a reblog covering NYC’s sustainability scene
Posted in Livable Streets on Jan 31st, 2008
Panelists included:
Here are some highlights.
Posted in Climate Change, Health, Livable Streets on Jan 31st, 2008
Streetsblog has gotten hold of the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission recommendation, which should be voted on this hour. According to the version we have (pdf), the commission’s alternative to Mayor Bloomberg’s plan is expected to exceed the 6.3% VMT reduction required by the federal government, and raise an estimated $491 million per year for mass transit. Other details include:
This story has not received a lot of attention, but at the request of the Mayor, City Council is considering a bill that will require police permits for possession and use of environmental air monitoring devices by public health groups, labor unions, environmentalists, community organizations, and university programs. Given the scandal surround the EPA lies of air quality at Ground Zero, the introduction is shocking. Those three muskateers of pointless safety laws: Bloomberg, the NYPD, and City Council, are collaborating on this doozy.
The rational for this stupid proposal? If a lot of independent alarms went off it could create a panic, so the police need to control the monitoring devices out there. That’s just so implausible I’m not going to waste my time writing about it. By this rational the Department of Homeland Security should have been shut down in 2004, after their too-many-to-count false security alert warnings. Code Red Code Red! Amusingly enough DHS proposed this law to NYC - can you say projection?
Intro 650, if enacted, will restrict, and could prevent altogether, independent environmental monitoring. So lets think of some of the implications. No air monitoring in neighborhoods with high asthma rates of auto/bus emissions. No air monitoring in the city period of auto emissions. No air monitoring from light or heavy manufacturing or energy plants. No air monitoring at or around construction sites. No air monitoring around disaster sights.
I guess the revelations that the EPA lied about the air quality at Ground Zero, and the liabilities the city faces for rescue workers who have become ill because of their work at Ground Zero has really gotten under the government’s skin.
Oh, but the police will give people a permit. Right. As if. The one thing the NYPD does NOT DO is cooperate.
Its really a joke when the Mayor rolls out his accountability speeches. So next time you file a complaint for hazardous air with 311 you’ll be able to track its rejection on your home computer - Great! Oh, but he’s enforcing parking space - whoop dee do. When it comes to big issues the last thing this Mayor wants is accountability: Real Estate subsidies, Construction and Public Safety, Police compliance with the law. All those have no proper accountability or transparency.
The same goes for Speaker Quinn who let this crap bill get into committee.
The only thing they forgot to include in this bill was a ban on BS meters.
Per the Intro 650 record
Thanks to the commenter who suggested looking into this more. I personally hope Tisch will oppose this bill. I’ve also put a call into her office to try to see if there is any clarity to gain on this, but its worth noting that Tisch is not particularly important to this story at this time and this is making a bit much of it all. I originally mentioned her because it simply struck my attention that she was on RubberRooms list because she is in general one of our better councilors. And she is certainly one we would expect to hear speak out against such legislation.
Posted in Green Building on Jan 30th, 2008
Helder Design announced today that it will seek Gotham’s first LEED Platinum rating for a mixed-used project at 439 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The development broke ground back in August and should wrap up sometime this summer. It will house Helder’s architecture studio, as well as two duplex condominium residences and a ground-floor art gallery. Designed by Netherlands native Mark Helder, who moved his firm to New York back in 2002, the south-facing green building will feature passive solar design, radiant flooring, photovoltaics, and efficient ventilation and insulation systems.
Posted in Energy on Jan 24th, 2008
NYTimes author Jim Dwyer wrote an article (also there is an entertaining video) about his experience getting solar panels installed on his Washington Heights co-op building. After incentives, low-financing, and a very competitive bid from AltPower, he says they will roughly break even throughout the life of the loan and be in the black for the remainder of the life of the panels, which are guaranteed to last for at minimum 25 years.
But the real juice to his story comes from his retelling of uncooperative incentive policies, complicated regulations, and unnecessary ConEd needs. Solar could be a real boon for NYC because of our huge demand and very restricted supply (all of our blackouts are because of high demand and not enough electrons flowing through the wires). The problem is that obviously (except maybe to Albany) incentives that are appropriate for single-family suburban homes are not for the big city.
This is why we started our I Heart PV program, to get grassroots support for proper solar incentives for NYC. Head over there to read all the great arguements and what you can do to help.
Posted in Energy on Jan 23rd, 2008
City Councilor David Yassky has a bill that is moving through City Council that would mandate heating oil sold in NYC be 20% BioDiesel by 2013. The mandate would be phased in over the next few years, and not only make the City’s energy use greener, it would also reduce the price of home heating oil. According to Yassky spokes person Sam Rockwell, both Speaker Quinn’s office and the Mayor’s office have been receptive to the proposal. And why wouldn’t they be? The current price of crude oil combine with a state tax credit for biodiesel purchases has made biodiesel cost competative. The Department of Transportation and the Department of Sanitation have had successful BioDiesel pilot programs. The proposal would fit in well with the Mayor’s PlaNYC ambissions, and in 2007 the Mayor initiated a program to require that 30% of the City’s heating oil purchases contain 5% biofuel.
Yassky’s bill will be reviewed at a City Council Environmental Protection Committee hearing this Thursday at 1:00pm.
Mr. Rockwell says there is plenty of BioDiesel available now to meet the demand a 20% requirement would create, its just not a standard offer from most suppliers. According to Yassky’s office NYC uses approximately 450M gallions of home heating oil a year. There are at least three significant producers of BioDiesel around NYC. Tristate BioDiesel, which collects used cooking oil from NYC’s restaurants. Fuelbio, in Elizabeth NJ, which produces 50 Million gallons a year, and which Mr. Rockwell says is ready to ramp up production at practically the flip of a switch. and Metrofuel whom Mr. Rockwell says is going through final approval to set up processing in Greenpoint (who says light industry in Brooklyn is dead?). Metrofuel reportedly will be able to supply 100 Million gallons a year. So getting to 20% of NYC total home use should not be any problem.
According the federal EPA BioDiesel use has a significant impact on reducing toxic emissions. Here are some emissions differences using a 20% BioDiesel mix relative to standard Diesel:
Total Unburned Hydrocarbons -20%
Carbon Monoxide -12%
Particulate Matter -12%
Sulfates -20%
Ozone potential of speciated HC -10%
This looks like an easy win for the politicians and NYC.
Posted in Design on Jan 17th, 2008
The city’s pre-eminent design show is now calling for exhibitors at the 2008 event. BKLYN DESIGNS 2008 is set to take place May 9-11 in and around DUMBO and other Brooklyn ‘hoods.
Prospective exhibitors can download the application here.
In addition to showcasing the next wave of juried contemporary indoor and outdoor furnishings, lighting, and accessories, BKLYN DESIGNS 2008 once again will feature BKLYN DESIGNS +: the cash and carry market for small home accessories, which premiered at the fifth anniversary show. Interested exhibitors must submit an application, and indicate that they will be offering product that is made and/or designed in Brooklyn.
Submissions will be juried by a panel of shelter magazine editors and design professionals – this will include executives from our presenting sponsor, Target. Please note Target staff will be at the show throughout the weekend and will be on the lookout for exceptional designs possibly to be put into production.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2008
H/t to our buds at ReclaimedHome.com.
Posted in Design, Technology on Jan 11th, 2008
Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St. (between 10th Ave. and 11th Ave.), NYC
At a public reception at Eyebeam Saturday, December 15, Executive Director Amanda McDonald Crowley announced the winners of Eyebeam’s two-part, online Eco-Vis Challenge competition. Oz Etzioni’s Unrecyclable Icon was awarded a $2000 grand prize in the Eco-Icons category, and the Studio for Urban Projects’ In Popular Terms, the Evolving Language of Ecology was awarded a $2000 grand prize in the Eco-Visualization category. The winning projects will be previewed during the month of January, and exhibited as part of Eyebeam’s Feedback show in March 2008.
Posted in Energy on Jan 8th, 2008
Featuring some of the stalwarts of the NYC Solar biz, an open panel + Q&A at a Quaker meeting house on Wednesday Jan 9 offers you a chance to hear it from the horse’s mouth, and maybe even get in a question or two. Also don’t miss Chris Neidl’s upcoming I Heart PV Green Renter.
Agenda:
It will be at the Friends Meeting House, 15 Rutherford Place, Manhattan (15th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues) at 7pm on Wednesday January 9.
Posted in Parks and Open Space on Jan 3rd, 2008
Gateway National Park… Ever been there? It’s one of the largest urban national parks, but a full half of New Yorkers don’t even know it’s there. It stretches around much of Queens and Brooklyn along the waterfront, as well as parts of Staten Island. Chronically underfunded, but culturally significant, Gateway is headed for a redesign. The National Parks Conservation Association is showcasing five of the competing design ideas and asking you to vote on them and submit comments. All the comments will then be given to the National Parks Service on January 31. Some of the designs have new ideas about water, some, new ideas about land. All take an advanced approach to materials used, native plants, and the usual.