A young man pushes a wheelbarrow between the kale and pepper plants. Harvesting okra occupies a group further on. Products from the Brooklyn Grange are on sale in a small kiosk under the water tank, one of these water towers iconic New York skies. Because this farm, one of three founded by the Brooklyn Grange, is installed on the roof of a large industrial building built in the 1920s, in Long Island City (LIC, Queens). In the foreground, therefore, earth, greenery, farmers in boots and aprons and families from the neighborhood who come to fill their baskets. Around, a panoramic view of the concrete of the first American metropolis, and the buildings of the eastern flank of Manhattan. Far from remaining a bucolic micro-experience, these hanging farms give a glimpse of what the city could look like in a few years.
Tax incentives
New York adopted in the spring one of the most ambitious and binding climate plans in the country to initiate the energy transition. The set of laws, called the Climate Mobilization Act, attacks in particular the New York building code: it obliges all future residential, industrial and commercial buildings to be equipped with green roofs, green roofs (plants, lawns, crops) or photovoltaic, in exchange for tax incentives. New York thus becomes the largest American city to adopt such a law, after San Francisco, Denver, Portland or Chicago.
“Greenhouse gas emissions create urban heat islands [élévations localisées des températures, ndlr], due to impermeable surfaces such as concrete and asphalt, explains architect Linda Velazquez, founder of Greenroofs, an organization that promotes green roofs. Permeable in nature because they are covered with plants that live and breathe, green roofs make it possible to mitigate this heat island effect by cooling the area, and the building to have better energy efficiency. ” Brooklyn Grange co-founder and lawmaker Anastasia Cole Plakias adds that green roofs allow “To create a habitat for pollinators, to reduce the energy needs of the upper floors of buildings … Not to mention the benefits, for urbanites, of this type of place to reconnect with nature”. Brooklyn Grange indeed offers educational workshops and the possibility for volunteers to cultivate plots.
Energy strainers
Architecture is at the heart of New York’s climate plan, with Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio setting the goal of carbon neutrality for 2050, with an 80% reduction in the city’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. by 2050 compared to 2005 levels. According to a study carried out by the city, 71% of New York’s GHG emissions come from its buildings (consumption of electricity, natural gas, domestic fuel, etc.), far ahead exhaust pipes (road transport is responsible for 21% of emissions). The new law requires buildings over 2,320 m2 to reduce their emissions by 40% by 2030 under penalty of fines indexed to their carbon emissions: $ 268 for each ton of carbon in excess, or up to several million dollars per year for the biggest offenders. The text places a cap on the number of tons of carbon that a building can produce per square meter, with different levels depending on whether it is a residential, commercial or industrial building. To achieve these objectives, buildings will have to obtain renewable electricity, modernize their insulation and replace their heating or air conditioning system. Real energy sieves, glass and steel skyscrapers are particularly targeted: they represent only 2% of the building stock, but half of the city’s overall electricity consumption. “This is the biggest upheaval in New York real estate history, insisted, after the passage of the law, John Mandyck, president of the organization Urban Green Council, which promotes sustainable real estate in New York. Reducing carbon emissions will be difficult and will require billions of dollars in investment. But new technologies and new business models will be created to get us there. ”
Major step
Homeowners were quick to criticize the plan, which they consider unrealistic, too expensive and containing too many exceptions (social housing, religious buildings) to be effective. “Leaving all the weight of what is undoubtedly a shared societal problem, on the shoulders of the real estate market and commercial buildings, writes John Banks, chairman of the New York Real Estate Board, in a column. This approach will have a negative impact on our ability to attract and retain many industries. ” In 2009, the powerful real estate lobby succeeded in pushing back the previous mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who proposed a comparable law. The vote on this legislation in April was therefore seen as a major step for the city.
Contrary to the Trump administration, which pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement in June 2017, and which has since unraveled environmental regulations of the Obama era, progressive cities and states in the country are stepping up initiatives . “Global participation remains the only way to stem the climate crisis, recalls Matthew Miles Goodrich, director for New York of the organization Sunrise Movement, which lobbies elected officials to adopt ambitious climate policies. But since there will be no federal action with this administration, we look to cities and states, and New York is a leader. There are still a lot of mountains to climb, but we have made some serious progress in recent months. ” The city, seen today as a model in the fight against climate change, is starting from afar. According to the ranking of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, New York, the eighth most populous urban area, has the third largest carbon footprint on the planet, behind Seoul (South Korea) and Canton (China).
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