BY TONY LIPKA
The City Planning Department presented a comprehensive plan for transitioning away from carbon dependency at a council hearing on October 4. Department of City Planning Director, Dan Gorodnick, testified in support of what is called the “City of Yes Zoning for Carbon Neutrality” in front of the subcommittee for zoning and franchises.
The City’s switch to green energy is inevitable, the planners said. Building upon New York’s recently enacted Local Law 97, which requires most buildings over 25,000 square feet to meet energy efficiency goals and emissions limits by 2024, the “City of Yes Zoning for Carbon Neutrality” focuses on making the transition efficient, and effective, they said. The final 2050 goal is to drop carbon emissions by 80%.
The committee meeting started off with an emphasis on a swift transition to cleaner energy. “Reducing the city’s carbon emissions is a top priority, and we can only reduce them if everyone and every single project contributes to this effort,” said District 12 Council Member Kevin Riley. He continued, “If we do not act now, and quickly, it is only going to get much worse.”
Currently, zoning restrictions are slowing down the process significantly, and with recurring floods, and the hottest summer on record, the sense of urgency behind this transition resonates with many New Yorkers they said.
The resolution can be split into four goals all of which support a central objective of altering past zoning restrictions that today act as hurdles for homeowners and property developers interested in lowering their carbon emissions.
Goal One emphasizes a need for a decarbonized energy grid, including offshore wind, and rooftop solar. The city’s abundant parking lots will be a target for solar canopies.
Goal Two focuses on buildings of which over one million will need to be retrofitted. This includes installing higher efficiency windows and walls and expanding rooftop and yard allowances to accommodate a need for electrified outdoor equipment.
Goals Three and Four focus on vehicles and waste, with an emphasis on increased electric charging stations, and incentives for businesses and homeowners. Easier permitting for rooftop gardens and atriums, storm beds, and porous pavement, would reduce emissions and property damage from storm runoff.
Some attending the meeting questioned the proposed methods of energy storage and their safety, with Council Member David Carr pointing to a recent fire in Warwick New York where two lithium-ion battery energy storage sites caught fire and burned for more than a week. “It’s the proximity of these structures that is the most concerning to people,” said Carr.
In response Garodnick assured that these energy storage systems “are subject to a rigorous regulatory review before installation,” and “both the Department of Buildings and the Fire Department need to approve both the structure and installation.”
In New York and worldwide, new resolutions, laws, and amendments all seem to be moving in a similar direction; cleaner and greener energy. But ambitious goals need ambitious initiatives and leaders, let alone cooperation from homeowners and private interests.