Building Tomorrow: Conversations with Climate Solvers: Recent Episodes
Urban Green Council
Buildings contribute to over 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in New York City, and 38 percent globally. This podcast will introduce you to people who are advancing the reality of healthy, resilient, and equitable low-carbon solutions that help solve climate change bit by bit.
In this episode of Building Tomorrow, Mark MacCracken, the Vice President of CALMAC at Trane Technologies, joins host Ellen Honigstock and co-host Whitney Smith to discuss thermal energy storage. Thermal energy storage is a clean energy alternative that involves using ice for cooling and water for storing heat. Listen in to learn more about how this method of heating and cooling compares to fossil fuel systems and conventional electric resistance.
HOSTS:
Ellen Honigstock, Senior Director, Education, Urban Green Council
Whitney Smith, Senior Climate & Sustainability Leader and Associate Principal, Arup
GUEST:
Mark MacCracken, Vice President and CALMAC Portfolio Leader, Trane Technologies
To decarbonize New York City buildings, heating systems reliant on fossil fuels must be replaced with sustainable alternatives. In this episode of Building Tomorrow, Brightcore’s Jonathan Hernandez joins Urban Green’s Ellen Honigstock to discuss geothermal energy and how it can be expanded in NYC to decarbonize buildings and make them more resilient.
Listen in as they dive into the geothermal industry, and how new policies and technologies are making the installation of more ground source heat pump systems possible.
HOST:
Ellen Honigstock, Senior Director, Education, Urban Green Council
GUEST:
Jonathan Hernandez, Director of Business Development, Geothermal, Brightcore
RESOURCES:
Find the images and graphics discussed in the episode here.
Building systems are designed and installed separately, but at the end of the day, they have to work together in order for a building to work as intended. Commissioning makes that happen.
In this episode of Building Tomorrow, Kelly Westby from Steven Winter Associates joins Urban Green’s Ellen Honigstock to discuss all things commissioning, including:
- Commissioning as a systems-thinking process
- The importance of communication
- Where human science and building science come together
By the end of their conversation, you’ll be able to see how commissioning makes a building complete!
This is a crossover episode! Make sure to listen to the Buildings + Beyond podcast to hear Kelly interview Ellen about addressing the skills gap in the sustainable building industry.
HOST:
Ellen Honigstock, Senior Director, Education, Urban Green Council
SPEAKER:
Kelly Westby, Managing Director, Building Operations, Decarbonization, and Efficiency, Steven Winter Associates
RESOURCES:
Listen to our crossover episode featuring Ellen on Steven Winter Associates' Buildings + Beyond podcast:
- "Mind the Gap – Addressing the Skills Gap in the Sustainable Building Industry"
Explore the resources mentioned in this episode:
- Buildings + Beyond Podcast by Steven Winter Associates
- Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
- Workforce Solutions for Decarbonizing Buildings Event, November 15, 2023
Want to learn more?
- Previous Building + Beyond Episode with Kelly about Commissioning, "The Keys to Commissioning with Kelly Westby"
Retrofitting existing buildings can help increase energy efficiency and cut carbon emissions. But what do these retrofits look like in a place like Manhattan, where almost one-third of total floor area has landmark status and is, therefore, energy-code exempt?
In this episode, Dr. Erica Avrami, Nate Rogers and Kate Reggev discuss these energy code waivers and how, despite the waivers, new greenhouse gas legislation could necessitate energy retrofits in historic buildings. This new era of regulation marks a momentous shift in regulation practices and signals a need for significant reforms to preservation policies in light of climate change.
This interview expands on Dr. Avrami’s previous research, including her paper, “Energy and Historic Buildings: Toward Evidence-Based Policy Reform,” which examines the implications of a changing legislative landscape on historic preservation in NYC.
Recorded May 10, 2022
HOSTS:
- Nate Rogers, Senior Associate, Beyer Blinder Belle
- Kate Reggev, Project Manager, Zubatkin Owner Representation
SPEAKER:
- Dr. Erica Avrami, James Marston Fitch Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
RESOURCES:
- Article: Energy and Historic Buildings: Toward Evidence-Based Policy Reform
- Watch the interview on Urban Green’s website
The first compliance period for Local Law 97 is here, and energy upgrades in NYC’s existing buildings will need to pick up. But what kind of upgrades are needed, and who will do the work?
Manny Pastreich, President of 32BJ SEIU, joins Urban Green CEO John Mandyck on Building Tomorrow for a discussion on how we can mobilize the green workforce to complete these energy upgrades.
HOST:
- John Mandyck, CEO, Urban Green Council
SPEAKER:
- Manny Pastreich, President, 32BJ SEIU
RESOURCES:
- Recording of the Workforce Solutions for Decarbonizing Buildings event
Installing an energy upgrade in an occupied building is difficult. These projects are also critical to realizing decarbonization goals.
In this episode of Building Tomorrow, hear from Trevor Smith, a construction manager with extensive experience in completing design-build energy projects in occupied buildings. Trevor shares tips on how to carry out these projects successfully, including how to improve communication and work better with operations staff.
HOSTS:
- Ellen Honigstock, Senior Director, Education, Urban Green Council
- Shruti Narkar, Sustainability Project Manager, JLL
SPEAKER:
- Trevor Smith, Project Manager, Ecosystem Energy Services
Measuring and disclosing “financed carbon emissions”—or Scope 3 emissions—by banks and financial institutions is critical for investors who seek to understand climate risk in their portfolios.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is responsible for the management of over $240 billion in pension funds and is leveraging this role to drive carbon disclosure, including Scope 3 emissions, from the companies in which pension funds are invested. On September 13, 2023, Comptroller Lander joined Urban Green Council CEO John Mandyck for a conversation about his net zero plan and how finance can be a lever for decarbonization.
HOSTS:
- John Mandyck, CEO, Urban Green Council
SPEAKER:
- Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller
RESOURCES:
- NYC’s Net Zero Implementation Plan
In Dr. Melissa Checker’s 2020 book, The Sustainability Myth, she took a critical look at the hidden costs—and contradictions—of New York City’s ambitious sustainability agenda. Her insights into the dynamics of environmental gentrification shed light on some of the hidden forces driving redevelopment in the city.
Three years after the book was published, Dr. Checker joined Building Tomorrow to chat about what has changed in the years since and how we can equitably distribute the benefits of the green transition.
HOSTS:
- Ellen Honigstock, Senior Director, Education, Urban Green Council
- Amy Marpman, Director, Sustainability, SBM Management Services
SPEAKER:
- Dr. Melissa Checker, Hagedorn Professor of Urban Studies at Queens College and Professor of Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center
RESOURCES:
- Link to purchase: The Sustainability Myth
Embodied carbon—the emissions resulting from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials—will play a key role in decarbonizing the built environment.
In this episode of Building Tomorrow, Ellen Honigstock and Prateek Srivastava sit down with Stantec’s Robby Vogel to get a Structural Engineer’s perspective on strategies to reduce embodied carbon and how they can be employed in the built environment.
They discuss everything from new technologies to navigating client relationships to how emerging and established professionals can learn from one another to shape the future of sustainable projects. If you’ve ever wondered what embodied carbon is and why it matters, this episode is a must-listen!
GUEST
Robby Vogel, Principal, Structural Engineering Design Leader, Stantec
HOSTS
Ellen Honigstock, Senior Director, Education, Urban Green Council
Prateek Srivastava, Structural Engineer, Stantec
RESOURCES
Stantec
What is SE2050?
As New York City transitions away from fossil fuels, it’s imperative that environmental justice be centered in policy making, and that people from historically disadvantaged communities actively benefit from the transition.
In this episode of Building Tomorrow, Zakiyah Sayyed and Anushka Maqbool sit down with Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, to talk about Sonal’s career journey, WE ACT’s work with electrification and workforce training, and the importance of centering environmental justice in the electrification conversation.
GUEST:
Sonal Jessel, Director, Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
HOSTS:
Zakiyah Sayyed, Former Crew Supervisor for NYC°CoolRoofs
Anushka Maqbool, Programs Associate, Urban Green Council
RESOURCES:
- WE ACT for Environmental Justice Website
- Gas Free NYC: Decarbonizing New York City’s Future Buildings with Local Law 154
- WE ACT Membership
- Urban Green's Analysis: Exploring Equitable Electrification
In February 2023, Michael Deane, former Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for Turner Construction and Urban Green Board Member, passed away, leaving behind a legacy as a dedicated sustainability champion and friend to the green building movement.
Today, we’re re-releasing this 2018 conversation between Michael and Urban Green Senior Director of Education Ellen Honigstock: a wide-ranging discussion on eliminating construction waste and the wide array of innovations that lie at the intersection of sustainability and construction. We hope you enjoy!
As materials and construction account for 11 percent of global carbon emissions, embodied carbon—the emissions arising from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials—will play a key role in our path to deep decarbonization of our built environment.
Join Shruti Narkar and Ellen Honigstock in a conversation with Aurora Jensen where she provides helpful tips on how to measure, track and scale the reduction of embodied carbon through her experience of working on real-world projects.
Current benchmarking of building performance provides energy consumption data on a monthly basis. Molly Dee-Ramasamy thinks we can do better. Join Taylor Duncan and Ellen Honigstock as they interview Molly about a new cross-collaborative initiative that explores how measuring certain building data on an hourly basis can make benchmarking more precise, fair, and actionable in support of an affordable, low-carbon future.
Guest:
Molly Dee-Ramasamy, Director, Deep Carbon Reduction Group, JB&B
Hosts:
Taylor Duncan, Vice President, Northeast Growth & Development, Energy by 5
Ellen Honigstock, Senior Director, Education, Urban Green Council
Resources:
Benchmark 8760 Website
Benchmark 8760 Fact Sheet
Last year Urban Green published a major research report, Grid Ready, which found that converting building heating and hot water systems from fossil fuels to electric heat pumps does not pose any near-term risk to New York City’s electric grid.
Our research and policy team recently expanded this analysis to explore how increasing power demand from building electrification impacts the grid in environmental justice communities. This new analysis, Exploring Equitable Electrification, found that the 15 NYC grid areas that may see the fastest electrification of heat and hot water systems and the earliest grid constraints are primarily Environmental Justice Areas. Therefore, it’s essential that building electrification policies and programs are designed to ensure an equitable transition—one that secures the benefits and mitigates potential challenges of building electrification.
Join Urban Green’s research and policy team as they unpack the dynamics behind this new research!
Host / Guests:
Christopher Halfnight, Senior Director, Research and Policy, Urban Green Council
Adam Schiabor, Manager, Research, Urban Green Council
Danielle Manley, Manager, Policy, Urban Green Council
Resources:
Grid Ready: Powering NYC's All-Electric Buildings Report, 2021
Exploring Equitable Electrification, Analysis, 2022
EJ Organizations: UpRose, WeAct
Decarbonization, electrification, and climate adaptation are the topics that are driving decision-making in the public and private sectors today. In this new podcast series by Urban Green Council we break down these complex topics, and introduce you to people who are advancing the reality of a clean, affordable low-carbon future and are helping solve climate change bit by bit.