Energy and Climate Change Action Lab:
The New York City Perspective
July 18, 2013
David Gilford, Assistant Director
Energy and Climate Change Action Lab: The New York City Perspective
Overview
 Objectives for NYC
 Economic development
 Sustainability
 Policies for sustainability
 PlaNYC
 Greener, Greater Buildings Plan
 Beyond policy: stimulating innovation
and adoption
 Open Data and Competitions
 Energy Aligned Clause
 Topics for discussion
1
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
NYCEDC’s Objectives in Clean Technology and Energy
Linking sustainability and economic growth
Growth in employment, companies and investment while:
increasing energy efficiency,
expanding the production of clean energy,
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste and pollution, and
conserving water and other natural resources.
Credit: NYC Mayor’s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability
2
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
New York City’s Sustainability Objectives
PlaNYC has 10 categories of goals for 2030, through 132 initiatives
Neighborhoods and Housing
Creates homes for almost a
million more New Yorkers while
making housing and
neighborhoods more affordable
and sustainable
Parks and Public Space
Ensures that all New Yorkers live
within a ten-minute walk of a park
Brownfields
Cleans up all contaminated land
in New York City
Waterways
Improves the quality of New York
City’s waterways to increase
opportunities for recreation and
restore coastal ecosystems
Water Supply
Ensures the high quality and
reliability of the water supply
system
Climate Change
Reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by more than 30%
and increase the resilience of
communities, natural systems,
and infrastructure to climate
risks
Transportation
Expand sustainable
transportation choices and
ensure the reliability and quality
of the transportation network
Energy
Reduce energy consumption and
make energy systems cleaner
and more reliable
Air Quality
Achieve the cleanest air quality
of any large U.S. city
Solid Waste
Divert 75% of solid waste from
landfills
PlaNYC is estimated to create 7,666 direct jobs annually through 2030
3
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Policies for Sustainability
Energy efficiency in large buildings is critical to NYC
New York City has:
 ~1 million buildings
 15,000 properties
50k ft2 or larger,
which is less than 2%
of all buildings
 45% of energy used
citywide is in large
buildings
Source: NYC Mayor’s Office
4
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Policies for Sustainability
PlaNYC launched 3 major energy efficiency initiatives
Greener, Greater Buildings Plan (GGBP)
 Will reduce almost 5% of citywide GHG emissions
 www.nyc.gov/ggbp
NYC Green Codes Task Force
 111 proposals to green local codes, with 51
reducing energy use in buildings
 www.nyc.gov/gctf
30 x 17,
Mayor’s Carbon
Challenges to
Hospitals &
Universities
30x17 and Mayor’s Carbon Challenges
 Targeted sectors “challenged” to achieve 30%
GHG emissions reduction in 10 years
 www.nyc.gov/html/gbee/html/public/ghg.shtml
 www.nyc.gov/carbonchallenge
5
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Beyond Policy: Open Data and Competitions
Energy data challenges and “hackathons” are cost-effective yet powerful tools
6
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Beyond Policy: Energy Aligned Clause
Incentives are often misaligned, preventing investment in retrofits
 Problem: In typical leases, savings from energy
retrofits are passed through to the tenants, so:
 It is not in the owners’ immediate interest to
invest capital in improvements.
 Thus savings and other benefits are left on
the floor.
 60% of commercial landlords surveyed in NYC
say split incentives inhibit them from
undertaking energy retrofits.
 Goal: Create conditions so both commercial
building owners and tenants can benefit
financially from base-building energy retrofits
7
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Beyond Policy: Energy Aligned Clause
Building a “win-win-win” solution
The EAC, an overview, and the financial model are available at www.nyc.gov/eac.
8
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Questions for Discussion
 What are the key barriers to greater investment in energy efficiency?
Financial? Informational? Regulatory? Others?
 Is the availability of financing a major issue?
 How is the split incentive problem being addressed elsewhere?
 How do companies evaluate the uncertainty in projections of savings
and payback periods?
 What role can data and analytics play in improving decision-making?
 Is the NYC experience unique? What factors vary at the city, regional or
national level?
9
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Thank You
David Gilford
Assistant Director, NYCEDC
www.nycedc.com/cleantech
Twitter: @dgilford and @nycedc
10
NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION