Center for Sustainable Business | Invest NYC SDG Initiative

Since early 2020, Invest NYC SDG has worked closely with the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) under an MOU, as well as the NYC Energy Efficiency Corporation (NYCEEC) to develop an innovative data tool to help prioritize outreach to underlying mortgage lenders of buildings subject to Local Law 97, which mandates greenhouse gas emission reductions and penalties for 28,000 buildings.The data tool is searchable by mortgage lien holder and provides details on the portfolios of mortgage lenders and the carbon emitted by individual buildings and in the aggregate. We are using the data tool to leverage the interest of major banks to reduce their scope 3 emissions and take a leadership role in helping to decarbonize NYC buildings in their own portfolios. 

A catalyst of zero carbon building, the Passive House Accelerator applies physics, building science, and digital modeling tools to optimize construction costs and building performance, reducing building heating and cooling energy use by 80-90%. Two major obstacles inhibit broader adoption of energy efficient and low carbon construction methods: workforce skills and product access. Source 2050 seeks to address product access by creating the first ever comprehensive high performance construction marketplace for professionals to collaborate and exchange practical, project-based techniques and discover the new products that make achieving these green construction goals possible. Source 2050 was selected as a NYU Tandon CUSP Capstone project for Spring 2022.
 

Zero waste to landfill by 2030 is a key tenet of NYC's sustainability goals, but this ambitious goal has stalled. NYC has an opportunity to invest in projects that ensure its 2 million tons/year of organic solid waste will be locally managed as resources that create renewable energy (biogas), fertilizer products (compost and biosolids), and clean water - products that can be used locally. Our proposed solution is to drive public and private investment into organic waste processing through anaerobic digestion at the Department of Environmental Protection’s 14 existing water resource recovery facilities to build a circular economy for organic waste while lowering the city's carbon footprint and reducing landfill reliance. 

As a use for glass waste and a component of concrete for building and infrastructure construction, ground glass pozzolan can provide an important contribution to New York City’s environmental commitment of zero waste to landfill by 2030. Recovery, processing, and use of NYC’s 180,000 tons of waste glass into ground glass pozzolan would also significantly reduce NYC's CO2 emissions. Invest NYC SDG is supporting Urban Mining Industries (UMI), the only commercial-scale glass pozzolan producer in the U.S., in securing a site near Sims Recycling’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal MRF for the construction of a ground glass pozzolan plant, and product commercialization in the public and private sector in NYC.

The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation has awarded $2M to Invest NYC SDG to help develop long-term solutions to food insecurity. In partnership with Cornell University, Invest NYC SDG is focusing on ways in which private engagement and investment can provide long term, market-based solutions to food insecurity in underserved NYC neighborhoods and rural New York State communities. We can increase private-sector engagement by acting as a catalyst and matchmaker, working with partners to develop research-driven and community-backed plans for new public–private pilot programs that can boost resilience and equity in New York State’s food system. Read Press Release. 

Urban agriculture provides socioeconomic benefits to communities, improving access to fresh local food while offering educational opportunities and green jobs. Invest NYC SDG and NYU Tandon have built a wiki-style database, visualized as a map, to understand the extent and nature of agricultural production in NYC, as well as its correlation with neighborhood demographics, gentrification, and food security status. By creating a baseline of urban agricultural activity in NYC, we can help set production goals, advise on supportive government policies, assist growers in connecting with the resources they need to build thriving farm businesses, and ultimately help create well-paying green jobs. Explore the interactive map. 

At least 750,000 New Yorkers live in areas subject to food apartheid - characterized by little or no fresh, healthy, and affordable food. NYC’s corner-store infrastructure is an under-leveraged resource: 13,000+ minority-owned corner stores (bodegas) feed millions of New Yorkers every day. Invest NYC SDG has convened a multi-stakeholder working group and is developing a pilot program connecting corner stores, community-based organizations, vendors, and distributors. Building on small-scale pilots around the U.S., the goal of the new program is to (a) identify best practices and (b) definitively measure the impact of a bodega-based healthy food channel in order to (c) attract the private investment and other resources needed for a citywide expansion.

Rikers Island is slated to close its doors as a jail in 2027. Developing uses for its 413 acres near the center of NYC presents a rare opportunity. Spurred by former Mayor de Blasio’s Chief Climate Policy Advisor, Invest NYC SDG proposed an interim use to create a new legacy and a green vision for NYC’s future: a 32-acre indoor farm that uses vertical farming, aquaculture, and greenhouses to produce more than 490,000 pounds of leafy greens and vining crops, and 90,000 pounds of salmon or trout weekly, year-round. We seek to employ formerly incarcerated persons in an economically sustainable business that provides a pathway for worker ownership through an ESOP or worker cooperative model. We are discussing these governance options with the Democracy at Work Institute and social entrepreneur and organizer Omar Freilla, a leader in this field.

This white paper was commissioned by the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) to examine models for financing New York City’s sustainability goals as they are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and inform its initiative, Invest NYC SDG.  It is also intended to give cities everywhere an overview of various finance mechanisms, key players in financing, and analyses of key examples. 

CSB is grateful for support from the following sponsors: ConEdison, Goldman Sachs, Pepsico, Sims Metal Management, and The New York Community Trust.

NYU Wagner's NYC 2025 initiative called for a series of thoughtful, forward-thinking proposals laying out a practical path for the next Mayor and City Council to follow to ensure a more inclusive post-pandemic recovery for all. Each of the 21 papers helps answer the question, what does a stronger, fairer, and more equitable New York City look like? Marianna Koval wrote a policy proposal to help the next City Administration understand how it can partner with the business community to develop investable projects that advance New York City's sustainability goals. 

PROJECT LEADERSHIP 
Marianna Koval, Director 
Divya Subramanian, Associate Director
Kendra Gibbs, Assistant Director

EXECUTIVES IN RESIDENCE 
Paul Lipson, Principal, Barretto Bay Strategies 
Kendall Christiansen, Principal, Gaia Strategies 
Gary Friedland, Scholar-in-Residence, NYU Stern School of Business 

 

STUDENT RESEARCH ASSISTANTS 

Inti Robinson Campbell, BA in Economics & Math Candidate, NYU

Alan Fang, BS in Business Candidate, NYU Stern 

Julie Hanash, MBA Candidate, NYU Stern 

Saahil Jain, Master of Data Science Candidate, NYU Tandon 

Justin Kono, MBA Candidate, NYU Stern 

Andy Mukherjee, MBA Candidate, NYU Stern 

Sevastian Sanchez, BA in International Relations & Public Policy Candidate, NYU 

Nora Landis-Shack MPH, CHES, Master of Food Studies Candidate, NYU Steinhardt

Avery Q. Sirwatka, Master of Public Health Candidate, Cornell University 

Lara Croushore, Managing Director, Urban Ocean Lab 
Sander Dolder, Senior Vice President of Industry and Economic Innovation, NYC Economic Development Corporation 
Jeff Gitterman, Co-Founder, Gitterman Wealth Management
Will Kennedy, Programme Officer, UN Office of Partnerships
Micah Kotch, Partner, Blackhorn Ventures
Nilda Mesa, Director, Urban Sustainability and Equity Planning Program, Center for Sustainable Urban Development/Earth Institute, Columbia 
Frances Resheske, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, ConEdison
Aniket Shah, Senior Fellow at Columbia University Center for Sustainable Investment, Columbia, and former Head of Sustainable Investing, Oppenheimer
John Williams, Chairman and CEO, Impact Infrastructure