New York Road Runners
At a Glance
Industry
Nonprofit
Project Types
Clean and Renewable Energy, Data Analysis, Engagement and Behavior Change, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2020
Location
New York, NY
Summary
Lane Wollerton assisted NYRR with conforming to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Sports for Climate Action initiative, helping to reduce its carbon footprint and reduce waste.
Goals
New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit whose mission is to “help and inspire people through running,” and the organizer of the annual TCS New York City Marathon. In 2019, NYRR signed on to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Sports for Climate Action initiative, making a firm commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and advocate for climate action. In order to advance these sustainability goals, NYRR enlisted Lane Wollerton to assist with two high-priority projects: (1) To calculate the emissions from facilities and races and make emission reduction recommendations, and (2) To increase the number of excess items that are re-used/recycled or donated and thus diverted from landfill.
Solutions
In order to advance these goals, Lane obtained and reviewed utility data for NYRR’s three facilities in New York City, as well as diesel generator usage and excess materials produced across over 50 races and events that NYRR hosted in 2019. She utilized the EPA’s Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database to calculate facility emissions, and the GHG Protocol Tool for Stationary Combustion to determine emissions from the gas and diesel generators currently used to power NYRR events.
Impact
Based on this analysis, Lane recommended a mix of carbon offsets and purchase of Renewable Energy Credits in the short term to offset all Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, coupled with the adoption of community solar and the purchase of battery and solar-powered generators to reduce emissions from NYRR facilities and events in the long term. These efforts would have the potential to reduce two-thirds of the emissions from NYRR events and races, and power 25 of NYRR’s races solely with renewable power. Additionally, an innovative online donation dashboard system and online apparel store were recommended to streamline the processing and diversion from landfill of NYRR’s excess race items and drive additional revenue to the organization.