wrong.
As Mayor Bloomberg constantly reminds us, he has under one thousand days left in office. His PlaNYC 2030 puts New York on the map as a capital city for combating climate change. It offers 127 ideas for how to do battle. Not every idea is a winner and -- since the plan isn’t some sacred text -- edits, revisions and deletions are all on the table. Nevertheless, there is an urgency to getting the gears engaged and the plan in motion. Scientists say that we have no time to waste in minimizing our carbon footprint.
In this spirit, I call for setting a top priority for PlaNYC 2030 -- make high performance buildings the new normal. And I’m offering a winning strategy -- draw on the City's own home-grown rules and willing citizens, while attracting economic, creative and technical resources from around the world, to make it happen.
June 28, 2007
It's Only Rock 'n Roll
Ever wonder what climate change looks like from the Oval Office? Come on in
We've Got A Problem
A poll of global public opinion finds that pollution is seens as a top trouble and the US is the bad guy. Americans don't think so. What do you think?
June 27, 2007
Alp! Alp!
Temperatures in once glacier-rich Switzerland are heating up twice as fast as the rest of the northern hemisphere. Whew!
Cheney Pulls The Strings
Vice President Cheney has exercised major behind-the-scences influence on environmental policy. Here's how
More WInd Power
General Electic will finance in windparks in upstate New York to generate 282MW of clean power. Read more
Trash-An Urban Sustainability Issue
No peace yet in NYC's great garbage wars. That's unsustainable
June 26, 2007
One For The Money
NY officials are pitching Washington for $536.9 million in congestion pricing funds. Seven other states are also asking for funds. Looking good?
Green Hospitality
Guests are demanding and getting greener hotels. Green's a money saver for the industry too. Your key
Dingell-ing CAFE Standards
The House energy bill won't offer improved CAFE standards for new cars. Credit goes to Michigan's John Dingell. Ding-dong
June 25, 2007
Tide's In For Scotland
The power of an "underwater hurricaine" off Scotland's coast could generate a gigawatt of clean renewable power. Get swept away
Energizing Congress
Will the House energy bill restore the oil tax and renewable energy provisions dropped by the Senate? Pay attention
Marketing Sustainability
85% of US consumer business companies have energy conservation and recycling programs because consumers, investors and regulators demand them. Buy this?
Climate-Confused Consumers
US and UK consumers don't trust government or business to share good product information related to climate impacts. Buy that?
Walmart Delays
In 2005, Walmart promised its first sustainability report for spring 2007. Now, this deadline has come and gone. Still waiting
June 24, 2007
Don't Tax Transportation
Tax is the wrong tool to cut carbon in the transportation sector. Instead, set low-carbon fuel standards. Look into it
Do Tax Transportation
Read the rebuttal to the anti-tax position.
June 23, 2007
A Modest Carbon Proposal
A carbon tax woud be simple, straightforward and easy to enforce. Why aren't there any takers? Think
California Greenin'
Facing stumbles and fierce opponents will California save the day? Scene 1
At the Crossroads
"Stay the course" would mean turbulence and disaster on the climate front, but we have a choice. Carpe diem
The Savvy Green Shopper
Here's how to be a green consumer with eyes wide open. No dummy
June 22, 2007
Green Roads Yes, Buildings No
A new survey of cities finds that many are greening cars and traffic signals, but many fewer are greening their buildings. Moving in first gear
Google Climate
Google will go carbon neutral this year and wants its electricity suppliers to do the same. Click
NY's Green Wave
Rating the recent Albany legislative session, the NYLCV sees inclusive public demands for climate change action. Dive in
Uranium Mining Down Under
The Australian government has lifted decades-long restrictions on uranium mining. Will nuclear power plants become a growth industry in this coal-rich country? Hop in
Beyond RGGI
NJ's Governor will sign a bill to cut GHG emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020 and monitor GHG emissions from out-of-state power plants sending electricity into the state. These goals are more ambitions that RGGI. Check it out
Portugal Cleans Up
Portugal plans to get 45% of its electricity from non-carbon sources in just eight years. Sun, waves & wind
June 20, 2007
China Misses Energy Efficiency Goals
Officials say they're on-board with a climate policy, but short-term heavy industry growth comes first. Steel yourself
June 19, 2007
Beware The Albedo Flip
James Hansen warns in a new report that decisive action on climate must occur in the next ten years or an irreversible crisis is certain due to things like the "albedo flip". What's that?
Congressional Energy
Congress seems poised to rip new auto efficiency standards out of pending energy legislation. What else?
Cabon Targets=Targeted Investments?
A new survey finds that while companies are setting carbon targets, they're not making big investments or giving bonusus for reaching climate goals. Follow the money
Hero or Zero
Become a climate-aware consumer. Check out the GHG scorecard on 56 big firms-from Amazon to Yahoo. Climate counts
June 18, 2007
Congress & Climate Change
What can US climate legislators and business communities learn from the European ETS experience? Allocations & allowances
Chicago's Green Blues
Despite pledges to become a green model, Chicago's GHG emissions are soaring. Trouble in mind
Insuring The Planet
The UN's Insurance Working Group reports that the industry misses the value of environmental assets and sustainability. Risky business
Is Green Gold?
When small businesses value environmental practices, will customers pay? Look into it
Electric Goldmines
European power generators find that free permits make CO2 trading very profitable. Do the math
June 16, 2007
She Walks The Line
The chalk line on Brooklyn streets graphs the potential for local flooding after a major storm. Draw in
June 15, 2007
Rent-A-Hybrid
Sometimes you really need a car, soon you can rent a hybrid and keep your green cred. Step on it
Bottling Up Renewable Energy
Senate Republicans threatened to filibuster legislation establishing renewable energy requirements but its supporters backed down without a fight. Now what?
Gas Tax="Tough Love"
Can higher gas taxes change American driving habits and cut other costs? Look into it
Same Old Tune
While the Earth heats up, Congress fiddles. Sing along
June 14, 2007
Four Horsemen Riding
"Big Pharma" may be in for some big profits if global warming leads to spikes in cholera, dengue fever, diptheria, and malaria. Uh-oh
A New Requirement
US colleges and universities are leading the way on carbon neutality. Get smart Also greening NYC campuses
Getting Off The Grid
San Francisco's newest high performance building will be on the cutting edge of clean energy design. Way to go!
Start Counting Down
According to BP, the world has 40 years of oil reserves and consumption is still rising.39, 38, 37