Building a Greener Gotham: Now's the Time
Panel Discusses Newly Released Report — Decoding the Code: How Can NYC's 2007 Building Code Help Meet PlaNYC 2030 Energy/Carbon Reduction Goals?
September 22, 2008
This Code Green event was held at the storefront Center for Architecture on La Guardia Place, co-sponsored by the Sallan Foundation and The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (COTE).
Backstory
In overhauling its Building Code for the first time in nearly four decades New York City not only achieved a major milestone in 2007, it created a sturdy platform and mechanism for future improvements in the Code.
Center for Architecture on La Guardia Place
Attendees to Building a Greener Gotham: Now's the Time Panel
Home of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
Pre-panel discussion
Opening remarks by Nancy Anderson, Executive Director of the Sallan Foundation
Michael Bobker, Author of Decoding the Code
Attendees of Building a Greener Gotham: Now's the Time
Panelists from left to right: Thomas Congdon, Chris Garvin and Nancy Anderson
Thomas Congdon, Assistant Secretary for Energy in Governor Patterson's office
Discussion opened up to Q & A
As stated in its groundbreaking proposal, PlaNYC 2030, the City aims to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions 30% from 2005 levels by the year 2030. Carbon dioxide dominates them, and nearly 80% of carbon emissions are related to our building stock.
In July 2008, at the Mayor's request, the New York chapter of USGBC launched a Green Codes Task Force. By December, it will review local laws in order to identify obstacles to green building and articulate a menu of recommendations to encourage greener, high performance practices in the marketplace.
Panelists:
- Michael Bobker, Project Director, CUNY Building Performance Lab, CUNY Institute for Urban Systems and author of Decoding the Code. Download PDF of Michael's PowerPoint Presentation
- Chris Garvin, Architect, Cook + Fox, A Member of the Mayor Bloomberg's Sustainability Advisory Board and Green Codes Task Force
- Thomas Congdon, Assistant Secretary for Energy in Governor Patterson's office. From 2000–2007 he served as a policy analyst in the New York State Attorney General's Environmental Protection Bureau. Download PDF of Tom's PowerPoint Presentation
Moderator:
- Nancy Anderson, Executive Director, the Sallan Foundation
Audio Clips:
Q&A: Thomas Congdon — with existing buildings there's a lot of evidence of mis-management of building systems... Michael Bobker follows up with comment.
Q&A: Green Codes Task Force Attendee has a question for Thomas Congdon about bringing City and State building codes into line with one another.
Related Content:
- Nancy Anderson, Ph.D. Torchlight Column: The Deep Green Quartet. The Sallan Foundation, 30 Oct. 2008, www.sallan.org/Torchlight/2008/10/the_deep_green_quartet.php.
- Case Study — New York City Green Codes Task Force. ACEEE.org, The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Mar. 2011, aceee.org/files/pdf/case-studies/NYC_Green_Codes_Task_Force.pdf.
