Reducing New York City’s energy footprint, one public school at a time

Record ID: 1850614

  • Title: Reducing New York City’s energy footprint, one public school at a time
  • Date: 23rd October 2024
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT - OCTOBER 11, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STUDENT LOCKERS INSIDE KHALIL GIBRAN INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL STAIRWELL INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH OFFICE, PRINCIPAL, ADAM YARINSKY (RIGHT) AND ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH OFFICE, PROJECT DIRECTOR, DOMINIC GRIFFIN (LEFT) WALKING INTO SCHOOL THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (ELIZABETH JENNING
  • Embargoed: 6th November 2024 18:52
  • Keywords: Brooklyn NYC New York City Passive House carbon neutral climate change design energy efficiency greenhouse gas emissions international standard net zero public schools school
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Climate Adaptation and Solution,Climate Change,Environment,General News,North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001095610102024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: There’s a new “green” school on the block, in New York City.
    The ultra-low energy building, which contains two Passive House schools, opened to public school students in September of 2024. The building was designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO), and is in the process of being certified to meet the International Passive House standard for energy efficiency.
    "In simple terms, they are a direct way to reduce the city's carbon footprint,” explained ARO principal, Adam Yarinsky.
    Passive House is a standard of energy efficiency that was developed in Germany in the 1970s. It applies to any building type, from single family homes and residential buildings to commercial buildings and schools. The key factor is the design, which is formulated to reduce the amount of energy used to heat and cool buildings; elements include a very well insulated building, triple pane windows, and a heat recovery system that allows the indoor air temperature to be maintained with a much smaller air conditioning and heating system than the norm.
    “The payoff is that the building is going to be around 70 to 75% more efficient than a conventional building of its type, a conventional public school, in terms of its energy usage,” Yarinksy said.
    New York City’s public school system is the largest in the world, with more than 912,000 students and 1400 school buildings spread across all five boroughs. But many of the buildings are old, with boilers that run on gas or oil.
    “Getting those buildings off of those fossil fuels is one of the biggest impacts that they can have quickly to not just reduce the carbon emissions, but also to make the air that we're all breathing healthier,” said Jeremy Shannon, Director of Sustainability at Gensler, an international architecture and design firm.
    Passive House design is an important methodology for improving energy efficiency, Shannon said, as it can be applied to buildings both old and new.
    In 2022, New York City's mayor launched a $4 billion initiative to make all newly built city schools all-electric and to convert 100 existing schools to all- electric heating by 2030. The program is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 120,000 tons annually and remove over 20,000 pounds of harmful, fine particulates from the air, according to the New York City Mayor’s office.
    (Production: Soren Larson, Hussein Al Waaile, Christine Kiernan)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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