New York City Mayor's Office of Sustainability – Arlie Weigley – 2017

Goals 

The New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability (MOS), develops plans and programs to help the city reach its ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 80% by 2050 as part of the City’s OneNYC plan. EDF Climate Corps fellow Arlie Weigley was enlisted to provide recommendations for creating the first city-led low-energy construction assistance program in North America. She also assisted with conducting market research to identify best practices to educate owners and managers of mid-size buildings about benchmarking requirements for tracking energy and water use in New York City. 

Solutions

After completing background research on the new construction process, Weigley conducted 27 interviews with leading experts from the public and private sector to evaluate low-energy construction best practices and understand how a city-led program can assist the design and construction industry. A framework consisting of technical assistance, marketing and training was created to encourage private developers to adopt low-energy building techniques that meet updated energy code requirements.

To gauge the most effective ways of communicating to mid-size building owners and managers about benchmarking requirements, Weigley provided coordination assistance on market research, including phone interviews, a focus group, and a digital survey. She then created a best practices and lessons learned document for NYC and other cities looking at similar market outreach efforts to reference. 

Potential Impact

Both the new construction program and benchmarking outreach bring the city closer to achieving its goal of reducing GHG emissions 80% by 2050 by supporting the design and construction industry in constructing low-energy buildings and increasing the availability of energy and water use data.