Sustainable construction, massive renovation and involving the inhabitants. On Wednesday, an exchange took place in the city of New York between companies and directors from their own home and from Brussels. The two cities say they want to inspire each other about sustainability. “Because what can be done in New York, can be done anywhere,” it sounds on the American side.
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In their office in southern Manhattan, the New York think tank Building Energy Exchange (BEEX) regularly organizes lectures and trainings on sustainability, mainly for the construction sector. On Wednesday, the exchange was specifically about Brussels. Not BEEX, but the Brussels business agency hub.brussels had set up the exchange. This happened in the context of the national trade mission to the US – with the head of delegation Princess Astrid as guest of honour.
“Climate change is undeniable. It is time to accelerate the exchange of knowledge between our two progressive cities,” said BEEX director Richard Yancey at the start. Yancey already came to Brussels in 2015 with a delegation from the city of New York. They visited a number of example buildings in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability. “We shared that inspiration in New York afterwards, and I was thrilled to see how the city council has got to work on it.”
Skyscrapers
In concrete terms, New York City has had a new building code since the end of last year, which stipulates, among other things, that new-build homes must be heated completely without gas from 2024. The same obligation will apply to high-rise buildings from 2026. By 2040, the city wants all homes to be heated electrically, for example via heat pumps. In the greater state of New York, that has not yet been voted on. Yet the state is in line with New York City in terms of ambitions. She is financing a large-scale pilot project in the city for the renovation of skyscrapers, the so-called ’empire state challenge’, worth 50 million dollars.
“In New York City, buildings are responsible for 70 percent of all carbon emissions,” said Greg Hale of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). It concerns more than 3 million buildings. “Brussels is certainly our reference in the field of passive living. Our goal is to bring their way of building here too business as usual to make.”
Last weekend, the American city of Washington DC already showed that Brussels’ building policy enjoys prestige abroad. It also looks to our capital as inspiration in the field of sustainable construction. Brussels wants to realize a large-scale renovation of the housing stock with the ‘renolution’ plan. “Doing that is not the great difficulty. It only requires the will of companies and politics, and that will is there. The big challenge lies in ensuring social justice,” said Brussels State Secretary for Urban Planning Pascal Smet (one.brussels-Vooruit) in New York on Wednesday. “Should we make people pay for their mandatory renovation or not? I admit I don’t have the right answer yet.”
Cities for people
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© EC/BRUZZ
Also during a panel discussion on citizen participation, the speakers did not come up with a straightforward answer. “We have already established that at least 35 percent of the revenues from green energy must flow back to the poorer neighbourhoods. We just need to determine what that means,” said Kizzy Charles-Guzman of the City of New York City Environmental Administration.
The same environmental administration looks further at Brussels in the field of sustainable mobility, urban agriculture and citizen participation. “We want active neighborhoods with space for cyclists and pedestrians, healthy homes and happy residents,” says Charles-Guzman. “With global partner cities like Brussels, we can continue to learn.”
In various panels, the Belgian delegation members discussed with their American colleagues how to tackle the challenges surrounding mobility, nutrition, participation and buildings.
It is not yet certain how the New York renovation wave will unfold and when. The empire state challenge is now mainly about looking for solutions, not yet about their implementation. But, “if we can do it in New York, we can do it anywhere,” said Greg Hale, like a real Frank Sinatra. State Secretary Pascal Smet turned the position around. “I’m glad that Brussels as a medium-sized city can inspire a big city like New York,” he said in his speech.
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