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Climate Corps Projects

NYC DCAS – Lucas Piazza – 2018

Goals

The Energy Management Institute (“EMI”) program provides training to City building operations staff to implement energy management best practices in City buildings. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ Division of Energy Management (“DEM”) runs the program in collaboration with CUNY’s School for Professional Studies (“SPS”). DEM leads efforts to reduce emissions from City buildings and serves as the overall energy management hub for City government operations.

EMI is intended to support the City’s progress towards our ambitious emissions reductions goals, including 80 x 50 and 35 x 25, by empowering building staff to make critical energy-saving operational adjustments in their buildings. Upon the program’s tenth anniversary, DCAS DEM called on EDF Climate Corps Lucas Piazza to identify strategies to continue the program’s growth and evaluate its impacts.

Solutions

Undertaking a thorough analysis of ten years’ of program data, Piazza identified opportunities to strengthen the value proposition of EMI training for potential students, their supervisors, and agencies. He also defined pathways to increase enrollment by undertaking more targeted outreach to students based on their roles within their buildings and organizations. Finally, he identified a strategy to examine program impacts at building locations with concentrations of trained staff.

Potential Impact

Piazza’s recommendations will help support the EMI program’s continued growth, with the opportunity to perform targeted outreach to more than 5,000 additional City employees who are well-positioned to effect energy savings within their buildings.

At a glance
Industry: Government/Public Administration
Project types:
  • Engagement and Behavior Change
  • Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year: 2018
Location: New York, NY
About the fellow
Lucas Piazza
Columbia Earth Institute
Lucas Piazza is inspired by climate change solutions that reduce impact without sacrificing customer experience. Lucas plans to pair his advanced sustainability knowledge gained through Columbia University's Sustainability Management master's program with his background in strategic communications to design this sustainable future.

Who We Work With

EDF has collaborated with over 40% of Fortune 100 companies to align sustainability goals with bottom line gains