New York City Mayor's Office of Sustainability
At a Glance
Industry
Government/Public Administration
Project Type
Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2016
Location
New York, NY
Summary
Lia Cairone helped MOS reach its GHG goals by conducting a community energy mapping analysis and identifying retrofit opportunities for NYC buildings.
Goals:
NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability (MOS) is tasked with developing plans and programs to help the city meet its ambitious OneNYC goal of reducing GHG emissions 80% by the year 2050 (80x50). As part of this effort, MOS welcomed EDF Climate Corps fellow Lia Cairone to support GHG modeling and projections for New York City through 2050. Lia was tasked with integrating the MOS Buildings and Energy Supply teams’ model inputs, creating a community energy map that identifies the technical potential of various distributed and clean energy resources, and developing the City’s overarching GHG reduction strategies and short-term actions.
Solutions:
Using a low-cost generation dispatch model, Lia and the MOS 80x50 team developed and tested multiple future scenarios for the GHG intensity of electricity in 2050 in an integrated fashion. They came up with three building energy use scenarios by pairing retrofit paths with building segments, including: public housing, city-owned buildings, high-growth areas, and building types. Lia also worked to ensure target programs for energy improvements were hitting areas that need it most. To do so, she conducted an analysis of vulnerable areas and populations, and aligned these hubs with the community energy road map and 80X50 work.
Lia also worked to advance the electrification of building heating systems through heat pumps, which would go in tandem with efficiency and envelope upgrades, as well as improve district thermal loop networks by employing technologies that are economic today, such as combined heat and power (CHP).
Potential Impact:
These strategies, implemented through programs, policies and code modifications, bring the city one step closer to meeting both its 80x50 goal and its long-term goal of reducing annual GHG emissions by more than 40 million metric tons of carbon, relative to 2005 levels.