Transforming New York City Public School Buildings for a Low Carbon Future

Transforming New York City Public School Buildings for a Low Carbon Future A Case Study of City Council District 36

Neelu Marigoudar Sustainable Environmental Systems, M.S. Candidate

Course Instructors: Alec Appelbaum, Jaime Stein

The Graduate Centre for Planning and the Environment Pratt Institute, School of Architecture Spring 2017 Capstone

 

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Acknowledgements This work would not have been possible without the support and encouragement from all the members of Climate Works For All coalition. I am especially indebted to Ms. Annel Hernandez, Resiliency Planner of New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, for giving m in opportunity to work with her and rendering me with her finest advices to move forward in this project.

This work is produced as a partial fulfillment of the Master of Science in Sustainable Environmental Systems program at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn New York. I take this opportunity to thank my academic advisor Ms. Jaime Stein for guiding me throughout this masters program.

Not to forget the course instructor - Alec Appelbaum for his inputs throughout the semester.

I am grateful to all my peers with whom I have had the pleasure to work during this course in particular and program as a whole. Each of my peers have played a role by providing me with their extensive professional and personal guidance.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family and friends in pursuit of this project in particular and this masters degree as a whole. My parents for their love and guidance, my sisters for their never ending support and my friends for their never ending inspiration.

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Table of Contents 1. Background 1.1 United States: Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1.2 New York City: Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Buildings

2. Context 2.1 Stakeholders 2.2 Client - Climate Works for All Coalition 2.3 Problem Statement and Scope of interest 2.4 Limitations / Boundaries of the Study

3. Analysis 3.1 Summary of Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Strategy to 100MW and Beyond 3.2 Analysis of Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Strategy to 100MW and Beyond 3.3 Progress of Solar 100 to Date 3.4 SWOT Analysis 3.5 Solar 1 program: Summary and Analysis

4. Case Studies: 4.1 Project: (i) Boys & Girls High School (K455) 1700 Fulton St Brooklyn 4.2 Program: (i) K-Solar Program of New York State (ii) Chicago Solar Express

5. Recommendations 5.1 Recommendation for Program in Schools

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5.2 Recommendations for Citywide Implementation 5.3 Recommendations for Improvement of workforce development 5.4 Recommendations for Public health 6. Next Steps Forward

7. Bibliography 8. List of Tables 9. List of Acronyms

10. List of Figures 11. List of Maps 12. Appendix

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Abstract In 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio, released an ambitious goal to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions by 80 % below 2005 levels by 2050 (also called the Mayor’s mission of 80X50 or simply 80X50), in response to the recognition of climate change as one of the most existential threats to humanity.1 The need to analyze and understand greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in relation to the building stock in New York City is vital to develop any kind of policies. One of the ways to address negative impacts of local GHG emissions is by investing in clean and renewable on-site power generation. Con Edison’s (ConEd) Brooklyn Queens Demand Management (BQDM) program area is most vulnerable to climate change impacts – including extreme heat vulnerability, potential blackouts, and high GHG emissions that may cause public health issues mostly amongst the grade school group. Many non-profit organizations are working towards addressing these issues. One such organization is the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA) which strives to fight for undivided equity of the people of color and lower income groups in environmental justice communities. NYC-EJA’s NYC Climate Justice Agenda: Strengthening the Mayor’s OneNYC Plan seeks, “to identify strategies to address climate change impacts on environmental justice communities, and the disproportionate effects they will have on vulnerable populations.”2 This study aims to better understand the process of solar installations and the benefits of it on NYC’s public school buildings through various case studies. In order to do this, the study area is narrowed down to City Council District (CCD) 36, which also falls under the BQDM area. This study assesses the progress and proposes certain strategies and policies to adapt cleaner, renewable, and resilient energy supplies on public school buildings in NYC, along with other social and climate indicators at the community level.

1New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Solar Strategy 1 (December 2016), available at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dem/downloads/pdf/Solar%20100%20Local%20Law%2024%202016.pdf [hereafter “Solar 100”] 2New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, New York City Climate Justice Agenda: Strengthening the Mayor’s OneNYC Plan (April 2016), available at http://nyc-eja.org/public/publications/NYC_ClimateJusticeAgenda.pdf

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1. Background 1.1 United States: Greenhouse Gas Emissions The risks posed by climate change are never ending, but ever escalating. Most of the risks due to climate change are known, those considered in this study are global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. Different studies have proven that cities contribute more than 70% of the global GHG emissions, while the buildings contribute to about 15%.3 In the United States, buildings contribute about 27.3% of total U.S. emissions.4 New York City, contributes much more than the national average. Emissions from the City’s buildings accounts for about 68% of total emissions of the City as of 2014, most of which is attributed to energy used to power, heat, and cool buildings, which includes the emissions from burning fossil fuels both to produce heat and hot water in buildings and to generate electricity from power plants.5 In this regard, cities around the world have taken various steps to mitigate the effects of global climate change, namely goals to

Source: New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability

Figure 1: Pathways for Reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Buildings

3World Cities Report, http://wcr.unhabitat.org 4 http://www.wri.org/resources/charts-graphs/us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-flow-chart 5 http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/sustainability/downloads/pdf/publications/New%20York%20City's%20Roadmap%20to%2080%20x %2050_Final.pdf

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reduce GHG emissions, incentivize energy efficiency retrofits and switch over to renewable sources of energy.

1.2 New York City: Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Buildings New York City, one of the global leaders in the field of sustainability policy and action has maneuvered various strategies to address the global problem of climate change. The City is committed to cutting emissions 80% by the year 2050, an initiative known as “80X50”.6 For the City to achieve this goal, it must aim to reduce energy across all building sectors on average at least 60% from 2005 levels and increase use of carbon-free renewable energy.7 (Fig 1) Nearly two-thirds of New York City’s GHG emissions are attributed to energy use in buildings.8 Therefore, it becomes very evident the building stocks of the City need to be given attention to address GHG emissions. Emissions from buildings vary depending on the building typology, usage and building occupancy. (Fig 2) Even though, residential buildings contribute the highest (34%) towards the GHG emissions in NYC, it is difficult to implement any sustainable strategies to any other sector other than the city owned public sector, because of various stakeholders involved in the rest of the sectors. Hence, it becomes easier for the City to implement its Source: New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability sustainable and resilient strategies on the public buildings. Keeping into Figure 2 New York City 2013 Greenhouse Gas Emissions consideration all the complexities, the City

by Sector considers its public buildings as

6New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Solar 100, supra note1, at 1.

7Id 8 Id

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sustainability models.9 Pursuant to Local Law 24 (LL24) of 2016, enacted by the Council in March 2016, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) released the Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Solar Strategy report in December 2016.10 The Council required DCAS to determine which City building rooftops are appropriate for photovoltaic (PV) system installation and to submit biennial reports on these installations.11 Solar 100 found that of the 2008 buildings assessed citywide, 429 were found to be solar-ready (approximately 21% of the City’s current building stock).12 This would provide an estimated 30.58 MW of additional solar capacity, contributing around 30% to the City’s 100 MW goal.13 Prior to the release of Solar 100 plan, the City had under 1 MW of solar capacity installed on public buildings.14 At the end of 2015, New York City ranked 8th amongst U.S. cities for total installed solar capacity of about 84 MW in both the municipal and private sectors.15 Various factors attribute towards New York City’s ranking lower amongst other cities, namely; “a more dense and space-constrained building stock, higher than average installation costs, the prevalence of apartment rental versus DOE Findings single family home ownership, and historically less availability of 989 state and local incentives…”16 Total No. of DOE buildings Despite all the factors mentioned before, the City can overcome all (10K SQ. FT +) the hurdles and march towards its goal of 100 MW by 2025. The 267 ways to address the reduction in emissions from the buildings in New Solar-Ready Buildings York City are as follows: 27% “the first is by improving the energy efficiency of building systems Solar-Ready and operations, and investing in cleaner on-site power generation.

Percentage The second is by reducing the energy consumption of a building’s

9 Id 10New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Solar 100, supra note5, at 3.

11L.L. 24/2016 12New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Solar 100, supra note5, at 12.

13 Id 14Id at 6 15New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Solar 100, supra note5, at 8.

16Id at 8

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tenants and occupants, which can account for anywhere between 40–60 percent of a building’s energy use. The third opportunity is by reducing Total Solar PV emissions from the city’s power supply.”17 capacity identified All these opportunities towards 100 MW mark the foundation for solar 87.01 kW programs in the City. The pivotal step in reaching the 100 MW goal is Average Solar PV the accurate identification of rooftops that are suitable for solar system capacity installation.18 It is important to note that New York City’s infrastructure 83 being a historically aging city, may not be able to support the brand new Buildings with capacity 100 kW+ solar installations.

By the end of 2016 the City grew its municipal solar portfolio to 53 installations, totaling 8.8 MW, with an additional 15 MW across 88 sites identified and scheduled to commence in early 2017.19 Various city agencies such as Department of Education (DOE), New York Police Department (NYPD), Department of Homeless Services (DHS), Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the City University of New York (CUNY) and others come under the 30.58 MW solar PV capacity that is identified. Of the 30.58 MW solar PV capacity that is identified across various City agency buildings, the Department of Education (DOE) buildings contribute about 23.23 MW (Fig 3).

This accounts to about 76% of the City’s identified solar PV capacity. In order to successfully meet the 23.23MW goal within the DOE, a total of 989 buildings of more than 10,000SQ.FT were analyzed for solar potential, of those analyzed 267 buildings with a solar PV potential of 23,230.69 kW are solar-ready, which accounts to about 27% of the total DOE buildings that were analyzed.20 This report includes a list of findings with details associated with each city agency in the Appendix section.

23.23 MW

17New York City Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning & Sustainability, “One City Built to Last-Executive Summary”at 8, http:// www.nyc.gov/html/builttolast/assets/downloads/pdf/OneCity.pdf (last accessed Mar. 27, 2017) 18New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Solar 100, supra note5, at 10.

19New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Solar 100, supra note5, at 9.

20 Id

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Source: Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Solar Strategy, 100 MW and Beyond

Figure 3: Agency Solar Capacity Breakdown

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2. Context As discussed in the Background section climate change poses serious and challenging risks for New York City. Given the uncertain but significant risks of increased GHG emissions, there an urgency to transition towards cleaner more resilient sources of energy. This study examines how other stresses the City faces such as population growth, vulnerable population, and aging infrastructure can be addressed by adapting solar as a source of energy. Vulnerable population, as mentioned in this study refers to the communities with people of color and lower economical backgrounds who have suffered environmental injustice and the negative impacts of environmental pollution and racism. Throughout the five boroughs of New York City, this study identifies the environmental justice communities and the vulnerable population distributed among the communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods near power plants and dirty peaker plants of natural gas, neighborhoods in the City-designated Significant Maritime and Industrial Areas (SMIAs), neighborhoods in the Brooklyn Queens Demand Management (BQDM) area and the neighborhoods that are vulnerable to flooding and storm surge. For the ease of study, this study considers into account the neighborhoods in Brooklyn under the Con-Edison delineated BQDM area.

The escalating solar program of the City gives an opportunity to look into the various factors that account towards the selection of the rooftops for solar installation. From the Solar 100 report it is clear that the only factor that the City considers to identify the solar potential rooftops is the physical aspects of the building such as age of the building, structure of the building, infrastructure within the building. There is a significant need to also look into the social, economical and environmental aspects which offer the perfect opportunity to build an equal, sustainable and resilient New York City. These aspects if considered, would provide several opportunities to benefit environmental justice communities, which have suffered from the negative impacts of disproportionate amounts of environmental pollution, environmental racism, and inequality.

2.1 Problem Statement and Scope of interest The need to drastically reduce carbon emissions from the building stocks of the City, while also promoting renewable energy sources as substitutes for the grid is daunting. Ensuring these alterations do not endanger the affordability and the innate nature of the neighborhoods in the vulnerable population area is vital. These concerns could be addressed by analyzing the City’s

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solar program and by making some potential amendments for the implementation of the

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strategies to address the needs of the vulnerable population. As stated in the principles articulated in the sustainability plan of OneNYC, the City claims to have made equity an explicit guiding principle. “Equity means we ensure that every New Yorker has equal access to opportunities to reach his or her full potential and to succeed.”21 In pursuance of the equity claim stated in OneNYC, the City’s We solar program needs revision with strong equity provisions. OneNYC states: The goal of 100 MW of solar on the rooftops of public h a v e m a d e e q u i t y a n buildings by 2025 could provide significant benefits for explicit guiding principle— New Yorkers, not just in terms of reducing emissions but a lens through which we also can create thousands of good, local jobs and reduce the view all of our planning, City’s electricity bill, freeing up funds for new and p o l i c y m a k i n g , a n d innovative programs that generate wealth in the governing. Equity means we communities of vulnerable population. ensure that every New This study’s scope lies in prioritizing environmental justice Yorker has equal access to communities (also referred to as vulnerable population in opportunities to reach his or this report) for choosing the sites for solar installations. her full potential and to Vulnerable population in this study, refers to the environmental justice communities which have suffered succeed. from negative impacts of environmental pollution, racism and inequality and include people of color and lower income backgrounds. These communities sit at a nexus of physical, political, and economic forces that leaves them most vulnerable to extreme weather events and other climate change impacts. This study proposes some recommendations to involve broader strategies to reduce emissions while addressing the climate resiliency and workforce development. The benefits reaped out of these initiatives can be reinvested in programs for the betterment of the communities of vulnerable population.

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2.2 Stakeholders This study identifies various stakeholders at individual and large scale, namely Brooklyn region of the Con Edison’s Brooklyn Queens Demand Management (BQDM) area, City Council District 36, Department of Education and the Climate Works for All Coalition. Con-Ed’s BQDM is geographically located in the Central Brooklyn and South Queens region. This area was identified by Con-Ed with a prediction of energy demand shortfall within the next few years. The 21 New York City Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning & Sustainability, “One City Built to Last-Executive Summary”at 8, http:// www.nyc.gov/html/builttolast/assets/downloads/pdf/OneCity.pdf (last accessed Mar. 27, 2017)

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energy shortfall would eventually lead to the risk of regular power outages, high heat vulnerability index as shown in the Map 1 (on page no. 18) and increased risk of mortality. The goal of the BQDM is to create solutions to this problem without building additional fossil fuel infrastructure.22 This area which is mostly concentrated with vulnerable population with lower median household income levels as shown in the Map 2 (on page no.

19), drives the attention of the study to come up with strategies to address the environmental, social and geographical issues with solar power as an alternative. This study further narrows down on the public schools in the City Council District 36, which partly falls under the BQDM area and Source: ConEd BQDM Auction website available at https://conedbqdmauction.com considers them as Figure 5: Delineated BQDM program area vulnerable hotspots. This study proposes to prioritize solar power along with the storage goal in the public school buildings within the CCD 36 of the BQDM area is the main purpose of this study. The client - Climate Works for All coalition’s interest lies in prioritizing these vulnerable communities for clean energy infrastructure.

22Id

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MAP 1

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MAP 2

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2.3 Client - Climate Works for All Coalition

Source: ALIGN website, available at http://alignny.org/campaign/climate-works-for-all/

Figure 6: Climate Works for All coalition

Climate Works for All is a coalition that links various grassroots organizations from climate vulnerable neighborhoods and communities of color. Their major alliances involve labor, environmental justice, community and environmental groups. Their united efforts aim to ensure improved environmental conditions, public health, climate justice and creation of good jobs in the communities overburdened by GHG and co-pollutants from fossil fuel infrastructure. They advocate for the City’s 80x50 emission reduction goals while advocating for equity. In December 2014, the coalition released Climate Works for All: A Platform for Reducing Emissions, Protecting Our Communities, and Creating Good Jobs for New Yorkers.23 This capstone has been framed as a case study for the Client’s motto to advocate solar programs of the City, called their Public Power Project. The Client has shared data, methodologies (selection and prioritization of available data) and has provided extensive feedback throughout the stint of this study.

23 Restart Solar, Sept 2016.

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2.4 Limitations / Boundaries of the Study This study has only considered NYC’s public school buildings in general, but those in CCD 36 in particular. The study proposes recommendations in the later portion of the report, which are formulated based on interviews, case studies and meetings with the city agencies namely DCAS and DOE. Lastly, this study aims to address part of the Client’s motive. This study is used by the client as a guide to support their advocacy work citywide.

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3. Analysis 3.1 Summary of Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Strategy to 100MW and Beyond New York City’s commitment to expanding solar power and promoting it as one of the cleaner energy sources is inspiring. The goal of 100 MW on 429 public buildings by 2025, can help to reduce citywide GHG emissions as Solar-Ready Buildings well as its dependence on fossil fuels. DCAS, the primary city agency managing public sector transition to renewable energy, along with various 1579 city agencies assessed the solar-readiness of 2,008 public buildings across Non the five boroughs. Solar-ready means that the roof is 10,000 square feet or Solar-Ready more, is less than ten years old, and is in good structural condition.24 Of the Buildings 2,008 buildings assessed, only 429 (21.36%) were reckoned solar-ready, while 1579 (78.64%) were non solar-ready.25 The 429 solar-ready buildings 2008 were assessed for solar potential based on LL24 and it was found that a Total Number potential of 30.58MW was deemed to be completed by the end of 2018. For of Buildings Assessed each building considered solar-ready, the estimated solar PV system size, energy production, and associated GHG emissions reductions were 21.36% calculated.26 Of the 30.58 MW, identified solar PV capacity, 23.23MW was Solar-Ready decked by DOE, followed by 2.88MW by other city agencies, 1.23MW by Building DPR, 1.07MW by DHS, 0.98MW by NYPD, 0.79MW by CUNY and Rate 0.40MW by DEP (Fig 3). The DOE, has total of 989 buildings across all the five boroughs, of which 35 of them are completed with solar roof installations while 66 sites are in the process of installation since the beginning of 2017.

Additionally, 267 (27%) sites are identified to be solar-ready. The detailed list of other city agency profile is included in the section of the report. The CCD 36, falls under the total capacity ranging between 458.80kW 627.70kW potential (Fig 7). Currently, 5 DOE sites are in-progress status while additional 6 sites are identified to be solar-ready. The list of current and in progress solar sites with their total roof

24Solar 100 supra note 6 at 13. Local Law 24 for 2016.

25 Solar 100 supra note 6 at 13. Local Law 24 for 2016.

26 Solar 100 supra note 1 at 11

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capacity and funding system can be seen in Table 1 below. The detailed list is included in the Appendix section of the report.

Source: Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Solar Strategy, 100 MW and Beyond

Figure 7:Total Capacity Findings by City Council District

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Source: Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Solar Strategy, 100 MW and Beyond

Figure 8: Municipal Solar Projects and Local Air Quality Indicators

SITE

INSTALLED CAPACITY

FINANCING MECHANIS M

148,800 In Progress

249.28 kW

PPA

432 Monroe St

98,400 In Progress

111.36 kW

PPA

130 Rochester Ave

122,400 In Progress

125.76 kW

PPA

800 Gates Ave

183,220

9/24/15

120.78 kW

Capital

1700 Fulton St

340,040

10/23/15

505.08 kW

Capital

ADDRESS

P.S. 026 Jesse 1014 Owens Lafayette Ave P.S. 044 Marcus Garvey P.S. 335 Granville T. Woods M.S. 267 Math, Science and Technology Boys & Girls High School

TOTAL BUILDING GROSS SQFT

INSTALLAT ION DATE

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Table 1: List of DOE Current and In-Progress Solar Sites in CCD 36

3.2 Analysis of Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Strategy to 100MW and Beyond Local Law 24 (LL24) enacted in the March of 2016, by the City of New York is modeled after the Local Law 84 which requires benchmarking of buildings for energy use. As per LL24, 2008 city owned buildings with 10,000 gross square feet and larger were assessed for their solar potential.27 LL24 considers mostly the physical aspects of a building such as structural condition and age of a building to consider for solar installation and certify it with solar-ready status.28 This study finds the sole consideration of structural factors in the Solar 100, to define the solarreadiness of a building inadequate. Hence, this study recognizes other factors to help the solar program of the City to accelerate and make it more rewarding to the various stakeholders involved.

The City’s Solar program which is distributed across the five boroughs, identifies various completed and in progress projects which account to about 8.88MW and 15MW of solar capacity installed respectively. (Fig 7) The total of 23.88MW of installed capacity is distributed among 141 buildings, which accounts to about 6.56% of the total city owned buildings. Figure 6 also shows the air quality index in the selected study area of this study. The CCD 36 which falls in second highest bad air quality index range needs a special attention. The maps below shows the study area at various levels and the solar roof findings with their statuses. (Map on Page no 23 25) To address the 80% of non solar-ready status of city owned public buildings is more tedious and laborious process than it seems. It requires a lot of planning and innovative strategies to make it more efficient than it already is. It is evident from Solar 100 that, about 23.88MW of solar capacity, less than one third of 100MW is the City’s progress to date. This implies that either the City’s goal of 100MW is way too ambitious than the city can achieve in reality or the process adapted by the City for the implementation of its program needs some amends. The average size across all solar-ready buildings is found to be 71.3kW, which is way smaller in capacity as compared to the City’s 53 completed projects with a capacity of 168kW.29 This shows that the

27Solar 100 supra note 1 at 10 28 Id 29 Id

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MAP 3

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MAP 4

MAP 5

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new findings are less than half in average size capacity as compared to the completed projects.

To ensure better implementation of the program, it is required by the City to look into bundling of the solar sites. Bundling of the solar sites refer to combining smaller capacity solar-ready sites with larger capacity solar-ready sites. This not only ensures better and effective implementation but also appears to be cost effective and the outcomes can be more restorative.

To address climate resiliency through solar power across the environmental justice communities, the City can make amends to its program in a way by accommodating battery storage amongst all its project sites. This not only benefits for greater good of the communities during environmental emergencies, but also provides an opportunity create innovative incentives to the communities.

The batteries will help in storage of the power for emergencies as well as the excess energy can be distributed to the main grid, which can be incentivized. The sites can go net zero, in the presence of solar with storage capacity. From the interviews with the officials of DCAS, it is known that a dozen buildings throughout the city are deemed with battery plus storage. Of those dozen buildings with battery plus storage, P.S. K455 - Boys and Girls High School, is one amongst them. This particular site is estimated with an Energy Storage System (ESS) of capacity 250 KW.

3.3 Progress of Solar 100 to Date From interviews and follow up email conversations with officials of DCAS, the following has been noted as the progress of Solar 100 to date. As of February 2017, DCAS has invested $772 million in 1,778 projects across 1,157 buildings, equating to 212,689 in metric tons of CO2e reduced. DCAS in partnership with various working groups and coalitions working for environmental justice in the Con Ed’s BQDM area has made considerable progress. The target demand reduction for Con Ed’s BQDM Request for Information (RFI) was projected to be 2MW. The projects include LED lighting upgrades at HHC (Health and Hospitals Corporation), DOE, NYPD, DOHMH (Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) and FDNY facilities; plus air-conditioning upgrades at DCAS, FDNY (Fire Department City of New York) and NYPD facilities. These demand reductions total an estimated 591kW. HHC is installing a 1.6MW cogeneration plant at Kings Hospital.

3.4 SWOT Analysis of Solar 100 The Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Solar Strategy Getting to 100 MW and Beyond, has an inventory of all the solar installations (current, in-progress and completed) in NYC. The list also

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assesses the solar-readiness of the remaining public buildings, while also identifying the planned sustainability projects for these roofs. The table below identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potential threats of the Solar 100 plan through the lens of environmental justice. The analysis below considers various indicators such as environmental, financial, social and technical beyond the structural factors of a building, as the City has done so far.

STRENGTHS

Citywide Policy

Environmental Factors

Ambition to achieve a 60% GHG reductions from the city buildings guarantees that facilities in the environmental justice (EJ) neighborhoods are included

Financial Factors

The Project Capital and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) methods of funding provide flexibility to the facilities across the City.

City Council District 36

Social Factors

NYC Public Schools

DCAS in partnership with DOE has plans to develop education program in NYC public schools.

Technical Factors

All City owned buildings X’ No. of City owned were assessed for solar buildings in the CCD 36 readiness of which 429 are are solar ready. solar-ready.

5 sites are in current and in-progress status of installation; 6 new sites are identified as solarready.

WEAKNESSES

Citywide Policy

NYC Public Schools

Environmental Factors

EJ is not an explicit criteria for site prioritization to install solar on rooftops.

City Council District 36

Financial Factors

Social Factors

There is no program for local hiring and thereby contributing towards workforce development.

Technical Factors

1579 buildings which account for 78% of the total building stock are non solar-ready. There are no plans to address these non solar-ready sites.

Threshold for site X’ no of sites identified selection eliminates ‘X’ no have met the threshold. of CCD 36’s public buildings.

The sites identified fall under the identified solar PV capacity range of 458.80kW - 627.70kW.

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OPPORTUNITIES

Citywide Policy

City Council District 36

Environmental Factors

It is not too late to prioritize the buildings in the EJ neighborhoods.

Distributive solar can be designed to provide energy to public buildings independent of the grid of use in connection with the flood disasters. Solar power reduces the costs in general and also provides power to public buildings.

Financial Factors

Capital investment in solar Bundling of sites provides can lead up to operational various financial benefits. cost savings. These savings can be further utilized for the improvement of the program. Cost benefit analysis of the system helps to maximize the savings. Distributed energy resiliency plans helps to increase future investments and implementations.

Social Factors

NYC Public Schools

Workforce development A learning opportunity can and targeted local hiring be provided. can be achieved. City Council member can come up with various community outreach program to promote solar amongst the residents of CCD 36.

Technical Factors

Distributed energy resiliency is an opportunity that can be adapted citywide.

Distributed energy resiliency means combining solar power with battery storage.

Technically it is possible to bundle solar sites.

Therefore, address the buildings that could otherwise be eliminated in the prioritization of solar installation.

THREATS

Citywide Policy

City Council District 36

NYC Public Schools

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Environmental Factors

There is no evidence that the EJ communities are prioritized for solar projects by the city agency.

The high heat vulnerability is worsening within the CCD 36 which partly falls under the BQDM program area. CCD 36 also falls under the low income neighborhood which leads to limited budgets and less climate controls inside the building.

Financial Factors Social Factors Technical Factors

Technical criteria for site selection for solar readiness as per LL24 makes implementation of solar power across the city inequitable.

Table 2: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis of Solar 100

3.5 Solar One Program: Summary and Analysis Solar One is an environmental education program which aims to provide resources to create more sustainable and resilient urban environments.30 Solar One has various programs to help all New Yorkers across all the five boroughs, namely: Green Design Lab, Green Workforce, Clean Energy Connections, Energy Efficiency, Here Comes Solar and Stuyvesant Cove Park, to educate about cleaner, sustainable energy alternatives. Of the programs of Solar One, Green Design Lab (GDL) deals with K-12 education and professional development, promotes experimental learning opportunities through science, technology and design.31 This program provides school staff and students with curriculum to support school-wide sustainability projects, provide professional development and engage with the entire school community to reduce energy use through school-wide energy challenges.32

30 Solar One available at http://www.solar1.org 31 Id 32 Id

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4. Case Studies 4.1 Project: Boys & Girls High School (K455) 1700 Fulton St Brooklyn

Figure 9: Solar on K455’s rooftop

Data Campus Name: K455 City Council District: 36 Total Building Gross SQFT: 340040 Installation Date: 10/23/2015 Upfront Project Cost: $2,114,467 Financing Mechanism: Capital investment

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Input Installed Capacity: 505.08 kW Percentage of Annual Maximum Load: 68% Percentage of Annual Electricity consumptions: 18% Output Estimated Annual kWh Production: 592,883 kWh Estimated Annual Emissions reductions: 182Mg CO2 Estimated Annual Social Cost of Carbon Savings: $23,244.81 Estimated Annual Electricity Cost Savings: $89,099.33 Estimated Annual Total Savings: $112,344.15 Program Description Local Program: Solar 100 Mission: Helping K-12th grade schools statewide to go solar at reduced costs.

Installation Cost: Zero installation cost Funding: Capital investment Benefits form the program: Save schools money on their electric bills, allowing them to spend less on utilities and more on educating New York’s children.

P.S. K455 is selected as a case study because the school falls in the study area of CCD 36. This case study provides strong evidence for the various factors considered in this study such as environmental, social, cultural and technical aspects. This public school was completed with solar installations under the solar 100 program in the October of 2015. One of the concerns raised from this case study is that, there is no evidence of community engagement and outreach program developed so far. DCAS has not made any prior arrangements to involve the community or even create awareness about the mere existence of solar on this school building’s rooftop.

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4.2 Program: (i) K - Solar program of New York State Program Overview:33 Grant by: U.S. Department of Energy Overarching Federal Program: SunShot Initiative Overarching State Program: NY-Sun Initiative State Program: K-Solar Mission: Helping K-12th grade schools statewide to go solar at reduced costs.

Stakeholders: New York Power Authority (NYPA) +New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Installation Cost: Zero installation cost Funding: Capital investment and Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) Benefits form the program: Save schools money on their electric bills, allowing them to spend less on utilities and more on educating New York’s children.

Figure 10: Checklist for K-Solar Program

33

K-Solar program available at http://www.nypa.gov/innovation/programs/k-solar

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(ii) Chicago Solar Express

Figure 10: Checklist for Chicago Solar Express Program

Program Overview:34 Grant by: U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative Overarching Federal Program: SunShot Initiative Overarching Local Program: Solar Chicago - a bulk solar purchase program resulting in 600kW of new solar capacity in the Chicago region.

Local Program: Chicago Solar Express Mission: To support solar PV installations by reducing market barriers and soft costs to all residents and business owners of the City of Chicago.

Stakeholders: The City of Chicago and ComEd Installation costs: Zero installation cost B e n e f i t s : To h e l p residents and businesses move to renewable

power, with reduced costs and streamlined permits.

Chicago Solar Express program available at https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/progs/env/ solar_in_chicago.html 34

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5. Recommendations 5.1 Recommendations for Programs in Schools The City’s public schools, especially those located in the BQDM program area and in EJ communities have a huge potential to incorporate solar to educate not just the students but also the community. DCAS with its Solar One educational program needs to prioritize the public schools in the vulnerable communities. The Green Design Lab (GDL) is of higher priority in the

Figure 12: Recommendations for Programs in New York City Public Schools

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schools in these neighborhoods. Case Studies help understand that the schools in these neighborhoods have comparatively lower ranking which emphasizes the need for prioritization and implementation of special programs like GDL. The GDL program can also make amends in such a way that the schools with no infrastructure to accommodate any of the sustainability projects, also be included in the educational program. This helps to achieve equity among all the public schools. The schools with the infrastructure to accommodate sustainability projects partner with the schools with no infrastructure to promote educational aspect of the program.

There by the schools privileged with the infrastructures act as sustainability models. The schools can partner with the community facilities like churches, libraries and other religious institutions to promote the positive impacts of solar and its benefits on the community. There by schools along with the community can formulate various programs at school and at neighborhood levels.

The GDL program of Solar One, helps the students to learn first hand experience about the alternative sources of energy, solar energy in particular. The schools can have creative clubs such as - Clean Technology club , Green Power Technology Association and Environmental Club (Fig 11). These clubs can motivate the students to learn about newer technologies and promote Science as a field of study. The schools can also have after school hours learning programs like Contemporary Issues and Science classes, Earth Science classes, Tech-savvy and Global Citizens and Pre-Engineering program, which motivate students to take up science and be sustainable leaders of tomorrow (Fig 11). The school authorities can install solar powered boards and electric charging stations to promote hybrid modes of transportation. These act as additional incentives.

In partnership with concerned City agencies, schools can promote students in high schools to think way ahead of their career and motivate them to take up careers in energy industry. These students can act as progressive energy policy ambassadors. The City officials from the energy department can motivate them by conducting innovative workshops and lectures. Sample of the recommendations for programs in public schools is shown in Figure 11.

5.3 Recommendations for Citywide Implementation DCAS notes in Solar 100 that they prioritize roof repair and replacement of those buildings with the largest solar capacity. This study after careful consideration of the various factors such as environmental, social, financial and technical, recommends that the City prioritize the public buildings that are located in the environmental justice communities. The roofs of the buildings in the EJ communities, if they are smaller than the standardized roof sizes, then the City do the bundling of sites, to ensure none of the sites are left un-solarized. This is one of the accelerating criteria for the City’s goal of 100 MW. This study recommends a metrics chart, as shown in Figure 13, to be followed by the City to consider for solarizing almost 80% of the non solar-

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Figure 13: Checklist for Citywide Implementation

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ready public buildings. The metrics chart considers structural, institutional, geographical and social factors to evaluate a building to access its solar-readiness. Addition to the structural criteria, as considered by DCAS to access the solar-readiness of a building, this metrics chart considers various other criteria to help prioritize solarizing of the buildings in the environmental justice communities. The primary criteria in this metrics chart is the building typology.

Depending on the era of the building, type and conditions of the roof, a building needs to be rated for solar-readiness. Followed by this structural criteria is the institutional or transactional condition. This criteria in the metrics chart considers the administrational interactions, interest, knowledge and involvement of the residents of the buildings and the neighborhood. This helps in prioritizing the buildings which has pro involvement for the adaptation of cleaner resilient energy source. Third criteria is the geographical location of the building. This helps in evaluating the social indicators such as public health and economic impacts. This is very much required in order for the city to prioritize the buildings in the EJ communities. Last but not the least, the indirect factors such as political engagement, community outreach, educational programs, neighborhood condition and the possibilities for future development, all become the criteria for a building’s solar-readiness status. This study also recommends that the accessibility of information on public buildings be made available to all New Yorkers.

5.3 Recommendations for Improvement of Workforce Development According to the Solar Foundation’s Solar Jobs Census 2016, it is evident that 260,077 jobs were created nationwide, whereas 8135 in New York state, it was about 8,135 jobs as compared to State Solar Jobs about 100, 000 jobs in California.35 Of the 8000 jobs 6 throughout New York state, close to 3000 jobs were created in State Ranking for Number of NYC across the five boroughs.36 Solar jobs can be created in Solar Jobs Nationwide various sectors, namely: installation, manufacturing, sales and 29 distribution and project development.37 To achieve equity and State Ranking for Number of economic progress, this study advocates siting public solar Solar Jobs Per Capita investments in EJ communities. These solar investments can lead to local hiring thereby development of the workforce. This study also recommends to prioritize career training amongst the residents of the neighborhood.

All these opportunities can bring about a lot of savings to the City. So far, it is understood from

“

”

35

The Solar Foundation, Solar Jobs Census 2016, available at https://solarstates.org/#states/solar-jobs/2016

36

Id

37

Id

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the studies that, the City lacks reinvestment strategies for savings from the Solar. This study advocates that the City develop a strategy for reinvestment for the savings from Solar.

From the meetings and interviews with DCAS, it is understood that the City has finally agreed to form a working group in coalition with various non profit organizations to develop various strategies to prioritize the EJ communities and the communities of color and lower income. This seems to be a step forward by the City in its attainment of equity.

5.4 Recommendations for Public Health Siting of solar in the EJ communities and communities of color and lower income, will not only address the energy resiliency but also the public health issues. These communities are burdened not only with bad infrastructure but are adversely affected by the negative impacts from those infrastructure. The communities are faced with high rates of asthma, heat vulnerability index and bad air quality. It is important that the City makes an attempt to educate the residents about the alternatives to combat these negative impacts through solar.

From involvement with the residents of the EJ communities and communities of color and lower income, it is evident that the residents understand the negative impacts of the existing infrastructure and the geographical location of their neighborhoods. The City can develop an awareness program, followed by an educational program to address the residents in these neighborhoods about the negative impacts and ways to overcome it.

6. Next Steps Forward This paper has examined the negative impacts of GHG emissions on EJ communities and communities of color and lower income and analyzed the alternatives to combat the negative impacts through solar. The paper concluded through the lens of environmental justice, few recommendations for the better implementation of solar on rooftops in NYC and also to achieve the City’s goal of 100 MW by 2050 with equity. In the near future, studies needs to be conducted to follow up on the City’s progress towards building a sustainable, resilient New York. The future studies can also assess and formulate programs or recommendations to go beyond the public schools in NYC.

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7. Bibliography 1. New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, New York City Climate Justice Agenda: Strengthening the Mayor’s OneNYC Plan (April 2016), available at http://nyc-eja.org/public/ publications/NYC_ClimateJusticeAgenda.pdf 2. World Cities Report, http://wcr.unhabitat.org 3. http://www.wri.org/resources/charts-graphs/us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-flow-chart 4. http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/sustainability/downloads/pdf/publications/New%20York %20City's%20Roadmap%20to%2080%20x%2050_Final.pdf 5. New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, Solar 100: New York City’s Municipal Solar Strategy 6 (December 2016), available at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dem/ downloads/pdf/Solar%20100%20Local%20Law%2024%202016.pdf [hereafter “Solar 100” 6. New York City Mayor’s Office of Recovery & Resiliency, “PlaNYC-About”, http:// www.nyc.gov/html/planyc/html/about/about.shtml (last accessed Mar. 27, 2017) 7. New York City Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning & Sustainability, “One City Built to Last-Executive Summary”at 8, http://www.nyc.gov/html/builttolast/assets/downloads/pdf/ OneCity.pdf (last accessed Mar. 27, 2017) 8. L.L. 24/2016 9. Restart Solar, Sept 2016.

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8. List of Tables Table 1: List of DOE Current and In-Progress Solar Sites in CCD 36 Table 2: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis of Solar 100

9. List of Acronyms BQDM - Brooklyn Queens Demand Management CCD - City Council District ConEd - Con Edison CUNY - The City University of New York DCAS - Department of Citywide Administrative Services DEP - Department of Environmental Protection DHS - Department of Homeless Services DOE - Department of Education DOHMH - Department of Health and Mental Hygiene DPR - Department of Parks and Recreation EJ - Environmental Justice FDNY - Fire Department City of New York GDL - Green Design Lab GHG - Greenhouse Gas HHC - New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation LL 24 - Local Law 24 kW - Kilowatts MW - Megawatts NYPD - New York Police Department OneNYC - One City: Built to Last plan PPA - Power Purchase Agreement PV - Photovoltaic RFI - Request for Information UHI - Urban Heat Island effect SMIA - Significant Maritime and Industrial Area

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10. List of Figures Figure 1: Pathways for Reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Buildings Figure 2 New York City 2013 Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector Figure 3: Agency Solar Capacity Breakdown Figure 4: Problem Statement Figure 5: Delineated BQDM program area Figure 6: Climate Works for All Figure 7: Total Capacity Findings by City Council District Figure 8: Municipal Solar Projects and Local Air Quality Indicators Figure 9: Solar on Boys and Girls High School’s Rooftop Figure 10: Checklist of K-Solar Program Figure 11: Checklist of Chicago Solar Express Program Figure 12: Recommendations for Programs in New York City Public Schools Figure 13: Checklist for Citywide Implementation

11. List of Maps Map 1: Solar Power on Public Buildings, Significant Maritime and Industrial Area and Brooklyn Queens Demand Management area Map 2: Solar Power on Public Buildings, Significant Maritime and Industrial Area and Brooklyn Queens Demand Management area Map 3: Solar Power on Public Buildings, Significant Maritime and Industrial Area, Brooklyn Queens Demand Management area and City Council District 36

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12. Appendix Solar Ready Buildings Per City Council District CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT

TOTAL SOLAR READY BUILDINGS

TOTAL ESTIMATED CAPACITY

1

10 427 kW

2

7 126 kW

3

11 365 kW

4

6 333 kW

5

6 216 kW

6

10 1,006 kW

7

4 186 kW

8

16 478 kW

9

13 569 kW

10

10 407 kW

11

8 522 kW

12

8 621 kW

13

10 684 kW

14

13 432 kW

15

17 701 kW

16

9 696 kW

17

13 736 kW

18

11 1,291 kW

19

8 867 kW

20

2 459 kW

21

4 553 kW

22

6 571 kW

23

9 1,133 kW

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CITY TOTAL COUNCIL SOLAR DISTRICT READY BUILDINGS

TOTAL ESTIMATED CAPACITY

24

7 969 kW

25

5 189 kW

26

12 1,426 kW

27

5 168 kW

28

6 508 kW

29

8 431 kW

30

8 491 kW

31

6 678 kW

32

5 122 kW

33

13 691 kW

34

10 493 kW

35

12 931 kW

36

8 590 kW

37

7 281 kW

38

10 683 kW

39

6 383 kW

40

5 596 kW

41

12 1,034 kW

42

11 1,050 kW

43

3 156 kW

44

4 159 kW

45

4 512 kW

46

9 830 kW

47

10 845 kW

TOTAL

48

9 842 kW

49

12 517 kW

50

7 946 kW

51

4 679 kW 429 30,577 kW

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List of all City Agency Profile TOTAL 10K TOTAL SQ. FT. + SOLARBUILDINGS READY BUILDINGS

SOLARREADY PERCENTA GE

TOTAL SOLAR PV CAPACITY IDENTIFIE D

AVERAGE SOLAR PV SYSTEM CAPACITY

TOTAL CAPACITY OF SYSTEMS 100 kW +

BUILDINGS WITH CAPACITY 100 kW +

87.01 kW

14,672.60 kW

83

71.34 kW

546.10 kW

4

67.37 kW

0.00 kW

0

45.48 kW

719.60 kW

3

56.39 kW

677.10 kW

2

3

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 989

267

27% 23,230.69 kW

CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK 68

11

16.18% 784.76 kW

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 164

6

3.66% 404.20 kW

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION 74

27

36.49% 1,227.98 kW

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELESS SERVICES 57

19

33.33% 1,071.32 kW

NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT 107

23

21.50% 975.05 kW

42.39 kW

665.10 kW

549

76

13.84% 2,882.94 kW

37.93 kW

1,741.30 kW

2008

429

21.36% 30,576.94 kW

71.27 kW

19,021.80 kW

OTHER 10

TOTAL

105

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Details of Solar Ready Buildings of Department of Education within the City Council District 36

DOE

K026

DOE

K044

DOE

K335

DOE

K324

DOE

K455

AGENCY

CAMPUS NAME

SITE

ADDRESS

1014 P.S. 026 Lafayette Jesse Owens Ave P.S. 044 432 Marcus Monroe St Garvey P.S. 335 130 Granville T. Rochester Woods Ave M.S. 267 Math, 800 Gates Science and Ave Technology Boys & Girls 1700 High School Fulton St

BOROUGH

TOTAL BUILDIN INSTALLATION INSTALLED G GROSS DATE CAPACITY SQFT

Brooklyn

148,800 In Progress

249.28 kW

Brooklyn

98,400 In Progress

111.36 kW

Brooklyn

122,400 In Progress

125.76 kW

Brooklyn

183,220

120.78 9/24/15 kW

Brooklyn

340,040

505.08 10/23/15 kW

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