NYC Announces New, Expanded Carbon Challenge that Now Includes Multifamily
Spurred by big drops in greenhouse gas emissions, New York City has unveiled new and expanded programs aimed at building efficiency, including an expansion of its Carbon Challenge to include multifamily buildings.
By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer
Photo by Mike Ratliff.
New York—Spurred by big drops in greenhouse gas emissions, New York City has unveiled new and expanded programs aimed at building efficiency, including an expansion of its Carbon Challenge to include multifamily buildings.
The program is being expanded to include the city’s multifamily buildings in an effort to address the fact that residential buildings are the single greatest source of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 37 percent of total emissions. Joining the Carbon Challenge will be 10 of New York City’s leading residential property management companies, ensuring at least 200 buildings will be included in the program. Reduction of citywide emissions by up to 100,000 metric tons of carbon per year is considered possible as a result of the program.
The 10 firms taking part: AKAM Associates, Century Management, CH Greenthal & Co., Douglas Elliman Property Management, FirstService Residential, Marion Scott Real Estate, Midboro Management, Prestige Management, Rose Associates, and RY Management.
“The Mayor’s Carbon Challenge goes hand in hand with our existing efforts to reduce energy use and emissions across our portfolio, which is comprised of more than 100 residential properties and includes everything from new luxury high-rises to pre-war structures,” Rose Associates’ director of commercial and technical services Ed Donnelly tells MHN.
Asked what participating in the initiative will entail for Rose Associates, Donnelly says the company’s goal is to educate property owners about the benefits of committing to energy-savings measures.
“Rose has an internal Energy Management Services Group that can analyze a building’s energy use, while modeling how the future will look after energy savings are implemented,” he says. “The group’s overall focus is to encourage owners to enhance building systems to limit environmental impact while reducing operating costs.”
Participating in the expanded Carbon Challenge is a good fit for Rose Associates, given its overall leadership on sustainability issues, Donnelly notes.
“Rose has long been active in the installation of co-generation systems and boiler conversions, and was the first property manager in the city to implement a Power On Demand system on behalf of a third-party owner,” he adds.
City officials hope the expansion of the Carbon Challenge to multifamily buildings will help build on the 19 percent decline in greenhouse gas emissions since 2005. The city’s air quality is at the cleanest levels in more than 50 years, and dramatic reductions in pollutants in the air have been realized since the launch of Long-Term Sustainability Blueprint PlaNYC.
