New York City Department of Education – Babatunde Idrisu – 2017

Goals

New York City has the goal of installing 100 MW of Solar PV electricity generation capacity in public buildings as part of the larger 80 x 50 goals. The Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) are working together to identify locations that are solar-ready and bring solar education workshops and sustainability training to schools. EDF Climate Corps fellow Babatunde Idrisu was enlisted to develop and refine a strategic plan to identify solar installations on the DOE’s portfolio of buildings and schools. 

Solutions

Idrisu worked with DCAS to review reports and develop strategies for identifying solar-ready roof tops. After evaluating the DOE’s current project list, he replaced structures that were unfit for solar. In total, 1,093 school locations were reviewed and 350 rooftops identified. Idrisu then put together a list of criteria to use in the future, ensuring the list is continuously up to date with the best-fit structures.

Idrisu then turned his attention to looking at ways of improving the workshop trainings for the NYC Solar Education Program. To identify the program’s areas of strength and weakness, and evaluate the education trainings on their reaction, learning, behavior and results, he conducted surveys and interviews. Based on his findings, he suggested: the provision of incentives to encourage teachers to integrate training into classroom curriculum, providing grade level guidance, resource and information on how access to peers forum, as well as curriculum training and feedback mechanisms. 

Potential Impact

The installation of ongoing solar projects has the potential to save over 17 million kWh of electricity, worth over $3 million, while reducing CO2 emissions by about 5,600 metric tons. The implementation of the recommendations for the solar education program could increase the integration of lessons into curriculum that are in line with the overall program goals.