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Transportation & Environment
Resolution to Support the International Passive House Standard for NYC
WHEREAS, New York City is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG)
Emissions by 80 percent by 2050—the level the United Nations projects is needed to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change—and will chart a long-term course for a total transition away from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy; and
WHEREAS, In New York City, our buildings are responsible for the overwhelming share of our GHG emissions, accounting for nearly three-quarters of our contribution to climate change (Source: One City Build to Last, New York City Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability); and
WHEREAS, Passive House standards can be applied to both new construction and renovations; and
WHEREAS, For the renovation of existing buildings, the performance standard is slightly more lenient, but still results in a roughly 90 percent reduction in average heating and cooling energy usage and up to a 75 percent reduction in primary energy usage (Source: One City Build to Last, New York City Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability); and
WHEREAS, Community Board One passed a resolution which reads in part: ''CB1 supports the investigation of the implementation of the PH Standard for its potential application to new construction and renovation in our community. It also encourages the completion of a public project in Lower Manhattan to demonstrate a zero-net energy standard and cost saving potentials"; and
WHEREAS, President Obama announced new actions to bring renewable energy and energy efficiency to households across the country, and New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) intends to work closely with NYSERDA to monitor the ongoing energy use intensity of any Passive House projects that may be selected for funding under the RFP in order to provide valuable data to the market to accelerate the trend toward construction of Passive House certified affordable multifamily buildings; and
WHEREAS, On Roosevelt Island, Cornell Tech has started work on a 24-story dormitory building which will be on the tallest and largest Passive-House high-rise in the world when it is completed in 2017; and
WHEREAS, New York City is one of the world's leaders in real estate development, architecture and engineering firms, skilled labor unions, financial institutions, and research universities and therefore is uniquely poised to develop the solutions needed to transform our city and share these solutions with the world; and
WHEREAS, New York Passive House (NYPH) is an established local resource of Passive House expertise, working with other local low-energy and sustainability stakeholders, and in continual collaboration with the Passive House Institute (PHI) for the development and transfer of engineering and environmental technologies; and
WHEREAS, Cost is a major consideration in construction projects and it is essential that all publicly supported PH undertakings be focused on reaching cost parity with conventional construction; and
WHEREAS, PH cost parity has been accomplished on projects in Europe, in the U.S. and New York City and, with the collaboration of global PHI and NYC planning and policy expertise, it would be possible to undertake an initiative of Passive House construction best practices with a goal of achieving cost parity in local demonstration projects; and
WHEREAS, New York City has in the range of 69,000 existing buildings according to the Department of Finance in 2007 and renovating our existing building stock to an energy efficient standard is critical to meeting carbon reduction goals and an incremental renovation plan is needed; and
WHEREAS, Passive House is effective in building renovations and the majority of Passive House projects completed to date in New York City have been renovations; and
WHEREAS, Maximizing energy efficiency in residential buildings would reduce tenant utility costs and improve overall housing affordability; and
WHEREAS, Passive House could facilitate community storm resilience under the coldest and hottest weather conditions, the importance of which is described in New York City's Building Resiliency Task Force (BRTF) Report, issued in response to Hurricane Sandy, as Proposal # 27 Maintain Habitable Temperatures Without Power; therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five supports the investigation of the implementation of the Passive House Classic, Passive House Plus (net zero) and Premium (net positive) Standards for application to new construction and renovation in our community; and be it further
RESOLVED, CB5 encourages the completion of a public project in Midtown Manhattan to demonstrate a zero-net energy standard and cost saving potentials; and be it further