Press Release, New York City, PRWEB, May 27, 2015
Brussels building revolution sets example for New York City carbon reduction efforts
The annual New York Passive House Conference & Expo will make the case that Passive House is uniquely suited to helping achieve New York City’s low-carbon future.
Photo Credit: A2M
“Exhibit A” will be the revolutionary progress enacted in Brussels, Belgium. In 2007, at the time a city of sub-standard building practices, Brussels set out to build buildings that were very low-energy, economical, and beautiful: dubbed “Exemplary Buildings”. In the following eight years the number of Exemplary Buildings grew and the market was transformed. The Passive House standard went from being a novelty, to a building code mandate in 2015. Essential to this revolution were the efforts of architect Sebastian Moreno-Vacca and his firm A2M. The talents and influence of A2M are not limited to Brussels. Among other Passive House projects, the company is working on the Belgian Embassy in Kinshasa Congo and New Yorkers will be able to experience an A2M Passive House directly with a new retrofit project, a design center in New York City’s Meatpacking District.
New York Passive House’s event is curated for building professionals and owners interested in the future of low-energy building. Presenters and vendors of leading specialized high-performance products and services from around the world will demonstrate how Passive House is being successfully implemented.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s policy to reduce city-wide carbon emissions 80% by 2050 in his plan One City: Built to Last, has set the course for effective climate change mitigation and resilient adaptation. Passive House is the only building efficiency standard mentioned in the plan and the one standard that reliably and affordably delivers deep cuts in energy use proportionate to the climate challenge. Passive House construction also provides increased comfort, indoor health, and climate resilience – including net-zero and energy-positive buildings.
The program features topics critical to New York’s low-energy future: retrofitting existing masonry and wood buildings, high internal-load buildings, big multi-use buildings, multi-family housing development, high-rise buildings, and integrated renewable solutions.
“As New York City embarks on its ambitious journey to dramatically reduce carbon emissions,” notes NY Passive House president Ken Levenson, “Passive House is the one methodology proven to deliver, not just the needed carbon reductions, but improved health and economic activity for all New Yorkers. They are proving it in Brussels, and we are proving it here in New York too.”
