There are more than 900,000 buildings in New York City alone. These structures, both historic and contemporary, literally define a city like New York. Landmarks like the Empire State Building draw in thousands of people every day for work and tourism. Yet these structures also place a high demand on our environment and national resources.
C40 Chair and Mayor of New York Michael R. Bloomberg announced this morning that ten private companies have joined the Carbon Challenge, a PlaNYC initiative that encourages businesses, universities, hospitals, and other private organizations to slash carbon emissions to reduce the impact of climate change.
C40 Cities' partner organization ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability has released a fact sheet compiling U.S. local government actions for 2012, specifically relating to climate change and extreme weather adaptation.
C40 Chair, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, gave a speech this Thursday in Lower Manhattan before the League of Conservation Voters outlining the long-term challenges posed by severe weather and how New York City plans to respond. At the event, Mayor Bloomberg was introduced by former Vice President Al Gore who lauded Bloomberg’s unparalleled response to the challenges presented by climate change. “Among mayors of this nation and this world, he stands out. I don't know of anybody who has done more.”
Of all the ways commercial real estate owners can spend capital, those of us in favor of environmental initiatives hope that cost-saving “energy retrofits” are somewhere near the top of that list. Unfortunately, given the way many leases are structured, it’s not on the list at all.
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