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Congestion pricing proponents want to see New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in court. A group of local advocates filed a pair of lawsuits against the governor on Thursday, claiming she lacked the legal authority to order the MTA to pause the Manhattan tolling program last month. It was originally scheduled to launch on June 30 until Hochul made an eleventh-hour declaration that it would not move forward. — Gothamist
It seemed as though the long debated congestion pricing program was finally on its way following the Federal Highway Administration's approval of the program in June of last year. Related on Archinect: New York City's congestion pricing program receives federal approval One of the lawsuits... View full entry
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a new round of grants worth nearly $160 million to support the clean manufacturing of domestically produced construction materials. The funds are being distributed to 38 entities, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst... View full entry
Zaha Hadid Architects has designed the world’s first green hydrogen refueling infrastructure for the recreational boating industry. Refueling stations will be installed at 25 Italian marinas. The project is being spurred by an approximately $108 million investment led by NatPower H, a global... View full entry
The Biden Administration has announced a new investment of $2 billion into 150 different federal building projects meant to minimize carbon emissions in 39 states. The funding will be dispersed through the U.S. General Services Administration and used to purchase low embodied carbon... View full entry
Toronto builders have a challenging task ahead of them, and with a rapidly approaching deadline: constructing all new buildings with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. — Storeys
This goal falls under Toronto’s TransformTO Net Zero Strategy initiative, which aims to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions in the city to net zero by 2040. The building mandate targets the sizable portion of carbon emissions that buildings account for. As reported by Storeys, data... View full entry
Chipotle Mexican Grill has unveiled a new fully electric restaurant design that aims to utilize 100% renewable energy and maximize energy efficiency in its equipment and systems. The chain has recently opened restaurants with these new features in Gloucester, Virginia and Jacksonville... View full entry
A Swiss research team from Empa's Building Energy Materials and Components Lab explores the potential for using raw, plant-based materials as insulation for buildings. Led by scientist Dr. Jannis Wernery and researchers from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, the project is... View full entry
A clearer vision is emerging for the futuristic Quayside project planned to transform a stretch of Toronto's waterfront, one that is shaping up to be one of the most architecturally-distinct pockets of development in the entire country. — blogTO
Following over two years since the cancelation of the Sidewalk Labs plan to develop Toronto’s Quayside, a new approach to bring a mixed-use community to the lakefront site is being led by public entities Waterfront Toronto, the City of Toronto, PortsToronto, and private landowners. This... View full entry
The Biden Administration has unveiled the first set of recommendations under its Federal Buy Clean Initiative, an undertaking that aims to drive the development of American-made, low-carbon construction materials, while also supporting job growth. During a visit to the Cleveland-Cliffs Direct... View full entry
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has announced the finalization of a deal between the city and retail electricity supplier Constellation, in collaboration with Swift Current Energy, to shift all city facilities and operations to run on renewable energy by 2025. This makes Chicago one of the largest... View full entry
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) called for an end to the use of natural gas in new buildings in a policy blueprint released Wednesday ahead of her State of the State address. — The Hill
The governor's plan will require that there be zero on-site greenhouse gas emissions from new construction by 2027. It would also require energy benchmarking, a process that requires large buildings of similar sizes or occupancy levels to compare their energy consumption. Hochul’s blueprint... View full entry
Energy efficiency among New York City buildings has improved a bit, but almost half of those forced to post a grade are still failing. According to The City’s analysis of preliminary data from the Department of Buildings, 48.3 percent of buildings received either a D or F grade. Receiving a D is essentially the worst a building can do, as Fs are reserved for properties that don’t submit data. — The Real Deal
More than 20,000 buildings exceeding 25,000 square feet were surveyed. As reported by The Real Deal, the share of Ds dropped to 39.2 percent from 44.1 percent from the same time last year, indicating some of the least energy-efficient buildings made improvements. The share of F grades, however... View full entry
Far from Glasgow and COP26, Ithaca, New York, just made an unprecedented move to tackle climate change and the city’s carbon footprint. In a unanimous vote on Wednesday night, Ithaca’s city council approved the full decarbonization of its buildings. — CNBC
This is the first US city to begin work on a 100% decarbonization plan. It secured $100 million in private financing from private equity partner Alturus to support the effort, a move that may be more effective in tackling emissions than federal and state efforts. Ithaca’s energy efficiency... View full entry
A professor of architectural engineering at Penn State by the name of James Freihaut has been recognized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Committee on Sustainable Energy for his work in improving sustainability and safety in buildings. During the committee’s 30th... View full entry
Plans to operate commercial hydrogen-electric flights between London and Rotterdam have been announced, with those behind the project hoping it will take to the skies in 2024. In a statement Wednesday, aviation firm ZeroAvia said it was developing a 19-seater aircraft that would “fly entirely on hydrogen.” — CNBC
ZeroAvia, Dutch airport management company Royal Schiphol Group, Rotterdam The Hague Innovation Airport Foundation, and Rotterdam the Hague Airport have announced a partnership to develop the project. The initiative sets a timeline for potentially the first international zero-emission commercial... View full entry
