Market preparedness and establishment program: The offshore wind industry in the Northeast U.S. is developing rapidly. The first large scale wind farm is scheduled to be operational by 2021 and the states have committed to a combined target of close to 16GW of offshore wind power by 2035. A local supply chain must be developed to meet demands of local developers and state authorities. This constitutes an enormous market opportunity for Danish companies in the offshore wind supply chain, but also gives rise to the many questions of taking on a new market.

Why join the program: With the aim of enabling smarter, faster and informed entry and establishment for Danish companies, DI with support from the Danish Energy Agency has developed a tailored Market Preparedness and Establishment Program for companies interested in becoming part of the Northeast U.S. offshore wind supply chain. The intensive management program takes place in both Denmark and the U.S. Throughout the program, participating decision makers will firstly develop the full toolbox and knowledgebase needed to make informed decisions about market entry/expansion. Secondly, the program will equip participants to navigate their sector specific challenges and efficiently manage U.S. operations during a three day visit to the U.S.

Program content:

• Establishment Decisions and Contract Requests: Understand risks, resources and data needs throughout your U.S. establishment/expansion process to quickly and accurately respond to contract requests from U.S. offshore developers and partners
• Strategic Market Selection and Cost Drivers: Identify what drives competitiveness for your company in a new market based on a flexible data driven tool to map and analyze the differences and attractiveness of states such as NJ, MA and NY
• Legal Considerations, U.S. Subsidiary Establishment and Visa Issues: Provides indepth information on U.S. legal subsidiary setup, corporate tax considerations, import tariffs and how to relocate Danish staff to the U.S
• Customer Needs, Partners and Recruitment: All you need to know about specific offshore wind market issues, including partner selection, unionization and local developers’ contract practices and requirements
• Local Content and Investment Climate:Provides actionable insights into states’ investment incentive schemes and local content regulations.

Contact Louis Funder at lfk@di.dk for more information and how to become part of future programs.

A few years back, the Danish Energy Agency implemented an extensive heat pump program, with the aim of increasing the installation of domestic heat pumps. The program included extensive outreach efforts and innovative means of communicating the benefits to house owners.

This workshop focuses on the learnings from the heat pump program in Denmark and the intersection with the efforts of New York City in developing comparable program. Participants of the workshop will through extensive knowledge change explore if and how the experiences from Denmark may be useful in developing a successful heat pump program in New York City.

Participants included:

• NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability
• Building Energy Exchange
• NYSERDA
• Danish Energy Agency

Agenda:

• New York City vision for a new heat pump program
• An introduction to heat pumps use in Denmark and the programs that underpins this development
• Interactive workshop facilitated by Transition

For more information about this workshop and our work within energy efficiency please contact Mille Munksgaard at mimu@di.dk

Across the world cities are trying to tackle the increasing health impacts from air pollution an urban heat island effect. Every year, New York City experiences an average of 450 heat-related emergency department visits, 150 heat-related hospital admissions, and 13 heatstroke deaths. The City also averages about 115 excess deaths from natural causes exacerbated by extreme heat annually. From an urban design perspective much can be done to mitigate and to adapt to climate change related health impacts—not least in terms of developing solutions that are co-beneficial and aesthetic at the same time.

During the summer of 2019, the City of New York teamed up with Access Cities, a global alliance for sustainable urban development, to organize an Open Innovation Call on Air Quality and Urban Heat Island Effect as a call to action.

Contestants were requested to propose solutions for a specific neighborhood in NYC with some of the highest rates of heat-related illness and mortality and known air quality vulnerability issues. This Archtober-affiliated event will highlight and celebrate the winner of the Open Innovation Call together with other innovative initiatives in New York, and internationally, which are tackling these challenges.

Program:

5.30 pm – Registration & Refreshments

6.10pm – Opening keynote: Urban Climate Change Research Network, Jeffrey Raven or Cynthia Rosenzweig,

6.20pm – Access Cities Open Innovation Call Track 2 Winner presentation of NYC site specific proposal

6.50 – Findings from ULI study: A Vision for a Greener, Healthier, Cooler Gowanus: Strategies to Mitigate Urban Heat Island Effect

7.15pm – Curated panel discussion

7.45pm – Call to action – Costa Constantinides, Council member 22nd District of the City of New York

7.55 pm – Exhibition by Access Cities Open Innovation Call Finalists & Reception

Archtober:  is New York City’s Architecture and Design Month, the ninth-annual festival of architecture activities, programs and exhibitions taking place during the month of October.

Green Buildings can help us to tackle climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, help create sustainable communities and drive economic growth. A whopping 39% of global emissions can be attributed to buildings and construction processes, and with the Paris agreement commitment to limit the temperature rise by 1.5 degrees, the transition to net-zero buildings is imperative.

At this event, we took a hard look at what is possible, who we can learn from, and how we can find new, transformative strategies together to meet this challenge. A panel of experts from different parts of the Buildings industry presented solutions, and a Dragon’s Den youth panel kept checks and balances, asked the critical questions and set the bar for action high, future proof and implementable.

Program:

3:00 – Registration and coffee

3:30 – Welcome/setting the scene

3:45 –  Six short 5-minute pitches with feedback from youth panel for each pitch

4:55 – Questions from audience

5:15 – Main conclusions

5:30 pm – Thank you for coming

Speakers: 

Corporate and Goverment Climate Action was an exclusive high-level roundtable, which will focus on the impact and nature of the private and public sectors’ climate action commitments towards a low-carbon society. Yearly highlevel event as part of NYC Climate Week. With the UN Climate Action Summit as backdrop, the event will convene around 120 clean economy leaders from the private sector, national governments, cities, financial institutions, and civil society. Expect a highly interactive afternoon together with progressive peers.

Visit the conference website for all the details.

Program: 

As heads of Government and leading global institutions prepare to convene for the opening of the General Debate at the UN General Assembly in Manhattan’s Midtown East, a new gathering representing the drive and action required to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will take place at SAP in Midtown West. Taken together, both events will embody key poles in the ongoing conversation about climate action, sustainability and the next steps in the 2030 agenda.

Bringing together heads of Government, global leaders, the private sector, impact investors, creatives, and key local stakeholders, Winning Together: Sustainability in Action will offer an evening of substantive conversation and impactful networking to address the critical next steps needed to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Visit the conference website for much more on program and the many high-level speakers.

Danish Cleantech Hub, together with Cliamte-KIC, State of Green and NYC Mayors Office of technology took the stage during SCNY to publicize that the first ever Access Cities Innovation Call.

Smart City New York (SCNY) is North America’s leading global conference for innovators and decision-makers who are improving life in the cities of tomorrow. SCNY convene innovators and decision-makers who are improving life in the cities of tomorrow including: city leaders, CEOs, and startups. SCNY take a holistic look at the innovations in technology and infrastructure that are making cities more livable, equitable, and sustainable. Attendees will leave the conference with the tools and knowledge to implement solutions to their most pressing challenges.

Circular City Week is an open week-long festival of distributed activities, showcasing the transformative potential of circular economy to city life and urban industries. We are expecting the week to include +15 events, 1,500 people to participate and the combined outreach of us and our partners are +15,000 people. More info on events and partners, please visit our website.

Inspiring and free events

During this one week events and activities, hosted by an array of local and global stakeholders, take place over all New York City. In 2019, 29 exciting events was part of Circular City Week. More than 80 speakers shared their knowledge with participants. 

Collaborative and open

In 2019, 2185 people participated in Circular City Week New York. Circular City Week was made possible by the active involvement of 64 organization, all decided to drive forward change and bring attention to best practices and innovative initiatives.

​Returns in March 2020

Circular City Week New York will return in 16-22 March 2020. In addition to creating a festival of 30+ events, 2020 will also include activities focused on facilitating corporate matchmaking.

Circular City Week is dedicated to creating awareness about the global frontrunners, who have taken it upon themselves to create change. In 2020 we will therefore celebrate those companies, cities, and organizations who have already made a commitment to increase circularity.

This informative symposium gathered Westchester County Executive George Latimer, other local leaders and industry experts from a discussion on the future of water reclamation in Westchester County. The day included panel discussions and expert presentations on relevant topics including the current state of the water infrastructure, opportunities to work together as a County to achieve cost savings and improved environmental outcomes, and exploration of the latest technologies and business opportunities related to water reclamation.

What? The Clean Water Westchester Symposium gathered industry experts and local leaders for a discussion on the future of water reclamation in Westchester based on public-private-partnership funding. With the attendance of decision makers such as George Latimer, Westchester executive, and Richard Thomas, Mayor Mount Vernon, this symposium indicated the importance of taking action to achieve cost savings and an improved water infrastructure in the County.

Why? Counties across the US are struggling to finance upgrades to their water infrastructure. Public-private-partnerships with the private sector taking on more and risk is key. The symposium was a unique platform for Kamstrup and DHI group to present their services to relevant stakeholders and how data-driven decision making is essential to improve waste water management, and water infrastructure in general.

Panelists/Speakers:

• Kristin Bell (Moderator), Chief of Staff, Center for Urban Innovation, New York City Economic Development Corporation
• Nancy Seligson, Supervisor of Town of Mamaroneck
• Peter McCartt, Director of Energy Conservation and Sustainability, Westchester County
• Joan McDonald, Director of Operations, Westchester County
• Aaron Gold, Managing Director, Argo Infrastructure Partners LLC
• Sara Goddard, City Council Member, City of Rye
• Richard Thomas, Mayor, Mount Vernon