CMRC Business Stewardship Series Presents Sustainable Design & Development April 24th!

Sustainable Design and Development: Policy & Planning Implications
April 24th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Kate Shackford, Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation
Planning for Sustainability: Bronx Initiative for Energy & Environment

Pete Atkin, Green Order
The Benefits of Sustainable Design to Businesses

Jeff Raven, Amman & Whitney
Implementation and Engineering for Green Projects

Moderator: Joel Banslaben
Coastal Marine Resource Center

Location: Louis Berger, 199 Water Street, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10038.
RSVP to business.stewardship@thecmrc.org or 646-515-9290

Agenda & Overview
On April 24th, 2007, the CMRC will host a seminar on “Sustainable Design and Development: Policy and Planning Implications” that will explore the opportunities for greening real estate in our urban metropolitan region. The event will include a panel of distinguished speakers from various sectors presenting their thoughts on creating sustainable design and development. Major themes of the seminar will be:

1) What benefit does sustainable design provide for urban regions & residents?
2) What benefit does sustainable development have for businesses & investors?
3) Where are the incentive gaps & what can be done to align common goals?

The Panel will be followed by a working session designed to identify the major challenges to implementing sustainable design and development. Structured breakout groups will create policy and planning solutions aimed at increasing water, energy, land-use and materials efficiency that will be forwarded directly to policymakers.

The CMRC’s Business Stewardship Initiative seeks to integrate the resources of local businesses with conservation efforts. We would like to thank our sponsors and partners for their continued support! For more information please visit http://www.thecmrc.org/ or contact us at business.stewardship@thecmrc.org

In the News: Bloomberg Draws a Blueprint for a Greener City

On Earth Day Mayor Bloomberg released his ambitious "PlaNYC" report to guide the region's next twenty-five years of growth. The City expects to gain one-million people by 2030 and as a result has decided to take a pro-active approach to city planning and environmental protection. Included in the report are 127 projects that include congestion pricing in Manhattan and "exploring other natural solutions for cleaning our water bodies." The question now, "Who will pay for it all?"...JB

By Thomas J. Lueck
Published April 23, 2007

In a quarter-century plan to create what he called “the first environmentally sustainable 21st-century city,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed a sweeping and politically contentious vision yesterday of 127 projects, regulations and innovations for New York and the region.

The plan is intended to foster steady population growth, with the city expected to gain about 1 million residents by 2030, and to put in place a host of environmentally sensitive measures that would reduce the greenhouse gases it generates.

Mr. Bloomberg also set the parameters for what could be a large piece of his legacy as mayor. In an address outlining the plan yesterday at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, Mr. Bloomberg likened it to the first blueprints for Central Park more than 100 years ago and the construction of Rockefeller Center in the Great Depression.

Read more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/23/nyregion/23mayor.html

PlaNYC Full Report

http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/plan/download.shtml

In the News: Young Whale Found in New York Harbor

A 30,000 pound juvenile minke whale was observed swimming near the Gowanus Canal on Tuesday, the first such sighting in nearly seven years when a whale presumably hit by a ship was found dead between Brooklyn and Staten Island . As of 5:00 PM on Wednesday the whereabouts of the whale were unknown, but it was swimming and in good shape said representatives from the Riverhead Foundation, a group dedicated to assisting with stranded marine mammals...JB

Image: Balaenoptera acutorostrata by Alessio Marrucci

By Richard Pyle (Associated Press)

NEW YORK -- Marine biologists were standing watch on Tuesday over a young whale that lost its way in New York harbor and nearly wandered into a narrow waterway notorious for industrial pollution.

The animal, described as a juvenile minke whale about 15 feet long, was cruising around Gowanus Bay, the outlet from the mile-long Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. It appeared to be in good health and not distressed, said Kim Durham, rescue program director for the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.

Read more:
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12604

Video of Whale on WNBC
http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=92416

Riverhead Foundation
http://www.riverheadfoundation.org/

Minke Whale in Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_Whale

In the News: Buildings Called Key Source of City’s Greenhouse Gases

New York City's Office of Sustainability recently released a report on Greenhouse Gases which found that the City's 950,000 buildings emit nearly 80% of our CO2 emissions. With 20% coming from automobiles and mass transit it is clear that a strategy to reduce these gases will have to include an aggressive campaign to implement sustainable design and development for our region's residential and commercial structures. However, what is even more surprising is the number of buildings with (or should I say without) either green roofs or LEED certification. Out of the 950,000 buildings in New York City only 20-30 currently have green roofs...JB

Image: New York from space. Can you count the green roofs?

April 11, 2007
By Diane Cardwell

Laying the groundwork for a plan to reduce the production of greenhouse gases in the city, the Bloomberg administration released a study yesterday showing that New York’s roughly 950,000 buildings are responsible for a vast majority of the city’s carbon dioxide emissions.

In sharp contrast to the national average of about 32 percent, the city’s buildings are responsible for 79 percent of the greenhouse gases produced by the city and are rising each year, according to the study, conducted by the city’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. Transportation systems, including mass transit, cars and trucks, are responsible for most of the remaining 21 percent of the emissions, which are considered a major factor in global warming.

The release of the inventory marked the first concrete step in Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s ambitious effort to set the city on a greener path as it plans for the addition of one million residents by 2030. In December, Mr. Bloomberg outlined goals to help guide the city’s growth in a more environmentally sound way, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent.

Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/nyregion/11carbon.html

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report
http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/ccp_report041007.pdf

NYC's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability
http://www.nyc.gov/html/ops/html/long_term/long_term.shtml

US Green Building Council
http://www.usgbc.org/

Sustainable Design & Development: April 24th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

CMRC’s Business Stewardship Speaker Series Invites You to a Seminar on Sustainable Design and Development: Policy and Planning Implications on Tuesday, April 24th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Please see details below!

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT: APRIL 24TH, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Kate Shackford, Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation http://www.boedc.com/
Planning for Sustainable Development: Bronx Initiative for Energy and the Environment

Pete Atkin, Green Order http://www.greenorder.com/
The Benefits of Sustainable Design and Development to Businesses

Terry Doss, Louis Berger Group http://www.louisberger.com/
Implementation and Engineering for Green Projects

Moderator: Joel Banslaben, Coastal Marine Resource Center http://www.thecmrc.org/

Location: Louis Berger, 199 Water Street, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10038

Space is limited. RSVP to business.stewardship@thecmrc.org or 646-515-9290 by April 20th!
___________________________________________

On April 24th, 2007, the Coastal Marine Resource Center will host a seminar on “Sustainable Design and Development: Policy and Planning Implications” that will explore the challenges and opportunities to greening real estate in the NY – NJ Harbor Bight. The event will include a panel of distinguished speakers from the private, non-profit and government sectors presenting their thoughts and plans on creating sustainable design and development in the region. Major themes of the seminar will be:

What benefit does sustainable design provide for urban regions and their residents?
What benefit does sustainable development have for businesses and financial investors?
Where are the incentive gaps for different parties and what can be done to align common goals?

The Panel session will be followed by a working session designed to identify the major challenges to implementing sustainable design and development solutions in the NY – NJ region. Structured breakout groups will create policy and planning solutions aimed at increasing water, energy, land-use and materials efficiency that will be forwarded directly to policymakers.

RSVP to business.stewardship@thecmrc.org by April 20th

The CMRC’s Business Stewardship Initiative seeks to integrate the resources of local businesses with conservation efforts. We would like to thank our sponsors and partners for their continued support and are looking forward to a great year! For more information please visit http://www.thecmrc.org/ or contact us at business.stewardship@thecmrc.org

In the News: Fume-Free (for Now) and Looking to the Future

Brooklyn's intrigue with the Gowanus Canal never ceases to amaze me. I must admit that as one who crosses it with regularity, I often find myself staring out over the rainbow colored waters and endless warehouses thinking of its dynamic history and (potentially) green future. For those attempting to make these visions a reality many issues abound for Gowanus. Developers, community groups, local businesses and waterfront open-space advocates will all have their say as the City Department of Planning "charts the future" of the Canal. I just hope they can find a green way to keep the rainbow color of the water...JB

April 8, 2007
By Jake Mooney

Ten years ago, the idea of worrying about the future of the land around the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn would have seemed a little strange, especially in hot weather. An underground tunnel designed to circulate the canal’s water had been out of service for decades, and as a result, sewage from nearby houses and storm drains overflowed regularly into the canal, emitting a formidable stench.

The sewage overflows continue, but with the tunnel reopened since 1999, the water circulates better — at least for the moment. The gradual return of fish and birds to the canal has enticed widely known developers like Shaya Boymelgreen and the Pennsylvania-based Toll Brothers, drawn to the neighborhood’s proximity to Park Slope and Carroll Gardens. These developers have proposed projects that could involve rezoning parts of Gowanus and adding hundreds if not thousands of residents to the area.

In response, staff members of the Department of City Planning are meeting this month and next with the local community board to evaluate the neighborhood’s needs and chart its future. Their goal is a framework for land use decisions that could allow manufacturing and residential development to coexist and maybe even open up some recreational space.

“There are so many possibilities that people have let their imaginations run wild, and that’s a good thing,” said Craig Hammerman, district manager of the local Community Board 6. “We just have to make sure that we can tether the possibilities to probabilities that are out there.”

Read more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/nyregion/thecity/08plan.html

CMRC Gowanus Canal Page

http://thecmrc.blogspot.com/2006/01/exploring-our-coasts-and-waterfronts.html

Gowanus Canal on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowanus_Canal

Community Board Six

http://www.brooklyncb6.org/committees/

Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation

http://www.swbidc.org/

In the News: LIPA Wind Farm Cost Too Steep

A recent report by Dowling College outlined "excessive" construction costs for the proposed offshore wind farm south of Long Island and suggested that the Long Island Power Authority build the project itself and save taxpayers nearly $100 million. The analysis brings into question the costs and benefits of alternative energy as we transition from a strictly petroleum-based economy. Certainly, the costs of exploring new technologies will be high initially, but as these projects become more common the up front investment will lower. We just need to make sure that LIPA and others keep sound economics in mind...JB

Image: Danish Wind Turbines from Wikipedia

By Mark Harrington
April 2, 2007

The proposal to build a 40-turbine wind farm off the South Shore would enrich its contractor with "extraordinary" returns while "saddling" Long Island ratepayers with a 20-year-plus contract for energy at "excessive" prices, a new study of the project's economics has found.

Scheduled to be released this week, the study, by the Long Island Economic & Social Policy Institute at Dowling College, questions the initial $356-million construction cost of the project and suggests LIPA explore the alternative of funding and building the wind farm itself, which it says would be cheaper.

"Wind energy makes sense for Long Island, but this contract does not," said the study's author, Mark Greer, a professor of economics at Dowling.

Read more...
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-bzlipa0402,0,2894107.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines

Long Island Economic & Social Policy Institute at Dowling College on Wind Farm
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-bzwind0403-pdf,0,6973532.acrobat?coll=ny-linews-headlines

LIPA Offshore Wind Project Information
http://www.lipower.org/cei/offshore.html


Wind Farm on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_farm