Though seemingly at odds with one another, a wide variety of living organisms and habitats exist in and around dense urban areas. With more than half of the world’s population now living in cities, and the urban footprint steadily growing, policymakers must think about how to protect the biodiversity that remains within urban areas and …
At the federal level, opportunities and incentives to decarbonize buildings expanded in 2022 due to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. However, many municipalities have seen their powers to steer building decarbonization curtailed in recent years. Notably, between 2020 and 2021, 20 states passed laws that limited local governments’ authority to regulate the installation …
Has the Inflation Reduction Act altered the costs and benefits of electrifying buildings in New York? For instance, will the IRA accelerate the decarbonization of the New York State grid? And will it materially reduce the cost of installing heat pumps? With its slew of incentives for renewable energy and heat pumps, it seems …
Electrification and the Inflation Reduction Act: Has the Calculus Changed? Read More »
Impact fees are one-time charges imposed on new development as a condition of approval to offset the development’s impact on local infrastructure, services, and the environment. A revenue-raising tool, they are broadly based on the idea that new development should be responsible for paying for a share of the new or additional public infrastructure and …
On April 22, the Guarini Center submitted brief comments to the New York City Council regarding Local Law 97 to assist the City Council in reviewing the City’s efforts to implement the law. In the comments, the staff provides several observations regarding the design of an alternative compliance mechanism to benefit affordable housing. Read the …
Electrification of building heating systems is expected to play a central role in New York City and New York State’s long-term efforts to decarbonize its building stock. From a climate perspective, this makes sense; buildings will not be able to dramatically reduce their carbon footprints without moving away from onsite combustion of fossil fuels for …
When U.S. cities estimate the greenhouse gas emissions for which they are responsible, cities tend to focus on the emissions that come from activities within their borders and from generating electricity to meet local needs. This approach undercounts cities’ contributions to climate change because it leaves out the GHG emissions that come from the production of …
On February 3, the Guarini Center submitted comments to the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority regarding the New York State Climate Action Council Draft Scoping Plan. In the comments, the staff applauds the State’s ambitious commitments to decarbonizing its buildings and recommends measures to help ensure that the State’s goals are met. …
Comment: Climate Action Council Draft Scoping Plan Read More »
NYU just released the highly anticipated carbon trading study required by New York City’s Local Law 97. The study is the first comprehensive modelling assessment of the costs and benefits of this groundbreaking law, and of the feasibility of a potential carbon trading program for buildings. Join Urban Green and the NYU study team for …
Today, NYU researchers released the first study to rigorously assess the predicted impacts of Local Law 97 of 2019 (LL97), the City of New York’s signature climate law. The law caps the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that large buildings can release, starting in 2024. NYU and a team of researchers it assembled conducted the …
