ICF International – Bhuvan Neema – 2016

Goals:

As a part of the OneNYC framework to create a more equitable, more resilient, and more sustainable City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has committed New York City to reduce GHG emissions by 80% from 2005 levels by 2050 (80 x 50).  To help reach this goal, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability (MOS) is implementing the NYC Retrofit Accelerator Program. Aggressive measures are needed on all fronts to meet the City’s goal, including implementing advanced, efficient technologies for building retrofits. Serving in a consultant capacity, ICF worked with the MOS to investigate technologies that could be included in the retrofit accelerator program. For additional support, ICF enlisted the help of EDF Climate Corps fellow Bhuvan Neema.

Solutions:

Bhuvan interviewed contractors to identify the pros and cons of a group of technologies, and worked with manufacturers to analyze their performance. The batch consisted of: air-to-water heat pumps, variable refrigerant flow heat pumps, wireless energy management systems, and fiberglass framed windows. Using these technologies, he developed computational models for retrofitting more than one million buildings across the city. The models were designed to assess the technologies’ technical performance and cost-effectiveness. After reviewing retrofit case studies, Bhuvan identified the barriers and limitations for adopting these technologies within the City. To promote their implementation, he developed a set of guidelines and policies recommendations for the MOS to incorporate within the Retrofit Accelerator Program.

Potential Impact:

These technologies could save $217 million annually in energy cost. Moving forward, the MOS is using Bhuvan’s recommendations to help develop a “High Performance Retrofit Track” of the Retrofit Accelerator, which will assist building owners and decision-makers who seek to complete a deep energy retrofit.