Sustainability Commission

Sustainability Advisory Committee MEETING AGENDA Thursday, November 3, 2022 6:00 PM-7:30 PM In Person, Albany City Hall . Meeting notice will be posted on the Sustainability Advisory Committee webpage at https://www.albanyny.gov/342/Sustainability-Advisory-Committee, the Sustainable Albany Facebook page and Albany Office of Sustainability Facebook page. Meeting will be livestreamed via Facebook. Advance questions/comments from the public can be sent via Facebook message or emailed to: Sustainability@albanyny.gov ● Regular Business – 10 minutes o Call to Order and roll call – Commissioners, please send designee if unable to attend o Review/Approval of September 1, 2022 minutes o Public Comment Period (Approx. 3 minutes per comment) ● New Business –70 minutes o (10 minutes) Motion to approve Memo on Climate Plan Recommendation Process (attached, see next page). o (25 minutes) Prioritizing Climate Plan Recommendation Development. o (10 min) Update on Clean Energy Community Campaigns – 3 campaigns (Energy Efficiency/Heat Pumps, Community Solar and Electric Vehicles) approved by NYSERDA on 10-18-2. (Tina, Jason) o (10 min) Review, Approval of Annual Report (Gaby) o (15 min) Q&A for Department and Subcommittee Heads on Basis of their Submitted Reports ● Upcoming events, calls for Volunteers, call for new Members ● Adjourn Next meeting –Thurs. December 8, 2022 at 6 pm.  Sustainability Advisory Committee CLIMATE ACTION POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS Dear Mayor Sheehan, President Ellis, and members of the Common Council, The Sustainability Advisory Committee has initiated a process to develop a series of recommended steps that will align the City of Albany with New York State’s climate policy, taking advantage of available State and Federal programs designed to encourage such actions, while attracting investment from private organizations in clean energy and infrastructure modernization. We are confident that these recommendations will include the development of a new Climate Action Plan, for which funding will be sought in round seven of the NY Department of Environmental Conservation’s Climate Smart Communities program, expected to be announced in February of 2023. In addition, we expect to recommend the following actions to put the City of Albany on a path towards near-zero carbon dioxide emissions by mid-Century: 1. Preparation for enforcement of updated building codes that will require substantially improved energy efficiency. 2. Setting a deadline after which all new buildings in the City must be constructed without reliance on combustion of fossil fuels for heat or cooking. 3. Development of a plan to convert existing buildings to electric heat. 4. Accelerated deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. 5. Climate change adaptation initiatives aimed at reducing heat stress on City streets. 6. Reducing methane emissions by increased composting of food waste. 7. Encouraging local food production to reduce the carbon intensity of City food consumption. Our recommendations will be researched and formulated to assure that the proposed steps are consistent with principles of environmental justice, so that the actions we take towards these goals will improve life for all of our residents, especially those suffering from historical injustice and disinvestment, and with principles of participatory governance, so that everyone in the City will be invited to contribute priorities, concerns as well as labor and good ideas towards these goals. In addition our goals will be formulated in ways that improve the City’s attractiveness to housing developers and potential residents among our neighbors in the Capital Region.