The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is a monumental investment in clean energy; AEG is eager to leverage its network and resources to build the partnerships necessary for winning IIJA grant proposals.
New York City’s building stock is about to set off a journey of electrification. However, this journey comes with countless obstacles. There are countless concerns regarding the reliability, technology, grid support and cost.
With help from representatives of the New York City Housing Authority, Jaros Baum & Bolles (JB&B), BlocPower and ConEdison, here are the most critical obstacles we identified at last quarter’s AEG New York 21Q2 Stakeholder Challenge on Buildings & Construction…
Improvements in technology have consistently moulded the cities we live in; IoT and other related modern technologies are bringing about a similar leap in how they continue to evolve. The opportunity and role it has to play in achieving New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) plan, as well as OneNYC’s citywide emission reduction goal of 80% by 2050, cannot be ignored.
AEG’s Boston chapter is approaching its one year anniversary with the upcoming Q3 Series on IoT, Innovation, and Technology. Past Boston AEG series have had spectacular turnout with a highly-engaged stakeholder audience, and this series should be no exception. Boston is at the top of the charts for National Clean Tech Leadership, primarily derived from its ability to innovate and its access to a high-quality workforce.
Advanced Energy Group hosted the first ever post-breakfast lunch in Boston on June 14th for a specific stakeholder group and sector: Energy Strategies in Healthcare. This stakeholder lunch was facilitated by Navigant’s Ken Horne, Director for Smart Grid. Considering the trail-blazing nature of Boston’s healthcare facilities in regard to Smart Buildings, this lunch entailed fascinating presentations and conversations regarding the energy strategy and management of these critical facilities.
Boston’s Q2 series on Smart Buildings and Grid Modernization this past June brought together a diverse crowd of energized and engaged stakeholders to discuss the city’s future energy system. The series entailed a variety of events that provided attendees the opportunity to establish and reinforce relationships, to exchange diverse perspectives, and to take leadership roles within the local energy stakeholder community.
The Washington Advanced Energy (WAE) Q2 Stakeholder Breakfast started with a call to urgency, HG Chissell - Founder and CEO of AEG - emphasized the importance of finding grid modernization solutions that were meaningful, effective, and would truly address the challenges facing D.C.’s energy sector in the long run. The risk stakeholders face is providing a well-meaning solution that is ultimately an unhelpful, quick fix.
On May 31, 2018, Chicago Advanced Energy held its Stakeholder Breakfast on the topic of Smart Buildings and Grid Modernization. Once the room was at capacity and coffee was on the table, H.G. Chissell – CEO of Advanced Energy Group – kicked off the meeting. The group then heard five presentations from discussion leaders, who offered their takes on smart buildings and grid modernization:
NYAE hosted its Q2 event keeping with the theme of Smart Buildings and Grid Modernization, on 24th of May 2018. The event brought together discussion leaders and participants to collectively take on the most pressing challenges faced by the urban energy ecosystem in New York, which includes modernizing the grid, retrofitting existing buildings, developing incentives and value propositions for building owners, and recent policy implications.
The overarching problem and opportunity in Smart Buildings and Grid Modernization is that building operations account for 75% of the nation’s energy consumption, and 70% of the grid is over 25 years old. In cities like Boston, the working towards development includes energy efficient buildings that possess Distributed Energy Resources (DERs).
DC has been paying more attention to the modernization of the electric grid. Cost reductions and improved performance of DERs are creating opportunities for the grid to operate more efficiently and at lower costs. Over the past few years, the city has been exploring how buildings and facilities that were primarily end-users of electricity can assist in power management and delivery across the District.
Set forth by Mayor De Blasio, OneNYC aims to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 2005 levels by 2050. Reaching this target relies on a variety of energy efficiency efforts. Currently, 80% of NYC emissions come from buildings. Taking into account the pace of current developments, 90% of existing buildings are expected to remain standing in 2050.
On February 22, Advanced Energy Group held its first Stakeholder Breakfast of the year in Washington, DC. The topic this time: Resiliency, Critical Infrastructure, and Microgrids. After the significant damage wrought by last year’s hurricane season, the subjects were more relevant than ever. The event’s large attendance reflected the importance of the subject matter, as the room was filled to capacity.
As a coastal city, New York faces multifaceted levels of risks from extreme weather events. Some parts of the city are still recovering from Superstorm Sandy in 2012, which highlighted the massive financial and social cost of these types of disasters, as well as the city’s under-preparedness for such events. With recent hurricanes causing extreme flooding, these critical infrastructure risks apply across the country and the globe.
In 2016, Washington, DC became a member of 100 Resilient Cities, joining a network of over 1,000 metropolises around the world dedicated to improving the resiliency of systems and infrastructure. A Resilience Strategy to prepare the District for future threats is being developed through a collaborative effort that will incorporate input from all stakeholders, in hopes of creating a comprehensive strategy for addressing a spectrum of threats.
New York Advanced Energy Group’s Q4 2017 Stakeholder Breakfast on the topic of Mobility and Transportation, co-hosted by Duane Morris, highlighted challenges and success stories of the city’s transportation sector. Speakers at the forefront of mobility and transportation, including John Markowitz of New York Power Authority, Thomas Abdallah and Nora Ostrovskaya of MTA, Mark Simon of NYC DOT, Tim Kruekniet of EVBox, and Nick Hill of ReachNow car sharing by BMW, led the discussion on policies, goals, and new technologies for the city of New York. The stakeholder member discussion tapped into collective thought, solutions, and innovative ideas for a more effective and sustainable transportation sector for New York City.
We closed out our inaugural season in Boston with a great line-up, bringing multiple perspectives to a challenge that requires an enormous amount of coordination. Speakers at the breakfast covered a wide range of related topics from how to get more ridership on public transit and address their needs, to how we decarbonize transportation, to how do we deal with the specific issues concerning EV deployments and charging infrastructure?
To kick off the breakfast and prepare everyone to think through the problems together, H.G. Chissell reminded us, with a very personal story, of the importance and urgency of tackling these pressing energy issues. This is an important reminder that these are not disconnected issues that are somewhere else to be solved when we can, but are here, connected to the way we live and affect us on a personal level.
