Page 21 - Green Builder Jan-Feb 2022 Issue

Research partner. Cornell University has been Ithaca’s main green energy proponent for decades via solar farms, environmental studies and pollution-
removal efforts. The university will work with the city as it attempts to go all-electric by 2030. CREDIT: KEN LUND/FLICKR

POPULATION 400,00 AVERAGE ANNUAL SAVINGS
FOR HOMEOWNERS
32,103 METRIC TONS OF CO2 $60,000

PRODUCED ANNUALLY
FROM DECARBONIZATION OVER 10-15 YEARS

Ithaca’s director of sustainability. it could eventually become mandatory. He added that they
Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of GhG emissions are working to make the program as affordable as possible
in the United States. Ithaca’s initiative is projected to cut for those that participate.
about that much from the city’s overall carbon footprint— Decarbonization and electrification of buildings in the
saving approximately 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide by city will mean installing solar panels and replacing natural
2030, according to Aguirre-Torres. That’s the equivalent of gas stovetops with electric ones. It will also involve install-
the emissions from about 35,000 cars driven for a year. ing more energy-efficient heat pumps. In summer 2021,
Ithaca has about eight years to achieve the full decar- the city passed legislation banning use of natural gas and
bonization goal set forth by the city’s Green New Deal plan propane on new or renovated construction, which means
passed in 2019. Aguirre-Torres says implementing this pro- all of Ithaca will eventually switch to electricity, Aguirre-
gram could get the city halfway there within the next three Torres notes.
to four years. The director admits the project is a massive undertak-
The program aims to tackle 1,600 buildings within the first ing, but it’s also one that someone has to lead the way with.
three years, and then complete the remaining 4,400 build- “It may sound crazy,” he says. “But if we can demonstrate
ings by decade’s end. Aguirre-Torres says the program will that it can be done, we know it can be replicated all over the
operate on a voluntary basis in the beginning, but believes United States.”

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