News
SUSTAINABLE SCHMOOZE
December 14, 2009
| A landmark week for New York City—first, it passed the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan on Wednesday, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings, then weheld our Sustainability 2010 Breakfast & Schmooze Friday to discuss efforts with NYC planning commissioner Amanda Burden. |
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| NYC is on the forefront of the environmental movement, she says, noting how Mayor Mike was headed to Copenhagen for the climate change summit. Sustainability creates clean jobs, cuts dependence on foreign oil, and saves money, she adds, so it’s important that we do our share—she notes that PlaNYC 2030 is making great strides, despite today’s challenges. New Yorkers already have two-thirds less carbon footprint than the average US resident, due to our density and transit system. By 2030, there will be 9.1M people in the city, so we need to limit growth in low-density areas like Bayside, Bensonhurst, and Little Neck, she cautions. |
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| Amanda with gracious hosts Robert Garrity and Aret Lerian of Haworth, whose LEED Gold registered Park Avenue showroom (don’t let the E. 42nd Street entrance fool you) provided a sustainable backdrop to the event. The city has already rezoned 8.4k blocks for sustainable growth near mass transit, and Amanda discussed transportation initiatives such as the MTA’s East Side Access and New Jersey Transit’s Mass Transit Tunnel, bicycling, and bus rapid transit. She also touched upon green building, and how the city plans to reduce roadblocks to installing features like solar panels and green roofs. |
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| Amanda’s keynote was followed by a panel discussion featuring Arent Fox’s Stephen Del Percio, US Energy Group’s David Unger, NYSERDA’s Emma Bassein, The Schonbraun McCann Group, an FTI Company’s Elizabeth Kulik, and ConEdison Solutions’ Mike Forese. Sustainability’s more than just a fad, says Stephen, pointing to all the recent regulations. Certain green measures, like installing efficient lighting systems, have paybacks in as little as four years, Mike notes. But the ability to put some of the greening burden on the government in the form of incentives is important, Elizabeth adds. |
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| There’s more demand from the tenant side, although tenants don’t know how much they consume, Mike says—the more information you can give them, the better, which means you may have to challenge your energy company for the data. Elizabeth points out that in the Middle East and Asia (where she travels often), conversations about sustainability are universal. It can give you a competitive position in real estate and offers a measurable bottom-line impact, which can effectuate a generous return, she adds. |
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| Net Lease Capital Advisors’ Chris Campbell, Schein Media’s Bob Grossman, Stalco Construction’s Lauren Mancuso, and SAIC/NYSERDA’s David Cohen. Some hot tips from Lauren and David: Lauren expects ’10 to be a successful year for office fit-outs and retail, from food to fashion. David tells us that NYSERDA has incentives for pioneers of energy auditing for buildings 50k SF or greater—they’ll cover 50% of the cost until ’13, when mandatory City regulations go into effect. |
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| Insight Networking’s David Cote and Alan Prefer join All Mobile Video’s Richard Duke and The Russian Tea Room’s Ken Biberaj. There’s one degree of separation between Richard and Ken—Tyra Banks. Tyra tapes her talk show at All Mobile’s Chelsea Studios on W. 26th St. (also home to Martha Stewart’s show), while The Russian Tea Room just catered Tyra’s holiday party—unfortunately, the nibbles fell under a confidentiality clause. |
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| GreenSpace Developments’ Rashmi Gupta, CodeGreen Solutions’Christopher Cayten, and The Downtown Alliance’s Nicole LaRusso and Elizabeth Hewitt. The Downtown Alliance, in conjunction with the NYC Economic Development Corp. and the Rudin family, recently launched The Hive at 55, a co-working facility at 55 Broad Street. The 4k-SF space provides shared workspace, support, and typical office amenities and conference rooms to small biz,freelancers, and entrepreneurs at several membership levels, from daily to monthly. |
