Our goal with the policy component: bring forth what is currently happening with respect to embodied energy of materials in the high performance Passive House built environment at state and municipal levels (NYS and possibly beyond) and, looking forward, what might be in the works.
There is growing momentum in New York City, New York State and beyond to decarbonize building operational energy through the implementation of Passive House and other very high performance building standards. Simultaneously, there is a growing awareness and nascent momentum to address the very critical issue of significantly reducing embodied energy within building sector materials.
Panelists will present current programs in place with respect to both operational carbon and embodied carbon from their respective municipal, state, and federal level perspectives. Potential future programs may also be discussed.
Speakers:
Introduction by Mikhail Haramati, Carbon Neutral Buildings Fellow, NYSERDA
Mikhail Haramati is the Carbon Neutral Buildings Fellow at NYSERDA, where she leads policy development on embodied carbon. She is the co-author of the Executive Order 22 guidance on embodied carbon for NY state procurement, and the LECCLA guidance for the use and innovation of low embodied carbon concrete.
She has been with NYSERDA since 2020 where she has been part of the staff team supporting the NY Climate Action Council and Climate Act Scoping Plan and state buildings sector roadmaps. She has held positions with the CA CPUC, LBNL, and as a private consultant. Prior to joining NYSERDA, Mikhail led the Building Efficiency Research group at the CA Energy Commission, funding innovative technologies to reduce the energy use of buildings.
She has a BA in Public Policy from Mills College, an MPP in Energy Policy from UC Berkeley, a Certification in Quantitative Methods from the Evaluator’s Institute at George Washington University.
Gina Bocra, RA, LEED AP BD+C/ID+C, Chief Sustainability Officer, New York City Department of Buildings
Gina Bocra brings over 20 years of experience in sustainable design, assisted with the technical development of multiple LEED rating systems, a subject matter expert on three LEED exams, and was a founding interim-officer of the National Capital Region US Green Building Council Chapter.At DOB, Gina focuses on the implementation of New York City’s Greater, Greener Buildings Plan, which addresses benchmarking, energy codes, audits and retro-commissioning, and lighting and sub metering. She leads a DOB team of specialists charged with developing procedures to enforce the Energy Code and supporting continued development of the New York City Building Code to accommodate advances in sustainability.
Gina serves as the DOB liaison to New York City’s Solar America Cities partnership led by the City University of New York and is appointed to the NY State Code Council Green Advisory Working Group.
Jennifer Bloom Leone, Chief Sustainability Officer, New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development
As Chief Sustainability Officer for New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development (“HPD”) – the largest municipal housing finance agency in the country – my work includes setting a holistic sustainability agenda and policy for the agency – ensuring that projects are low carbon, energy efficient and resilient while addressing the unique health and safety needs of the vulnerable populations we support. Included in this role is participation in numerous climate and energy working groups to represent affordable housing and ensure that this sector is able to participate in and benefit from NYC’s aggressive decarbonization agenda.
Beverly Craig, LEED AP, Program Director, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Beverly
She works on programs including the Passive House Design Challenge for affordable housing, assists MassCEC’s workforce team, and is leading an effort related to raising awareness about upfront carbon from building materials called the Embodied Carbon Challenge. Ms. Craig comes from a background of energy efficiency retrofits and installing renewables in affordable housing, brownfields redevelopment in Milwaukee Wisconsin, and Pollution Prevention at EPA. She holds a BA from the University of Southern California and an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
