NYC Fossil Fuel Ban is Here

The passage of Int. 2317 in the New York City Council is coming up. The bill would ban the use of fossil fuels for most new and retrofitted buildings, essentially requiring that buildings electrify. The bill would help mitigate climate change, reduce pollution, and limit the risks of gas fires and explosions in the city. On Wednesday, November 17 at 12:00 pm, a virtual hearing will be held on the…


COP26

Text by: George Kontaroudis, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, CPHD These coming weeks are perhaps the most politically important for the future of humanity. That's because COP26, which is held in Glasgow, is in session. While the UN holds annual conferences on climate change, some are more important than others. COP26 is important because this year the delegates are planning to finalize the ‘Paris Rulebook’, or the rules needed to implement…


2021 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction

The Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction is a reference document published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-hosted Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC). This year's edition finds that in 2020, the sector accounted for 36 per cent of global final energy consumption and 37 per cent of energy related CO2 emissions, as compared to other end use sectors. While the level of emissions within the sector are 10…


All-electric Brooklyn tower showcases need for gas ban, say advocates

Elected officials, climate advocates, architects, and policy experts gathered in front of an all-electric building site in Downtown Brooklyn today to urge New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and the New York City Council to enact a gas ban. They highlighted Alloy Development’s 44-story 100 Flatbush Avenue project (rendering top) as well as over 70 other fossil free projects in New York City to urge Speaker Corey Johnson and the Council to pass Intro 2317,…


NY City Council Int. 2317-2021 Promotes Building Electrification

[caption id="attachment_20670" align="alignleft" width="198"] Casa Celina, Magnusson Architecture and Planning PC[/caption] NYC is now the largest city in the U.S. to propose legislation relating to the electrification of buildings. On May 27, 2021, the NY City Council introduced Int. 2317-2021, which promotes the electrification of new and substantially retrofitted buildings. The bill will become effective two years after its enactment, and includes important exemptions; for example, the use of emergency…


Strategic Tax Credits to Decarbonize Buildings

Dear Chairman Wyden, Chairman Neal, Ranking Member Crapo, Ranking Member Brady, Thank you for your leadership and hard work to develop and advance the Clean Energy for America Act and the GREEN Act. Utilizing tax credits to jump start the decarbonization of our economy has a proven track record. However the current provisions in the tax code and modifications discussed to date simply do not incentivize the scale of energy…


A Comprehensive Suite of Tax Credits for Building Decarbonization:

If you can support this effort, please sign this letter to Congress by the end of the week and encourage others to do so as well.  We’d like to get this proposal to Congress before the July Fourth recess. More details on this suite of tax credits are below. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you would like to discuss these tax credits further. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLEwpVy35it-lAp80n8S2fMIyHg2g1GxWio-02s0I5REWhQw/viewform A Comprehensive Suite of Tax Credits…


Emerging Local Legal Pathways for Building Electrification: Air Pollution and Land Use Regulation in New York City & Brookline, Massachusetts

By Amy Turner This week marked significant growth for the building electrification movement, as the legal pathways in use by local governments to catalyze electrification doubled in number. Previously, local governments had pursued building electrification through building code provisions requiring or incentivizing electrification expressly, or through affirmative “bans” on natural gas hookups to new and renovated buildings. More than 40 local governments in California have taken the former approach, in…


PASSIVE HOUSE UPDATE – EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

On October 17, 2020, the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Executive Committee voted unanimously to update its January 25, 2019 resolution on Passive House to highlight the public health as well as environmental rationales for promoting this green building design. The resolution, which I introduced, states: “It is the position of the Atlantic Chapter that all new buildings in NYS that receive any form of public financing and, optimally all new…


New York Passive House joins the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction as a Member

New York Passive House becomes the first US based Passive House Organization to joint the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) organized by the United Nations Environment Program. We joined the Work Areas Market Transformation, Building measurement, data and information and beyond. We are honored to work alongside the United Nations Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction to advanced building energy efficiency and Passive House. See More >


Gas Free NYC Bill Introduced in the New York City Council

This bill would prohibit the combustion of a substance that emits 50 kilograms or more of carbon dioxide per million British thermal units of energy in any new building or any building that has undergone a major renovation. The bill provides an exception for emergency standby power, a hardship preventing compliance with the bill, where the combustion of the substance is required by certain enumerated industries, and where the combustion…


NYPH strongly opposes the inclusion of Part R and we urge the Governor, the NY State Assembly and the Senate to strike Part R from the State’s FY 2022 Budget.

Dear Governor Cuomo, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie:Subject: Proposed Part R of TED Executive Budget (Deduction of Renewable Energy Credits in New York City)   New York Passive House is a building industry trade group committed to achieving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Our organization strongly opposes the inclusion of Part R in the Transportation, Economic Development, and Environmental Conservation Executive Budget and we urge the Governor, the…