NYC Energy Map by Columbia U’s Modi Research Group Shows Statistical Energy Use by NYC Block
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Click on the image above to explore this fascinating interactive map of energy use by building across the city. Usage was calculated statistically, based on this study on spatial distribution of urban energy consumption (in other words, no utility records or private information was used). Congratulations to Professor Vijay Modi and PhD student Bianca Howard of the Modi Research Group at Columbia- the map’ been featured in the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal and CNET.
Posted in Energy, Energy Efficiency, Global Warming, New York City | Permalink
Catch “Burning In The Sun” this Sunday on PBS!
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012Back in 2009, Solar One was fortunate to host the World Premiere of “Burning In The Sun” as part of our Solar-Powered Film Series. Now the film is coming to your local airwaves as PBS will be airing it this Sunday, January 29th as part of their AfroPop series, hosted by Wyatt Cenac. In NYC, you can catch it at 8am, 2pm, 9pm and 2am on WLIW World or set your DVR to record one of those times (check your local listings for time/channel confirmation).
Directed by Cambria Matlow and Morgan Robinson and originally screened in collaboration with Rooftop Films and IFP, the film tells the story of 26-year-old Daniel Dembele, who decides to return to his homeland in Mali and start a local business building solar panels. As it follows his progress from startup to viable business, the film touches on themes of climate change, poverty, and African self-sufficiency. Check out the trailer:
Congratulations to Cambria and Morgan on getting their film in front of a nationwide audience! Also check out our update from March that features a 7-minute video by Morgan called “Burning In The States” focusing on the efforts of local NYC students building small-scale projects.
Posted in Energy, Film, Global Warming, Photovoltaics, Renewables, Solar One, Solar Power, Technology | Permalink
TONIGHT’S SCREENING OF THE SHORT FILMS OF MATTHEW MODINE POSTPONED BECAUSE IT WON’T QUIT RAINING
Thursday, August 25th, 2011We’re so sorry to have to do this, but we’re postponing yet another screening. Even though it’s clearing up for a while, there’s more rain headed our way just in time to rain out tonight’s screening of the short films of Matthew Modine.
Considering that we’re supposed to have a hurricane this weekend, we may have to cancel more than one film for the second week in a row. We are going to try and reschedule for later in the year- please check back here and on the Film page to find out what the plan is for DIRT!, Urban Roots and An Evening with Matthew Modine.
Please come tomorrow to the screening of Dirty Business, a new film about coal.
Our speaker tomorrow night will be Lyna Hinkel from 350.org:
With a background in international children’s television and documentary film production, Lyna has a long history of environmental activism. She is presently organizing the 350.org Moving Planet NYC climate march and rally coming Sept 24th.
350.org is an international organization working to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis. With over 500 partners and tens of thousands of active volunteers in 192 countries, we have thus far successfully organized the two largest coordinated days of climate action in the planet’s history. This year, our third mobilization is called Moving Planet: A Day to Move Beyond Fossil Fuels and will take place on September 24.
Moving Planet NYC
Out of the 300+ events scheduled to take place from coast to coast, NYC will be home to the spotlight Moving Planet event in North America. It will consist of a bike/march and rally from Columbus Circle to the United Nations Dag Hammerskold Plaza, with participants highlighting the need to move beyond fossil fuels and asking their elected leaders to push for clean energy solutions and a fair, ambitious and binding climate treaty at COP 17 in Durban, South Africa.
Dirty Business
Friday August 26 at 7pm (film will screen between 8-8:30)
At Solar One (Map)
Posted in Film, Global Warming, Sustainability | Permalink
Community Environmental Center Hosts Symposium on Solar Hot Water Technology
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011More solar thermal water heaters for NYC! That was the conclusion of a symposium on the technology hosted on July 28 by Solar One’s parent company., the Community Environmental Center (CEC). CEC is the largest installer of solar hot water systems in New York.
120 years and one symposium later, solar powered hot water heating systems may finally be getting the attention they deserve in New York City. Since their invention in 1891 by American businessman Clarence Kemp, Americans on the whole have been very slow and reluctant in adopting renewable energy water heating systems. However, that has not stopped solar hot water systems from becoming extremely popular in China and Europe; Germany, according to EarthKind Solar’s Ron Kamen, installs as many as 200,000 systems a year.
Fortunately, New York City may be just the city to put solar hot water systems back on the map for Americans. Executives from Quixotic Systems Inc., EarthKind Solar, and Sunnovations reported that the existing technology functions excellently in New York City’s temperate climate –especially atop buildings that have flat roofs and are 13 stories or lower (the majority of buildings in the city). In addition, building owners and managers such as Peter Bourbeau, of PWB Management Corporation, described how installing solar hot water systems in two of his rental buildings have lowered fuel oil expenses as much as 30 percent.
So should New Yorkers expect to see their neighbors tossing out their rusty old hot water heaters in exchange for shiny, green, solar powered systems? Perhaps not immediately, but progress is definitely underway: CEC is assembling a task force to follow through on the issues that the symposium raised.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Global Warming, Green Building, Other Events, Renewables, Solar Power, Sustainability, Technology | Permalink
Water in New York
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011Please join us for the third installment in the NYC the Future Metropolis series on the evening of May 8 where we will talk about water in New York. For more information about the event, please click here.
What is our relationship to water as NYC residents? How often do New Yorkers think about water or even remember that four of our five boroughs are located on islands? In the mind’s eye of the average resident, New York is more likely to be a city of concrete canyons, not bays, rivers, and wetlands that are home to other species besides people. Perhaps that is because today we are used to seeing waterways as dividers that lie between our useful spaces, stormwater as a nuisance for the municipality, and potable water as a problem for engineers. The average New Yorker neither has an active relationship with the water bodies that surround the city nor gives much thought to how we know that the quality of our tap water is safe and secure. But when we start thinking more about water, we find that it has seeped into many seemingly unrelated aspects of our urban lives a long time ago. (more…)
Posted in CSO, East River, Global Warming, Green Building, New York City, Solar One, stormwater, Stuyvesant Cove Park, Sustainability, Technology, Water | Permalink
