NEW YORK CITY-Nearing the five-year anniversary of the city’s plaNYC initiative, city officials unveiled that the New York is a much sunnier – and efficient – place to do business. According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a press briefing on Monday morning, New York City has increased its total solar production to 648 kilowatts across 10 different sites, powering 143,000 households and cutting 205 metric tons of carbon emissions, achieving millions in cost-savings.
Set against the backdrop of the city’s solar goals, the mayor made the announcement at the new home of Efficiency 2.0, a Manhattan-based tech start-up that helps energy utilities and their customers reduce energy consumption, at 35 E. 21st St. in the Flatiron District. The company’s CEO and founder Tom Scaramellino tells GlobeSt.com that the firm has taken 6,000 square feet in the building, which is owned by Centaur Properties LLC.
“We actually partner with a number of tech companies who are right down the street from here,” he said, noting that the company “found it to be very important” to be in the neighborhood with other like-minded green and tech companies. The property is also home to microblogging and social media company Tumblr. “It was the location, and also the ownership of this building actually made a pitch that they only wanted great tech companies because they were growing so quickly, and they would do everything they possibly could to make tech companies succeed here.”
Efficiency 2.0’s programs will save energy equivalent to removing about 3,000 Manhattan apartments from the grid, or about 25 million pounds of CO2 reductions. With 30 employees and plans to double its New York City staff in Midtown South, Scaramellino added, “it is very rare to see ownership of a building really care about those types of issues, so that was a big deal for us.” Newmark Knight Frank brokered the transaction.
The announcement went hand-in-hand with the city’s overall environmental plan. Since plaNYC was released, the city has completed a total of 143 energy retrofits and clean energy installations, and the city has another 99 projects in design and construction, as well as 53 in the energy audit phase. Together, the city projects that these projects will reduce energy costs by an estimated $32 million a year. “That’s real money, and that’s an annual savings,” Bloomberg said. “You can have an awful lot of more teachers, police officers and firefighters for $32 million.”
Last month, the city released a request for proposals to design, construct and install and operate solar and wind facilities at Fresh Kills on Staten Island to make approximately 75-acres of land to be developed with as much as 20 megawatts of solar facilities. The city is also requesting proposals to request 450 tons of city waste a day into clean energy.
In addition, the city’s Department of City Planning just unanimously approved the city’s “Zone Green” zoning amendment, a plan which tightens energy standards for new and existing properties. According to the DCP, the zone green legislation enables solar panels to be added on top of any building roof; allows sun control devices; allows wind turbines on taller buildings near the waterfront; allows energy efficient walls, aka external insulation; permits rooftop gardens; and allows vehicle charging stations.
“Certainly clean-tech makes good business and environmental sense,” Bloomberg said. “Our administration, as you know, is committed to working with the private sector to build upon the city’s investment in clean-tech.”
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