New York City has made ambitious commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050 and to build or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing in ten years. Buildings account for roughly 70 percent of our emissions but affordable housing building owners and developers face a number of obstacles and policy challenges to making their buildings more sustainable.

In 2014-15, NYLCVEF conducted a civic engagement campaign in partnership with the Community League of the Heights (CLOTH), a local community development corporation (CDC) in Washington Heights. The campaign raised support for city funding to support the green preservation of affordable housing. In 2015, through continued conversation with CLOTH’s leadership and our other local partners, we identified a need for further education and engagement with various stakeholders on the issue. In partnership with Enterprise Community Partners and NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, we decided to convene a forum on the many issues related to CLOTH’s important work and affordable housing through New York City.

On February 3rd, the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Enterprise Community Partners and NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service co-hosted a policy forum on the Green Preservation of New York City’s Multi-Family Affordable Housing with generous support from Crauderueff and Associates.

Co-sponsored by NYU and Enterprise, and with generous support from Crauderueff and Associates, NYLCVEF hosted a policy forum entitled “Green Preservation of Multi-Family Affordable Housing” on February 3rd. In conversation with moderators Esther Toporovsky of Enterprise Community Partners and David Hepinstall of the Association for Energy Affordability, panelists from city and state agencies, utilities, and housing developers discussed the myriad barriers and opportunities for advancing green preservation of privately owned, publically supported buildings in NYC.

Each panel featured discussion of the complex and interrelated issues that must be considered when implementing sustainability retrofits for multi-family affordable housing, including education, financing, resiliency, and stakeholder collaboration. Panelists then took questions from the audience of students, issue experts, financial sector professionals, and community leaders.

The audience, as well as members of our second panel that primarily featured advocates and affordable housing developers, delivered a resounding consensus on the need for a “one-stop shop” for technical assistance and other retrofitting programs. Agency representatives discussed recent developments with New York City’s Retrofit Accelerator, designed for just such a purpose – and we believe that effective implementation of the Accelerator’s programs remains a key piece of Mayor de Blasio’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Throughout the fall of 2014, NYLCVEF brought together experts from different industries to discuss three big ways New York City can mitigate flooding, improve green space, and reduce waste. Our Dig Deep for a Greener New York policy forum series focused on Green Infrastructure, Funding an Equitable Park System, and Organic Waste and Composting.

On October 9th, we kicked off the series with our forum on Green Infrastructure. Our panelists from a variety of government agencies and nonprofits discussed how the city can manage combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and use green infrastructure to mitigate flooding. New York City's outdated infrastructure could benefit greatly from expanding green infrastructure and using it as a climate resiliency tool.

Read our background white paper and recommendations for New York City, and check out pictures from the morning.

Our second forum took place on November 6th and focused on Funding an Equitable Park System. In order to provide a fully-funded city park system the city will have to dramatically expand annual operating costs. Where will the money come from? Our panel provided great ideas on different funding streams to make sure every New Yorker has access to a safe and updated park.

Read our background white paper and recommendations for New York City, and check out pictures from the morning.

Our third and final forum focused on Organic Waste and Composting. PlaNYC2030 set out an ambitious goal to divert 75 percent of our solid waste from landfills. With food making up 35 percent of all waste generated in New York City, composting represents a huge opportunity. More than 100 people showed up for this forum, where some new and exciting ideas were presented about how to make composting work in our city. WNYC wrote a great article about the ideas presented by Councilmember Antonio Reynoso, and you can read more in our white paper and recommendations for the City. Don't forget to check out the packed house on our Facebook page.

Excess levels of nitrogen plaguing Long Island waterways has resulted in several mass fish kills, shellfish losses, harmful algal blooms, wetlands destruction, and more. Earlier this week, NYLCVEF hosted a forum at Stony Brook University to discuss this issue that has been over 45 years in the making. Scientists, politicians, and environmentalists gathered to explore and tackle the two main challenges of this nitrogen crisis: technology and finances.

Panelists Walter Dawydiak of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, Amanda Ludlow of Roux Associates, Theresa McGovern of VHB, and Professor Harold Walker of Stony Brook University identified poorly treated septic system waste as the main culprit of the nitrogen crisis. Approximately 70% of wastewater systems in Suffolk County rely on septic systems or cesspools that leach wastewater containing high levels of nitrate into the ground, or remain unsewered, which means that on-site treatment is not meeting clean water requirements.

The problem of leaching is technologically difficult and expensive to fix, which led the panelists to explore the technical aspects of new sewage systems. The panelists discussed the implementation of advanced septic systems throughout the county as a pilot project. The main problem of these upgrades is the cost - as much as $30,000 for an individual homeowner. Walker estimated the cost of installing on-site upgraded septic systems throughout the county at $6 billion. He stated a need for better technology that is more effective, more reliable, and more affordable.

Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, President of Jove Equity Partners and co-chair of Suffolk Planning Board David Calone, and Director of Sustainability and Chief Recovery Officer for Suffolk County Dorian Dale confronted the issue of funding to implement these upgraded systems in the second panel session. Some of the financial options include doubling the county’s water quality sales tax, extending the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund money to be used for water-quality related projects, bonding, and tax-increment financing. The panelists believe that solving this water quality problem could end up financially benefiting the county and stressed that Long Island has the opportunity to become a front-runner in clean water planning.

This forum was only the beginning, we look forward to continuing our work on Long Island to find potential solutions to this critical water issue.

Click here to download the background paper prepared in advance of this event.

Thanks to Roux Associates for their generous support of this event.

By Breanna Giovanniello

Though retrofitting buildings can help to save energy, many homeowners do not know how to go about making their homes more energy efficient and may be concerned about the associated costs. However, 'greening' a home can also have the benefit of increasing its market value, once homeowners know where to start. On June 5, 2013, NYLCVEF co-hosted a free public forum called "Building Blocks for Energy Efficient Homes" with the Westchester County Executive's Office. The event was designed to aid homeowners who want to make their homes more efficient but don't know where to start, or are worried that the projects will end up costing more than they save.

The forum consisted of two panels, each with an audience Q&A session. During the first panel, "Greening Your Home to Maximize its Value," industry professionals informed the audience about the latest in energy efficiency and environmentally friendly design.  The panel was moderated by Judy Martin of Green Home Consulting, and the panelists were Susan Anthony, an Interior Designer, Leah Caro, a real estate broker, Jared Haines of Mercury Solar, Christina Griffin, an architect and Sean Murphy, of Murphy Brothers Contracting.

The second panel discussion, "How Do You Get Started?" was designed to educate homeowners about the existing and future residential incentive and financing programs to help pay for home-greening efforts.  The panel was moderated by Pamela Lippe, NYLCV Westchester Chapter board member and principal of e4 inc, and the panelists included Tom Bregman of Energize NY, Kristina Klimovich of PACENow, John Sullivan of Sullivan Architecture, Anthony Marmo of Clover Comfort and Toby Simpson from Honeywell.

In addition to Westchester homeowners, the event was also attended by businesses and energy associations based throughout the county. More than 25 vendors were set up in the room to give attendees more information on taking the next step to green their homes.

In 2014, we once again partnered with the County for another panel discussion on residential energy efficiency which featured Judy Martin, who is consultant for Green Home Consulting and a member of NYLCV's Westchester Chapter Board.

In 2008 NYLCVEF launched its "Powering the Future" campaign. Our goal was to host a series of policy forums aimed at breaking through the clutter surrounding energy policy and providing policy makers and the general public with an unbiased and neutral arena to discuss these critical issues. Partnering with NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and its Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, we hosted three forums focusing in solar, wind and nuclear power in the fall of 2008 and two more events focused on energy efficiency in the spring of 2009.

Residential and Commercial Energy Efficiency
Background Paper
Terminology Handout

Nuclear Energy Forum
Background Paper
Slide Presentation
Basic Energy Terminology Handout

Wind Energy Forum
Background Paper
Slide Presentation
Basic Energy Terminology Handout

Solar Energy Forum
Background Paper
Slide Presentation
Basic Energy Terminology Handout

Did you know that New York City ships 10,500 tons of residential waste to out-of-state landfills every day?

That adds up to nearly 27 million miles a year -- all on large, long-haul trucks that spew massive amounts of climate-warming emissions into our air.

New York City is lagging behind other major cities in the adoption of new technologies, even as our current system grows more and more expensive. Isn't it time for the Big Apple to rethink its solid waste management strategy -- and soon?

"Wasted Opportunity? Confronting NYC's Solid Waste Challenges" was a provocative half-day discussion that included a full accounting of New York City's existing solid waste challenges and charted out a course for a more sustainable future.

This policy forum took place December 6, 2012 at the New York City Bar Association.

"Wasted Opportunity?" explored the critical and timely issue of how New York City can best manage the nonrecyclable fraction of its municipal solid waste. Our speakers discussed the economic, environmental and public health impacts of the city's current system of managing unrecyclable waste, with a new system utilizing a range of new conversion technologies that extract and create energy and other resources from waste.

Our speakers were:

PANEL 1:
Caswell Holloway; NYC Deputy Mayor for Operations
Eric Goldstein; Director, New York City Environment, Natural Resources Defense Council
Carol Kellermann; President, Citizens Budget Commission
Thomas Matte, MD; Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Environmental Surveillance and Policy, NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.
Maria Gotsch; President & CEO, New York City Investment Fund
Moderated by NYLCVEF President Marcia Bystryn

PANEL 2:
Kate Ascher; Principal, Happold Consulting
James J. Binder, P.E.; Principal, Alternative Resources, Inc.
Helena Durst; Vice President, The Durst Organization
Brendan Sexton; President, The Sexton Company
Jamie Stein; Coordinator, Environmental Systems Management Program, Pratt Institute
Moderated by Adam Lisberg, Editor, City & State

This forum was generously sponsored by:

Additional sponsors included the Energy & Environmental Law Committees of the New York City Bar Association and Columbia Law School's Center for Climate Change Law.

Our media sponsor for this special program was City Hall News, part of the Manhattan Media publishing group.

Click here to read our background paper on this issue

Click here to Read our Recommendations for New York City

New York State officials applauded the 2012 legislative session as one of the most productive in history. But what got done for the environment?

NYLCVEF and our environmental partner organizations joined together to answer that question at a panel discussion held in New York City. Called "Who is the Greenest of them All?" the discussion updated New Yorkers on several key legislative initiatives affecting their air, water and health.

One of the biggest environmental successes of the year was the Sewage Pollution Right to Know Law, which requires sewage treatment plant operators to notify the public whenever a release of untreated sewage occurs. Gov. Cuomo signed this law into effect during the summer.

Lawmakers also approved additional environmental funding that will help municipal parks, recycling and land conservation efforts.

But several other initiatives didn't make it through Albany's political process. Among them were the Solar Jobs Act, closing a loophole on hydrofracking wastewater and protecting children's health from toxic chemicals.

Dozens turned out to participate in the briefing, which took place in New York City. NYLCVEF would like to thank our partner organizations -- Environmental Advocates of New York, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Environment New York and the Energy and Climate Center at Pace Law School -- for organizing this great event!

Some of the most pressing questions regarding urban parks address how our urban environments can incorporate nature and how these parks can promote community. NYLCVEF's symposium "What is an Urban Park, Anyway?" cohosted with the Yonkers Committee for Smart Development and Groundwork Hudson Valley looked to address these questions and more . This public symposium featured six speakers--Meg Walker, Vice President, Project for Public Spaces; Rick Madger, Executive Director, Groundwork Hudson Valley; Yvette Hartsfield, Yonkers Parks Commissioner; Rose Harvey, the New York State Parks Commissioner; Christopher Rizzo, Board member of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and New Yorkers for Park; and Dart Westphal, board member of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park; who sat for a Q&A panel session in the second half of the event. NYLCVEF President Marcia Bystryn moderated the panel.

In their presentations, the speakers addressed several topics including:

• Questions of balancing active and passive parkland spaces
• Means of coexistence with wildlife
• The role of the community in neighborhood parks
• Ensuring that parks are accessible to all
• Creative methods of funding city parks, including the role of private/public partnerships and non-profit managers such as conservancies  

Rose Harvey and others highlighted the new Saw Mill River Daylighting Park, and many spoke to the success of The High Line as a model for future park creation.

The audience of over 50 community members asked thoughtful questions that addressed local issues such as - How do we enjoy the waterfront if it's covered in old industry? How do we prevent property prices around parks from skyrocketing? How often does the Parks Department mow?

So what IS an urban park, anyway? The symposium started with an image of Central Park, often thought of as the "ideal" urban park, but as the audience learned about parks throughout Westchester, New York City, and even Detroit, it was emphasized that parks are open spaces for community gathering-they can be "natural" as many of the parks in Westchester are, or be created around abandoned rail lines and covered up rivers, infrastructure like the Old Croton Aqueduct. Perhaps the most important key to Urban Parks is community involvement, which Yonkers residents showed through their attendance and engaging questions.

Thanks again to our co-hosts, Groundwork Hudson Valley and the Yonkers Committee for Smart Development, as well as to our panelists, for making a great event.