NEW YORK
NEW YORK, USA
In New York, USA, two institutions of higher education; New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and The City College of New York (CUNY) are investigating on the Food, Water, and Energy Nexus. Their specific case studies all intertwine in efforts to reduce the carbon footprint in New York City.
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
(NYC CASE STUDY WORK PLAN: NET-Zero -FEW & NYC Food Distribution Network – Gowanus Case Study)
Goals & Objectives
The intent of the FEW/Net-Zero project is twofold: to bridge the gap between city-wide and building level greenhouse gas emissions reductions strategies through the lens of Food/Energy/Water, and to explore harnessing the Food/Energy/Water nexus to achieve net zero carbon districts. With two teams working on the Gowanus Case Study, one team focused their efforts in Net-Zero Carbon Emissions while the other team dove into understanding the impact food has on the carbon footprint. The project aims to achieve the following:
Develop a methodological approach for the achievement of district-scale carbon neutrality through Food/Energy/Water using an exemplary inventory, engagement, and planning process.
Engage a wide variety of city and district stakeholders, design professionals, academic institutions, and policy makers to build capacity and understanding of low carbon district-scale development through the lens of Food/Energy/Water.
Outline targeted recommendations for consideration in municipal policy implementation, including the identification of conceptual road maps to realizing carbon neutrality at the district-scale through the lens of Food/Energy/Water.
In collaboration with identified experts and local stakeholders, the project’s work will identify unique Food/Energy/Water challenges of specific urban contexts that arise when attempting to achieve carbon neutrality at district-scale.
Identify areas of research and investigation beyond the current project timeline with the intention of increasing the potential and rigor of the project.
Identify synergies between economic development and low carbon development strategies.
Coordinate with aligned initiatives in each district to leverage shared knowledge and resources towards common sustainability goals.
Understand available food resources and source in NYC
Assess food distribution and stages of food life cycle and calculate carbon footprint.
Assess impact of dietary pattern change on carbon footprint for different age group.
Analyze impact of electrification of transportation routes, such as truck on fuel consumption and energy needs.
Methods & Tools Employed
This Gowanus site is the subject of the Urban Design Studio at the New York Institute of Technology. The specific concept plan boundaries of the study area will include the overall Gowanus district. The student model shall primarily use off-the-shelf digital Parametric 3D modeling tools (Rhinoceros, Grasshopper - with Ladybug plugins), drawing from Weather Data (EPW) files. The ULI team 2050 development scenario inputs will be Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS) mapping. The Planning and Design Intervention is generated by considering outputs from 2050 regulatory/land use assumptions developed by ULI. Prior to the intervention, the design research includes:
Developing evidence-based urban design guidelines that include diagrams and physical configurations. Elements of the qualitative guidelines will be applied to the pilot site;
Expected modeling outcomes from peer-reviewed research. Students will also make assumptions pertaining to density increase, based on projected population, planned housing and infrastructure development, and rezoning. That information is obtained from city agencies.
Testing the site intervention through sustainability modelling with quantitative and qualitative flood/heat mitigation co-benefits at district scale for 2019 and 2050 projections:
Existing - 2019
Baseline -2050: Rezoning build-out
Best Practices-2050: Sustainable urban design
Curate data from available open sources for Gowanus case study. Example: NYC Open Data
Visualize and map food source and distribution in NYC using ArcGIS.
Spreadsheet analysis of Gowanus Population for carbon footprint.
The final urban design intervention will be configured through the articulation of design goals responding to the complexity of context, spatial scales and systems; pointing to coherent design strategies and outcomes. The evidence for the recommendations will be based on the 2050 climate model.
Planned Project Schedule
Phase I: Scoping and Assessing Dietary Pattern
During the initial Scoping phase, the project is engaging local and global technical experts in research efforts and outreach that will facilitate project milestones. Another team assessed the impact of dietary pattern change on carbon footprint for different age group. Mapped food sources of NYC.
Phase II: Visioning Workshops and Assessing the Food Distribution System
The visioning stage remains a highly focused, curated set of activities. Participants represent key areas of expertise, as determined through the scoping phase. The other team focused on assessing the food distribution system, stages of food cycle and impacts on electrification of truck route for transportation of food.
Phase III: Dissemination
Collected knowledge and findings from the visioning stage workshops will be presented publicly through presentations at the Center for Architecture in New York City, and various other modes of dissemination such as website and other online publishing. The audience to the public presentations will come primarily from the design community, stakeholders and experts who were engaged throughout the initiative, all of whom will be well-positioned and inspired to engage the wider community.
Participants' Scope of Work
The team has been formed to collectively encompass the following skills:
Research experience in urban design & planning, energy, food, and/or water
Ability to configure urban systems and districts
Ability to work with parametric design and mapping tools (e.g., ArcGIS)
The intended audience, participants, and knowledge resources should be understood collectively across the duration of the project, as well as discretely for each phase or work and/or event within the work plan outlined in our grant proposal:
Scoping
During the initial Scoping phase, the project is engaging local and global technical experts in research efforts and outreach that will facilitate project milestones. This outreach continues through the duration of the initiative.
Visioning Workshops
Participants represent key areas of expertise, as determined through the scoping phase.
Dissemination
Collected knowledge and findings from the visioning stage workshops will be presented publicly through presentations at the Center for Architecture in New York City, and various other modes of dissemination such as website and other online publishing. The audience to the public presentations will come primarily from the design community, stakeholders and experts who were engaged throughout the initiative, all of whom will be well-positioned and inspired to engage the wider community.
At a national context for the United States, the priority of the proposal is to achieve Net-Zero greenhouse gas emissions nation-wide through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers. The project Net-Zero Neighborhoods for NYC aligns with these goals and offers policymakers a well-timed NYC-based platform to test and operationalize net-zero GHG districts.
Team Members
Jeffrey Raven
Associate Professor Director of Graduate Program in Urban & Regional Design
Dr. Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong
Principal Investigator Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NYIT
Jatin Jain
Research Assistant at NYIT
Raghul Elangovan
Research Assistant at NYIT
Stephan Brown
Research Assistant at NYIT
Mohammad Baidas
Research Assistant at NYIT
Yuval Eynath
Research Assistant at NYIT
Participating Stakeholders (Potential)
Con Edison
Department of City Planning
Department of Buildings
Hunt’s Point Market
National Grid
Department of Transportation
Collaborators
American Institute of Architects- NY Chapter
https://aiany.org/committees/planning-urban-design/
Gowanus by Design
gowanusbydesign.org
The City College of New York, CUNY
Work Plan
Re-visioning Wastewater Treatment for Integrated FWE Resource Recovery.
Background: New York City operates one of the world's largest portfolios of wastewater treatment plants, that needs to be re-visioned for carbon reduction, sustainability and resiliency. The managing agency, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Wastewater Treatment (NYC DEP/BWT), is aware of this need and is seeking pathways for realizing such a vision while, in the process, making their facilities into assets for the local community. DEP is supported in this mission by the NYC Mayor's Offices of Sustainability and Resiliency.
Goals & Objectives
Support a re-visioning process for wastewater plants that will incorporate integrated food, water and energy resources in a design that will benefit local communities;
Model and demonstrate plant potential for electrical grid interactivity that would strengthen neighborhood resilience;
Provide tools that can support the agency in its analysis and planning for capital improvements to its plants;
Provide graphic imaging of how plant facilities might be configured and how they might look, as an aid to the agency in communication with local community stakeholders.
Approach
Gain acceptance with the key stakeholder that manages the wastewater treatment plant and then expand to a broader circle of stakeholders.
Create developmental visions for specific plants in the context of their neighborhoods which are then used in discussions with the government stakeholders and eventually with community stakeholders, such as Community Planning Boards. Student teams, graduate and undergraduate, work with researchers. Integrates with long-standing research collaboration around biological processes in wastewater treatment.
Develop and document
Best-practice guide, outlining the areas for re-visioning and associated action steps;
Sample site designs and renderings that are developed in architectural studio classes;
Object-based programming tools to enable a systematic and quantifiable approach for integration with urban planning-geographical tools.
Potential Outcomes/Progress
The targeted outcome is an integrated, systematic approach to multiple aspects of FWE integration at this significant feature of urban infrastructure. These plants are, in most places, very energy intensive and impose significant community burdens, both perceived and real. Under the scenarios envisioned by our project, these plants would become energy/CO2 neutral, would implement circular economy resource recovery, and would bring both aesthetic and economic benefits to their local neighborhoods. The vision, concepts, and tools would be highly transferable to other cities, especially mega-cities, faced with convergent issues around energy, waste, food, water, environmental justice, and coastal threat challenges to critical infrastructure.
CUNY Partners
CUNY Institute for Urban Systems (CIUS) | CUNY Smart Grid Interdependencies Lab | Sustainability in the Urban Environment Masters Program at CCNY | CCNY Applied Research Program, NYC DEP| Earth Engineering Center at CCNY | Max Bond Center for Community Architecture |Grove School of Engineering at the City College of New York (CCNY) | Spitzer School of Architecture at CCNY | Colin Powell School of Social Sciences at CCNY
Team Members
Michael Bobker
Associate Director
CUNY Institute for Urban Systems (Dept. of Civil Engineering)
Dr. Ahmed Mohamed
Principal Investigator
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the CUNY Smart Grid Interdependencies Lab
Professor Hillary Brown
Spitzer School of Architecture
Director Sustainability in the Urban Environment
Master's Program and Director of the CIUS Regenerative Urban Systems Lab
Krishnan Ramalingam
Manager CCNY-NYC DEP
Applied Research Program
Dr. Marco Castaldi
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Director of the Earth Engineering Center and Director of the Environmental Systems Engineering Program,