Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables  -  November 8, 2021

Ithaca, NY to Decarbonize Buildings

The City of Ithaca, New York voted to electrify and decarbonize its buildings as part of its plan to become carbon-neutral by 2030. 

This initiative is the first large-scale, city-wide electrification initiative in the U.S., said Donnel Baird, CEO and co-founder of BlocPower, a Brooklyn-based climate tech startup focused on greening aging urban buildings that will work with the city to implement these plans.

“At the same time COP26 takes place in Glasgow, the City of Ithaca demonstrates its commitment to fight climate change by taking this very important step towards fully decarbonizing our building stock,” said Savante Myrick, Mayor of Ithaca, NY in a statement. “Through this program, the City expects to eliminate most emissions from energy use in existing residential and commercial buildings, which today account for almost 40% of the total emissions in our city.”

Building electrification is a major component of Ithaca's Green New Deal and is expected to benefit its residents through reduced pollution and GHG emissions,  lower energy costs, more energy-efficient homes and buildings, and job creation. The city’s plans call for 100% renewable electricity for all government operations by 2025 and a 50% emissions reduction for its vehicle fleet by 2025.

The proposal from BlocPower estimates that Ithaca's can eliminate 400,000 tons of CO2 by 40% by installing air source heat pumps along with upgrading buildings with energy efficiency and other building improvements. This plan will include providing low-cost loans to building owners in order to make financing green energy upgrades affordable and is estimated to create 400 new green economy construction, technology, and management jobs.

The CIty of Ithaca is also working with Alturus as its private equity partner. The company has already lined up $100 million in private financing to support the city's plans, according to a report from CNBC.  The first phase of the city's plan calls for electrification projects at 1,000 residential buildings and 600 commercial buildings from among its total inventory of 6,000 buildings.

“The City of Ithaca has made a tremendous commitment to its residents and businesses by establishing the nation’s first city-wide decarbonization program. Alturus is honored to be selected as Ithaca’s partner for C&I decarbonization projects that are part of this program and we look forward to working with local businesses and landlords to help them improve the environmental performance of their operations and real estate,” said Charles Esdaile, Managing Partner at Alturus.