Update On Verdant Power Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project, East River Water Turbines Replaced With More Environmental Friendly, Lower Cost & More Efficient Plastic Rotors - Roosevelt Island May Become Water, Solar, Renewable Energy Showcase To The World

As reported October 20, 2020:

Since 2002, Verdant Power's Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (RITE) has been developing water turbine technology to generate electric power from the currents of the East River next to the Roosevelt Island Foodtown (formerly Gristedes) supermarket on the Queens side of the East River.

Last Thursday, October 22, Verdant Power continued development of the technology by deploying their 5th Generation Water Turbine in the East River....

Earlier this week, after the turbines have been in the East River for 6 months, Verdant Power returned to Roosevelt Island 

for a maintenance exercise to demonstrate how easily the turbines can go in and out of the water. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @rooseveltislander

Also, Verdant Power retrieved and replaced the turbines installed 6 months ago with a new environmentally friendly plastic rotor designed by the US Department of Energy which Verdant says will lowers the cost and operate more efficiently for the next 6 months of testing in the East River salt water.

I spoke with Verdant Power's Founder and Chief Marketing Officer Trey Taylor last Wednesday before the new turbines were lowered back down into the East River.

Mr Taylor said to date the RITE East River water turbines have produced 200 megawatt hours of electricity for the Con Ed distribution power grid, which he says is a new record, and that the turbines have performed at a rate 40% higher than they thought it would.

Mr Taylor also spoke about working with Con Ed to set up energy storage on Roosevelt Island. He added that eventually, with the US Department of Energy, NY State and Empire State Development Corp, the RITE project could convert into a world class demonstration center of renewable hybrid energy systems leading to climate change improvements and many jobs.  

According to Mr Taylor, the hope is to turn Roosevelt Island into a water, solar and renewable energy showcase to the world.

Here's my conversation with Verdant Power's Trey Taylor.

More info on Verdant Power Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project at their web site and US Department of Energy.

You're Invited To Engaged Roosevelt Island Virtual Zoom Event Monday July 27 - Meet Cornell Tech Student Summer Interns Working On Roosevelt Island Renewable Energy Opportunities

Engaged Roosevelt Island was formed last year to to promote environmental understanding and boost sustainable practices on Roosevelt Island. As previously reported:

... An Engaged Opportunity Grant from Cornell University's Office of Engagement Initiatives was awarded to Cornell Tech for a year of planning and learning with the community. The goal of this grant is to promote environmental understanding and boost sustainable practices on Roosevelt Island. Throughout the year there will be engagement events to foster collaboration with residents, community groups, schools, building managers, island businesses, RIOC, RIRA and elected officials toward a cleaner and healthier neighborhood....

Engaged Roosevelt Island invites you to their upcoming event.

Let’s Reconnect and Meet the Summer Interns

Please Save the Date Monday, July 27th 4:00 to 5:00 pm

RSVP at bit.ly/3ephLmN

or email Jane.Swanson@cornell.edu

Zoom link to be provided upon registration

Although unable to hold in-person events since March, thanks to three Cornell University summer interns, work continues towards the goals of Engaged Roosevelt Island: to foster environmental understanding and boost sustainable practices on Roosevelt Island.

These three internships, supported through Cornell University’s Office of Engagement Initiatives, were awarded to Cornell University Cooperative Extension-NYC Programs (CUCE- NYC) in collaboration with Cornell Tech to carry out work that builds on the goals of Engaged Roosevelt Island. Please join us to meet the interns, learn about their work and ask any questions you may have.

According to Engaged Roosevelt Island:

What the interns are doing:

Working to make Roosevelt Island a Climate Smart Community: Camilla Bacolod is working under the supervision of a key staff member at Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) to complete and submit an application for Roosevelt Island to “mimic” and be compatible with New York State requirements and/or compliance on energy efficiency and sustainable practices.

Identifying Renewable Energy Use and Decarbonization Opportunities on Roosevelt Island: Stefan Engquist and Yosief Kidane are working under the supervision of Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Common Council member, Chris Gassman, to explore and address one of the key questions surfaced by Engaged Roosevelt Island: what is the potential capacity to expand Roosevelt Island’s use of renewable energy? The interns are gathering information on current energy sources used by Roosevelt Islanders to identify opportunities for decarbonization including switching to renewable energy sources and identifying new place-specific options for renewable energy (e.g., tidal, geothermal power).

RSVP at bit.ly/3ephLmN or email Jane.Swanson@cornell.edu

More info about Engaged Roosevelt Island at their web site and sign up here to participate in ongoing efforts.

GreenHome NYC Spotlight On Sustainable Roosevelt Island At REI SOHO Store Tonight - Cornell Net Zero Building, Verdant East River Tidal Turbine, Octagon Fuel Cell & NYSERDA Discussed

Image Of Verdant East River Tidal Turbine

Want to learn more about Roosevelt Island clean energy projects?

 Image Of Octagon Building Fuel Cell

Then this program from GreenHome NYC is for you.

According to GreenHome NYC:

August Forum – Spotlight on Roosevelt Island
July 28, 2013

New York is a city made up of islands, so Roosevelt Island, the 2-mile long island in the East River might seem unremarkable, but it features a wealth of unique systems and a rich history that are worth taking a moment to examine! That’s why in August we’ll be doing one of our Spotlight features on it. We’ll hear about the planned Cornell Tech campus which will break ground in 2014 and will be home to NYC’s largest net-zero building, learn about the tidal turbines that are grid-tied to the Island (the first such system in the world!), and hear about some of the sustainable buildings on the Island. It’s going to be a great evening and we hope you’ll join us for it!

Date: August 29, 2013

Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm

Place: REI Community Room, 303 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012

Click here to register!

Please plan ahead to arrive promptly. Our spaces are donated to us so we must keep to the schedule we provide.

Our speakers will include:

Ron Smith, President, Verdant Power

Michael Razanousky, Project Manager, NYSERDA

Julie Hiromoto, Associate, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill

Michelle Lauterwasser, Associate, Becker + Becker

More information on Roosevelt Island green energy projects, including Roosevelt Landings energy savings retrofit of building systems and installation of cogeneration power, at this previous post.

Did you know that:

An #NYC fact to share at #CityLab: Roosevelt Island residents use the most energy per household in the city http://t.co/ik2geUTgGs
— AtlanticLIVE (@Atlantic_LIVE) August 26, 2013

CBS News Reports On Verdant Power Roosevelt Island East River Tidal Energy Project - Verdant Collaborating With Cornell NYC Tech On Marine Energy Project And Virtual Power Plant

Image of Verdant Power Water Turbine Being Installed On Roosevelt Island August 2012

CBS News reported today on Verdant Power's Roosevelt Island East River Tidal Energy Project. According to CBS News:

... In the middle of the river sits Roosevelt Island, a narrow, 150-acre strip of land that serves as the home base for a company called Verdant Power. Verdant has spent the last decade trying to harness the current flowing past the island to create a new kind of green power source - one that comes from underwater turbines that look a bit like giant electric fans.

"They look a lot like wind turbines, except they're smaller because they have to fit entirely underwater," said Dean Corren, Verdant's director of technology....

Last August, I interviewed Verdant Power President Trey Taylor as their 5th generation water turbine prototype was being installed in the East River. Here's what Mr. Taylor had to say.



According to Green Energy News:

Cornell University and Verdant Power Inc., signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the intention of entering into a long-term relationship centered on research and other activities related to Marine & Hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies. Verdant Power's MHK project on Roosevelt Island in New York City is the first commercially licensed tidal energy plant in U.S. It remains the only project in the world where an array of tidal energy turbines has successfully been deployed and operated. Cornell University is building Cornell Tech, its new applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island. Cornell's researchers and Verdant Power share the vision of an array of underwater turbines in the East River off Roosevelt Island, permitted by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Pilot License (#P-12611).

Verdant Power's Trey Taylor also spoke to me about future plans on Roosevelt Island and with Cornell NYC Tech to develop a "virtual power plant".



It's true - Roosevelt Island is at the forefront of American technology innovation. As Mr. Taylor says, "that's pretty cool"

Cogeneration Power Plant And Cutting Edge Energy Savings Improvements Coming To Roosevelt Island's Roosevelt Landings - The Largest Multifamily Energy Retrofit In NYC Says Owner Urban American

Roosevelt Island is an exciting place for new innovative green energy projects. There is the Verdant Power's East River tidal water turbine,

Octagon building Fuel Cell,

planned Geothermal Wells for Cornell NYC Tech net zero energy campus,

future Con Ed high pressure gas service and proposed District Energy solutions.

Added to this list of Roosevelt Island green energy projects are the measures currently being undertaken at the Roosevelt Landings/Eastwood buildings (over 1 thousand apartments)

 Image of Roosevelt Landings formerly Eastwood

by owner Urban American to install comprehensive energy saving systems and a cogeneraton power plant.

Urban American's Josh Eisenberg explained these efforts last month during a Roosevelt Island real estate discussion on the Michael Stoler Report. Here's what Mr. Eisenberg had to say.



I recently spoke with Mr. Eisenberg and David Davenport of Urban Greenfit, partners on the Roosevelt Landings energy retrofit project, about conservation and efficiency improvements being made to individual apartments, common areas and building exteriors as well as the replacement of old boilers with a cogeneration plant and high efficiency boilers. We took a tour of the building including mechanical room as the old boilers were in the process of being removed.



Below is an Urban American newsletter delivered to residents last week describing in great detail the Roosevelt Landings energy retrofit currently being undertaken.

In June 2011, Urban American substantially completed over $7 million in energy‐efficiency retrofits at Roosevelt Landings through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Multifamily Performance Program (MPP). This work involved a “conventional energy retrofit” focused on certain system upgrades, including:

• Installation of submeters in resident apartments
• Upgrades of common area lighting 
• Replacement of external lighting
• Replacement of windows
• Installation of occupancy sensors
• Replacement of older refrigerators
• Installation of timers on bathroom exhaust fans
• Air sealing of air conditioner sleeves
• CFL lighting distribution
• Installation of low‐flow shower heads/aerators

With the exception of refrigerator replacements (which are still underway), all of these projects have been completed.

During this upgrade process, engineers working with Urban American determined that there were still significant opportunities to achieve even greater energy savings through a “deep energy retrofit” at the property, including a combination of sustainable‐energy and energy‐efficiency measures. Deep energy retrofits achieve much greater energy savings than conventional retrofits by taking a whole‐building approach, addressing many systems at once.

The deep energy retrofit now underway at Roosevelt Landings includes $7 million in new investments and is currently the largest energy retrofit of a multifamily building in New York City. The project involves two scopes of work:

• Energy‐Efficiency Measures: A combination of advanced energy‐efficiency retrofits composed of: a) air sealing of common spaces and resident apartments, b) smart grid controlled programmable thermostats and window sensors in all resident apartments, and c) foam insulation applied to exterior exposed concrete slabs under resident apartments.
• Sustainable‐Energy Measures: A cogeneration plant paired with new high‐efficiency boilers that will provide electricity, thermal heat, and domestic hot water (DHW) to the building.

To manage these projects, Urban American has partnered with Urban Greenfit, LLC (UGF), a new company dedicated to developing energy‐efficiency projects. The current project began in January 2013 and will be completed later this summer.

The following summarizes the work underway at Roosevelt Landings, explains how the work will impact the building and resident quality of life, and prepares residents for the upgrades and improvements that require access to resident apartments.

UGF has engaged two companies, H20 Degree and Air Barrier Solutions, to visit resident apartments to perform the necessary upgrades.

Electric Heat Control: The first group of contractors from H20 Degree will be entering resident apartments to do two things: replace older baseboard heaters with new heaters and install programmable thermostats to control the heaters.

Heater Replacement: Older model 2‐6 foot baseboard heaters will be replaced with new heaters of the same size. Older model 6‐12 foot baseboard heaters will be replaced with new 6‐foot baseboard heaters. In most cases, the decrease in size is due largely to the elimination of a utility plug or button controls on the heater. Irrespective of the size, the new heaters will provide better performance in every apartment due to faster heating coil materials and newer technology.

Installation of Programmable Thermostats: Dials and buttons on the old baseboard heaters are being replaced with wall‐mounted programmable thermostats. The new thermostats will send a wireless signal to a paired “controller” on each baseboard heater. Residents will be able to select a target temperature, and the thermostat will power the heater until the room reaches that desired comfort level.

The number of thermostats installed in each apartment is determined by the number of rooms in the apartments:

Benefits of the new thermostats:

• Residents can set the temperature on thermostat without touching heater 
• Allow residents to see and set the temperature in zone of their apartment 
• Displays ambient (room temperature) and set point (desired temperature) 
• Allows time of day and day of week programming from the thermostat
• Allows 2 way communication between the thermostat and central energy control system in building
• Room temperature, set points, and heater operation data will be collected and stored wirelessly to monitor and improve overall system performance
• Allows building management to monitor and adjust set points per tenant request, identify apartments with broken heaters, and characterize usage patterns

Apartment Air Sealing: A second group of contractors from Air Barrier Solutions will tighten the “building envelope” by airsealing resident apartments to eliminate cold air infiltration and drafts during the heating season. Air Barrier Solutions will perform six scopes of work in each apartment:

• Plug holes behind heaters and along exterior walls that allow drafts in the building 
• Caulk windows where leaks are evident 
• Install draft blocking gaskets in exterior wall electrical outlets 
• Caulk beneath the sill of the outside windows
• Seal holes around pipes under sinks that allow drafts (and pests) in apartments
• Clean and retrofit the ventilation register covers and orifices in resident kitchens and bathrooms; the metal interiors of the ventilation ducts will be brushed and wiped clean, and a new orifice plate will be installed to regulate and distribute ventilation airflow more evenly among apartments

Common Area Airsealing: In addition to the work done in resident apartments, Air Barrier Solutions is airsealing common areas, including elevator machine rooms, stairwells, and AVAC rooms. Locks will be installed on hallway corridor windows for use during the heating season. The windows will remain open during the rest of the year. Thru‐wall corridor air supply fans with filters will be installed in each corridor and operate when the windows are locked to maintain NYC Building Code and ASHRAE code guidelines. These measures will eliminate the “wind tunnel effect” that some residents have experienced when walking the halls during the cold months and keep cold air out of the hallways and from entering resident apartments.

Floor Slab Insulation: Apartments that protrude over Main Street and breezeways will have high‐density spray foam installed directly below concrete floor slabs and at wall penetrations. This will eliminate the key source of cold floors in these apartments and block cold air from leaking into the building.

New Boilers and Onsite Power Generation: Two other major improvements to building 540 are underway: the installation of new boilers and sustainable‐energy technologies.

• Boiler Upgrade: UGF is currently replacing Roosevelt Landings’ 4 original and outdated boilers that are now operating at 65% efficiency with 5 new 95% efficient boilers.
• Sustainable Energy: UGF will install 3 x 100 kW combined heat and power (CHP) modules that together have the capacity to generate 300 kW of electricity and 2.1 million BTUs/hr of DHW. Generally speaking, the CHP system will create 15% of building electricity onsite as well as preheat the boilers by 40%

What Residents Should Expect:

The retrofits in resident apartments started in building 510 and will progress to building 580 working one or two floors at a time. Residents will be notified in advance and be required to make their apartments accessible on the mornings or afternoons when the workers are scheduled to be on your floor. The entire job (including heater replacement, thermostat installation, and air sealing) will take between 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on apartment size. Although we started doing partial installs in the first buildings, the crews are now completing all of their work when they visit an apartment.

Notification will go out a week before the workers come to your floor, and building staff will knock on resident doors and leave a reminder the night before the workers come. We ask that you move any furniture away from your exterior walls and remove all items from under your sinks. If you need assistance, building staff will be available to help you move items to and from the work area the day the work is done. When the work is complete, building staff will be available to sheetrock, patch, and repair areas near the heaters, if necessary.

Once work has been completed in your building, training sessions will be provided to explain how the thermostats work. And when work has been completed in all buildings, resident education seminars on energy efficiency will be provided to help educate residents on how to be more energy efficient within their apartments.

Thus far, the work has been conducted professionally and generally on schedule. In light of the size and scale of these projects, however, we ask for your patience on a few minor issues that have arisen.

• We ask for your patience with respect to scheduling. Some apartments simply require more work than others or have a lot of furniture to be moved. This sometimes causes unpredictable delays and gaps between the work crews.
• We ask your patience with the new thermostats. In order for the thermostats to work properly, they must be installed, programmed, and connected to a computer network to be fully operational. In some cases there have been lags of up to 2 days between the time the thermostats have been installed and the time they begin controlling the heaters.
• When new baseboard heaters are first used, they sometimes burn off sediment or other materials causing smoke and/or an electrical smell. This may be annoying, but it is normal.

We appreciate your cooperation and patience as we proceed with the work in the months ahead, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused by the work. Our goal is to improve resident comfort and make the building more energy efficient.

Submetering

As noted above, submetering is an important part of these projects.

At present, the New York State Public Service Commission’s (PSC) “Order Reinstating Submetering Approval at North Town Roosevelt with Conditions” (the NTR Submetering Order) allows for the submetering of all of the electricity utilized by the resident(s) in each apartment. This includes both plug load electricity (i.e., refrigerator, television[s], computer[s], lights, etc.) and heat load electricity (i.e., what is used for the electric resistance baseboard heaters).

As you may recall, during the comment period before the NTR Submetering Order was issued, some residents raised the issue of paying for electricity used for the baseboard heaters. In response, Urban American tasked its technical consultants with determining whether plug load electricity could be disaggregated from heat load electricity. In other words, upon implementing submetering at Roosevelt Landings, residents would only pay for plug load electricity, not heat load electricity. Ultimately, Urban American’s consultants were successful in developing a solution by which plug load electricity could be separated from the electricity used for the baseboard heaters, thereby ensuring that residents would only be billed for their plug load electricity usage.

In implementing submetering at Roosevelt Landings as part of the above projects, Urban American intends to proceed with this new solution of separating plug load electricity from heat load electricity. Prior to doing so, since this approach differs from what the PSC previously approved, Urban American recently filed a petition for clarification of the NTR Submetering Order with the PSC (see http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Common/ViewDoc.aspx?DocRefId={85FED753‐D1C4‐44C1‐ A16F‐62FA8BBA514D}).

In this petition for clarification, Urban American recommitted to the following conditions at Roosevelt Landings:

• Complete all NYSERDA Energy Reduction Plan Measures
• Provide Energy Conservation Education For Residents
• Provide Energy Star Rated Models to All Residents with Refrigerators Manufactured Before 2001
• Provide Utility Allowances for All Residents
• Installing at Least One Programmable Thermostat in the Primary Living Area of Each Apartment

Further, Urban American will provide residents notice of when submetering will begin no less than two months prior to the commencement of submetering. During this notice period, and for longer if practically possible, Urban American will provide residents with “shadow bills,” which measure the electricity use for each apartment and calculate a bill reflecting such usage. These shadow bills will be provided for informational purposes to the residents, but actual submetering will not be occurring and the residents will have no responsibility to pay the amount shown on these shadow bills.

The combination of this revised submetering plan and the above investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy at Roosevelt Landings will result in clear benefits to residents, including: a) not being billed under submetering for electric heat usage, b) receiving air‐sealed apartments, providing greater comfort while requiring less heat, and c) receiving at least one networked programmable thermostat to maintain optimal levels of zoned comfort.

On May 1, 2013, the PSC published notice of Urban American’s petition for clarification in the State Register. This starts a 45‐day public comment period that ends on June 14, 2013. Comments on the petition may be submitted Jeffrey C. Cohen, Acting Secretary, Public Service Commission, 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223‐1350, (518) 408‐1978, email: secretary@dps.ny.gov. Please reference Case Number 08‐E‐0838 in any comments.

Thank you for your attention as we work to complete these energy‐efficiency and sustainable‐energy projects at Roosevelt Landings. If you have any questions about this update, please contact us at: reduceenergy@urbanamerican.net

The inefficient electricity infrastructure and submetering proposal at Roosevelt Landings has been a long time contentious issue between Urban American, building residents and local elected officials. Here's more background on the issue from previous posts.

Also, reported previously on NYC Power Consumtion.

According to Modi Research Group:

The map represents the total annual building energy consumption at the block level (zoom levels 11-15) and at the taxlot level (zoom levels 16-18) for New York City, and is expressed in kilowatt hours (k Wh) per square meter of land area. The data comes from a mathematical model based on statistics, not private information from utilities, to estimate the annual energy consumption values of buildings throughout the five boroughs. To see the break down of the type of energy being used, for which purpose and in what quantity, hover over or click on a block or taxlot.

Click here for the interactive map and Roosevelt Island power consumptions statistics.

Roosevelt Island Interview With Verdant Power President Trey Taylor As Next Generation East River Turbine Installed - Plans To Create A Virtual Power Plant On Roosevelt Island Using Wind, Solar, Turbine and Bio Energy

Reported on August 30 that:

... Verdant Power installed its latest prototype water turbine in East River next to Roosevelt Island Gristedes Supermarket yesterday afternoon. The new turbine will undergo tests for the next two weeks....

Image of Verdant Power Water Turbine Being Installed On Roosevelt Island August 29

As the water turbine was being installed, I spoke with Verdant Power President Trey Taylor. Mr. Taylor explained that the energy produced from the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (RITE) when fully built out (1 Megawatt of Power) is intended for Roosevelt Island uses as a form of distributed generation in a demonstration of decentralized power. According to Mr. Taylor, previous testing of RITE brought energy to the Gristedes Supermarket and the intent in the future is to bring energy to the new Cornell Campus as well as Roosevelt Island buildings.

You Tube Video of Interview With Verdant Power Trey Tower on Roosevelt Island

Mr. Taylor also talked about ultimately creating a Roosevelt Island Virtual Power Plant using solar, wind, bio and tidal energy creating our own sustainable energy community and an example for the entire world.

You Tube Video of Interview With Verdant Power President Trey Taylor On Roosevelt Island

Wow - I agree with Mr. Taylor, that would be pretty cool.

Here's the installation of the turbine into the East River on August 29.

You Tube Video of Verdant Water Turbine Being Installed In East River

More on the decentralization of energy from this April 2012 article in The Atlantic and this previous post on Roosevelt Island energy issues.

Con Ed, RIOC and Roosevelt Island Building Representatives Meet To Discuss Future Energy and Gas Service Needs, Here's What Happened - Also, Verdant Power Installs New East River Turbine Yesterday

Image From Con Ed

Reported on August 7 that:

... representatives from Con Ed, Cornell, Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) and various building representatives met to discuss future Roosevelt Island energy usage including the possibility of Con Ed providing high pressure gas service to Roosevelt Island. (high pressure gas service was discussed at this April 16 RIOC Operations Committee Meeting). Although originally invited to attend this meeting by RIOC, the press was subsequently denied permission to attend the meeting by Con Ed. Hope to have more on what happened at this meeting soon....

It's taken some time to obtain any information about the meeting but below are the minutes of the meeting prepared by a Con Ed representative and shared with the Roosevelt Island community by one of the participants from the meeting:

Meeting Purpose
Con Edison has received a number of requests for new or upgraded gas service on Roosevelt Island. The existing gas infrastructure on Roosevelt Island is not capable of supplying all the requested gas without reinforcement. Con Edison seeks to ensure it is aware of all proposed gas projects on the island for the foreseeable future in order to make efficient plans for upgrading the gas infrastructure.

Discussion
Con Edison reviewed the list of addresses for which load letters have been received. The fire station is expected to submit a load letter for gas service. Apart from the fire station the attendees did not identify any other additional expected load letters.
Locations for which load letters have been received
• Applied Science Campus
• Coler Hospital
• AVAC building
• Motorgate (including retail spaces)
• Sports Park
• South Town Towers 7, 8 & 9
• Eastwood Building retail spaces: 504-570 Main Street
• Rivercross Building retail spaces: 503-527 main street
• Westview building retail spaces: 591-619 main street
• Island House building retail spaces: 549-571 main street.
• PS217
• Rivercross Building residential heating
• Child School

Based on the submitted load letters to-date, Con Edison will be able to supply all proposed by performing upgrades to the medium pressure system in two phases.

• Phase 1 (by July 2013): Install 1880 feet of 8” piping at the northern end of the island.
• Phase 2 (to be finalized): Install 3,286 feet of 8” piping at the southern end of the island.

All infrastructure upgrades will avoid main street where possible, in preference for walkways or unpaved surfaces. It may be necessary to cross streets at certain locations. The current infrastructure improvement plans noted above should take approximately three months each phase to complete.

The Rivercross building stated that plans have been completed and capital allocated for their proposed electric to gas conversion of residential heating. If gas is available Rivercross would like to make the conversion in advance of the 2013 heating season. Rivercross stated it will remain on interruptible service after their conversion to gas heating.

The load letter submitted by the Rivercross building includes retail spaces and building residential heating. The Hudson Companies has separately submitted load letters for the retail spaces in the Rivercross building. The Rivercross load letter will be revised to omit the retail spaces and to indicate which equipment is installed for redundancy.

Cornell University representatives stated that they are planning to proceed with the geothermal heat pumps. Cornell University indicated that a second phase is planned in 2027. Previously Con Edison was only informed of a two phases, 2016 and 2037. Cornell University will provide additional details on the phase two loads.

The load letter for the Eastwood building (dated 7-23-12) submitted by the Hudson Companies contained loads for the Child School. The separately submitted load letters for the Child School (submitted 8-3-12) have different values that differ from the Eastwood Building load letter. The loads in the Child School specific load letter are to be used, instead of the loads submitted by the Hudson Companies to Con Edison for evaluating service needs.

In the event additional load letters are received requiring a significant volume of gas, it may become necessary to upgrade the gas system on Roosevelt Island to high pressure. This may include the installation of a new gas pipe from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island in the existing utility tunnel, upgrading all pressure regulators on Roosevelt Island, and upgrades of couplings. This process would me much more extensive and may take as long as a year and will be more expensive that the currently proposed medium pressure upgrades. If an upgrade to high pressure is required, a capital contribution may be required for the customers on Roosevelt Island as per the PSC tariff.

Action Items

• Rivercross to resubmit load their load letter omitting the retail spaces and indicating which equipment is installed for redundancy.

• Cornell University to resubmit their load letter indicating they will be pursuing the geothermal heat pumps and including 2027 loads.

• Con Edison to follow up with PS 217 to confirm their service date and plans to install equipment by the desired service date.

• Con Edison to finalize the completion date for phase two of the upgrade based on confirmed service date for all projects.

More information on Con Ed High Pressure gas issues available, including video of RIOC Operations Committee meeting discussions, here and here.

Con Ed's spokesperson added that the Roosevelt Island energy/ natural gas discussions are still in a very preliminary stage. RIOC declined any comment on the meeting.

In other Roosevelt Island energy news, Verdant Power installed its latest prototype water turbine in East River next to Roosevelt Island Gristedes Supermarket yesterday afternoon. The new turbine will undergo tests for the next two weeks.

Here ere are some scenes from yesterday's Verdant Turbine East River installation.

A barge brought the turbine to its location just north of the Roosevelt Island Bridge

the turbine was then lifted by crane

and placed in the East River.

Will have more on this next week, including video interview with Verdant President Trey Taylor who discusses future Roosevelt Island energy plans.

More on Verdant Power's Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project from their web site here and from previous post.

UPDATE 9/6 - More on Verdant Power turbine installation including interview with Verdant President Trey Taylor here. 

Report From RIOC President Leslie Torres - Roosevelt Island Increased Con Ed Gas Service Plans For Cornell Arrival, FEMA Reimbursement For Hurricane Irene Repairs and Preventive Measures, Emergency Preparedness Workshop & Outdoor Field Permits

March 21 RIOC Ops Committee Discussion of Con Ed Plans (video/audio out of Sync)

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Lesie Torres sends the following report to Roosevelt Island residents.

I want to wish you a happy beginning to the spring season. It’s a wonderful time to get outside, to take advantage of the warmer weather and the longer days, and to be reminded of what a beautiful place Roosevelt Island is to live and work.

Discussions about Gas for the Island

RIOC is in on-going discussions with Con Edison about their plans to supply increased gas services to Roosevelt Island with the arrival of the Cornell-Technion campus. We will be working with Con Edison to develop the best strategy for providing gas service for the long-term future.

FEMA Reimbursement for Irene Repairs and Preventative Measures

As you all remember, last summer Roosevelt Island weathered Hurricane Irene. Earlier in 2011, RIOC underwent companywide FEMA training so that when storms and other potential disasters strike, we would be able to execute FEMA’s emergency management command procedures. That’s exactly what we did during Irene to minimize damages, and as a result we are eligible to receive reimbursement dollars from FEMA to help cover the cost of repairs after the storm. The process takes an estimated six months from the date of reimbursement submission.

Additionally FEMA will help cover mitigation costs, providing reimbursement for the preventative measures that RIOC plans to take in order to limit losses and damages during future emergencies. We are working to identify potential weak spots on the Island and then we will make the necessary repairs in order to ensure that our residents and properties are safe. For example, we are currently assessing plans to shore up the Seawall – a project that will be reimbursed, in part, by FEMA because RIOC Staff completed their preparedness training last year.

Emergency Preparedness Workshop

On a related note, State Senator José M. Serrano and the American Red Cross in Greater New York are sponsoring a free workshop designed to prepare individuals and families for emergencies on the Island. The event is Friday, March 23 at 6:00 p.m. at the Good Shepherd Community Center and it’s co-sponsored by Council Member Jessica Lapin and Assembly Member Micah Kellner. Attendees will learn how to create a family disaster plan, build and maintain a supply kit, and keep loved ones safe and informed during times of disaster. For more information and to RSVP, please call the District Office at (212) 828-5829.

Dr. May Edward Chinn Play

I thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Dr. May Edward Chinn earlier this month at the Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance. The play told the inspirational story of Dr. Chinn, a pioneer in cervival cancer research and treatment who broke barriers as the first African-American woman to graduate from Bellevue Hospital Medical College and the first to intern at Harlem Hospital. It was a terrific show and a poignant way to celebrate Women’s History Month!

Spring Season Begins for Outdoor Sports Fields

The weekend of March 31-April 1 marks the opening of the spring season for our outdoor fields. To apply for a permit, visit www.rioc.ny.gov/generalapp.htm or contact Donna.Masly@rioc.ny.gov.

The video discussion at top is of March 21 RIOC Operations Committee meeting (full audio web cast of meeting is here - Con Ed discussion starts at 2 hour 32 minute 45 second mark). VP of Operations Fernando Martinez briefed the RIOC Board Directors on early stage plans of Con Ed for possible increased gas usage on Roosevelt Island with the development of new Cornell Technion campus. Video is missing last minute and half of discussion.

Verdant Power President Trey Taylor Explains Roosevelt Island East River Turbine Energy Project - Did You Hear About The Windmill Energy Plan For Queensboro Bridge?

You Tube Video of Verdant Trey Taylor Interview at Renewable Energy World

More information on Verdant Power Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project and other Roosevelt Island energy issues at this previous post and let's not forget the possibility of NYC windmill power described in this earlier post about the Incredible Queensboro Bridge Wind Machine.

Video from Current TV.

Verdant Power Gets Approval To Proceed With Roosevelt Island East River Turbine Project - Comprehensive Green Energy Plan For Roosevelt Island Needed Says Former RIOC Director Jonathan Kalkin

You Tube Video Of Verdant Power East River Energy Project

An update on previous posts regarding Verdant Power Roosevelt Island East River Tidal Energy project. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced yesterday:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today issued its first pilot project license for a tidal energy project located in New York City’s East River.

The project, owned by Verdant Power and known as the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project, is 1,050-kilowatts and uses the East River’s natural tidal currents to generate electricity. Turbine generator units are mounted on the riverbed and capture energy from the tidal flow. The pilot license issued to Verdant Power is for 10 years.

“Issuing a pilot license for an innovative technology is a major step in the effort to help our country meet our renewable energy goals,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said. “FERC’s pilot process is doing what it should: allow for exploration of new renewable technologies while protecting the environment.”

FERC developed the pilot license process in 2008 to allow developers to test new hydrokinetic technologies, to determine appropriate sites for these technologies and to confirm the technologies’ environmental effects without compromising FERC’s oversight....

According to Green Tech Media:

... About ten years in the making, the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) project is owned by Verdant Power and looks to mount turbines on the riverbed and use tidal currents to generate about a megawatt of electricity. The project will use up to 30 of Verdant's turbines, installed in stages.

The license allows Verdant Power to build out the RITE Project and to commercially deliver the energy generated by the turbines to local customers. Earlier phases of the project involved prototype testing from 2002 to 2006 and demonstration from 2006 to 2008. During the demonstration period, Verdant operated six full-scale turbines and delivered 70 megawatt-hours of energy to two end users in 9,000 turbine-hours of operation with no fouling or damage to the turbines from debris....

The RITE two end users were the Motorgate parking garage and Gristedes supermarket.

A few days prior to yesterday's Verdant RITE Project announcement, former Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board Director Jonathan Kalkin shared these ideas regarding future Roosevelt Island energy usage:

Roosevelt Island needs a comprehensive green energy plan. The Island has grappled with many issues that threaten the purpose and mission of this place. Energy and how we use it is really something that we have saved for another day while some larger issues were addressed. However I believe we have reached a moment and an opportunity where we can dramatically change the lives of every resident on the Island. Long term affordable housing has been an issue on this Island since the Mitchell-Lama clock has started ticking. However, a long term affordable housing plan will not be able to overcome the reality that we heat, cool, and power our homes in an inefficient way.This is also bad for the environment and thanks to modern solutions completely unnecessary. This creates the scenario of an affordable home without affordable power. A person should not lose their home because they can’t afford their electric bill.

Currently, most buildings on Roosevelt Island use electricity to provide heat. This system uses electricity to heat a coil in your unit which then heats your apartment. At first this sounds like a good method, but it is very inefficient. In fact it is probably one of the most expensive and inefficient ways to heat your apartment. It is basically just like heating your apartment using a hair dryer. There are three major goals when using energy. First is to waste the least amount of energy to heat, light, and cool your home. The second goal is to do it in the cleanest way possible. The final goal, hopefully in pursuit of the first two goals, results in a lower utility bill. The good news is that on Roosevelt Island we have options to achieve all three goals.

We can achieve part of the first goal by producing our own energy. The hospitals on the island produce their own heat via the steam plant,

Image of Roosevelt Island Steam Plant From Michael Minn

the Octagon produces heat and electricity via a fuel cell and even Motorgate has become partially independent by using tidal energy. Most of the other buildings rely on electric heat and are at the mercy of whatever rate Con Edison charges for electricity. In the 1970’s electricity was cheap and so this may have made sense at the time. Now, electricity prices in New York are some of the most expensive in the country and having electric heat is the equivalent of taking showers with bottled water. The most efficient way to meet our energy goals would be to have a central energy source for the Island. Or, we could adopt the same method as the Octagon fuel cell and each building or set of buildings could have its own energy plant near the building.


The Octagon, A Case Study for Fuel Cells in Multi-Family Buildings from Bill Kavanagh on Vimeo.

The second way we can reduce energy waste would be to find another way to heat and cool our homes. One method that has worked in New York and in Europe is called district energy. This approach uses hot and cold water in pipes distributed throughout the building to warm and cool the apartments. This hot and cold water is generated at a centrally located plant that supplies several buildings.

The next step to achieve these goals would be to combine our heat and power production (CHP). Most power plants produce a large amount of excess heat during electricity production. Most of this heat is usually wasted, but if you distribute it throughout the island you now are producing electricity and powering your lights, perhaps running your air conditioning (if not using chilled water to do so) and heating your apartment mostly with the excess heat usually wasted in energy production.

You Tube Video on District Heating

Now this all seems very simple and will benefit both landlords and tenants and RIOC so why now and why hasn’t this come about before? Well, there are several things needed to move this forward. If we are using a distributed model where all the buildings have an energy source like the Octagon then each building can move at its own pace. However, the most efficient way would have some cooperation with RIOC and hopefully the new university that is coming to the Island. The good news is that Cornell has shown an interest in a green energy plan for the Island in their proposal and the RFP's 100 million dollar infrastructure plan talks about the natural gas and other energy changes that would be needed to sustain a world class university. This kind of infrastructure is crucial because we lack the natural gas supply to move this kind of project forward.

RIOC controls most of the land that can make this possible. The steam plant’s land is controlled by RIOC and this could be a great opportunity for RIOC to fulfill its development mission and affordable housing preservation goals at the same time. The university could simply provide the infrastructure and oversight of the project and would have to make just minor changes to its natural gas expansion plans. This energy plan could be supplemented by renewable and experimental projects (Solar, Geothermal) from the university in addition to our own like tidal energy.

Even if a university did not come to the Island, we should not ignore this opportunity. The landlords want to reduce their energy costs. Tenants need this to happen to preserve affordability. And, RIOC has the chance to fulfill its mission and purpose on the island. This is our moment to lead.

According to Fast Company Co Design, the Cornell Technion Roosevelt Island campus will have a net zero energy footprint:

... Net-zero energy would be achieved by sipping power from a 150,000-square-foot photovoltaic array (the largest in NYC, the architects say) and geothermal wells. It would also draw on passive heating and cooling strategies. “The [zig-zagging] layouts have to do with harvesting daylight and mitigating heat gain,” SOM partner Roger Duffy says. A caveat: The net-zero goal would be confined to the campus’s academic architecture. That’s because, as SOM’s Colin Koop explains, PVs aren’t efficient enough to generate adequate energy for proposed housing units and a hotel. Those structures would earn LEED Silver certification....

Proposed Cornell Energy Usage Image From Fastcodesign

The Cornell Chronicle adds:

... The campus's planned solar array will generate 1.8 megawatts at daily peak -- the largest such array in New York City. A four-acre geothermal well field -- composed of deep-earth wells -- exceeds any current geothermal heating system in New York City....

... the campus will take full advantage of power from the sun. It has been designed to face solar south, and its buildings will be situated to avoid shading each other. Electrical power from a fuel cell will further reduce the impact of the campus on the supply-limited electric grid.

The structures will be heated and cooled by a central, geothermal heat pump system, which provides heat more efficiently than boilers or electricity. Heat generated by the fuel cell will also be gleaned to supplement the non-academic campus needs, for added economy and energy savings.

The geothermal system -- an array of 400 wells spread out over four acres -- will use 500-foot deep holes to extract heat from the earth to warm buildings in the winter. During the summer, the system will transfer excess heat from inside the buildings back into the ground to provide air conditioning....

Roosevelt Island may be leading the way for clean, affordable energy.

UPDATE 6:30 PM - On the Verdant RITE project, DNA Info adds:

... Those six turbines produced energy that powered a Gristedes and a parking garage on Roosevelt Island. It has not yet been determined what the expanded grid of turbines will power, Taylor said, suggesting that some of it could power electric car stations inside Roosevelt Island's parking garages.

He also is looking forward to collaborating on research and design with faculty from Cornell University's new tech campus coming to Roosevelt Island. He's already had discussions with the school, he said.

Click here for entire DNA Info article.

UPDATE 2/2 - Roosevelt Island resident Trevre Andrews sends in this illustration of NYC Power Consumption.

According to Modi Research Group:

The map represents the total annual building energy consumption at the block level (zoom levels 11-15) and at the taxlot level (zoom levels 16-18) for New York City, and is expressed in kilowatt hours (k Wh) per square meter of land area. The data comes from a mathematical model based on statistics, not private information from utilities, to estimate the annual energy consumption values of buildings throughout the five boroughs. To see the break down of the type of energy being used, for which purpose and in what quantity, hover over or click on a block or taxlot.

Click here for the interactive map and Roosevelt Island power consumptions statistics.

First Fuel Cell Powering NYC Residential Building Installed at Roosevelt Island's Octagon Building Providing Electricity, Heat and Hot Water - Roosevelt Island Is Winning The Future

Image of Octagon Fuel Cell

A previous post reported on Roosevelt Island Octagon developer Bruce Becker's plan to deliver electricity to Octagon residents by using a hydrogen/oxygen/natural gas fuel cell. Yesterday, Mr. Becker and his Octagon team held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the installation of the Fuel Cell.

An Octagon spokesperson reports on the Fuel Cell:

It's on now! It's providing electricity, heat and hot water to the entire building including all the residents.

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Director Jonathan Kalkin reacts to yesterday's Octagon Fuel Cell Ceremony by Tweeting:

What does the rest on of NYC do today. Well Roosevelt Island wins the future. TODAY we just did the ribbon cutting on our first FUEL CELL!!!!

Globe Street reported on yesterday's Octagon Fuel Cell Ceremony at Roosevelt Island:

Out of the 16 million multifamily buildings throughout the US, only two of them have their own large capacity “green” fuel cells. The newest of the two is located at the Octagon on Roosevelt Island, a stone’s throw away from Manhattan. The luxury 500-unit LEED-certified rental building is now powered by a 400-kilowatt fuel cell, which was unveiled to the public at a ceremony on Thursday morning.

The cell, developed by architecture and development firm Becker + Becker and manufactured by United Technologies Power, provides 1.7 million btu/hour of heat for combined power and heat applications, in addition to 400kW of sustained power. The current largest residential fuel cell is located at 360 State St. in New Haven, CT....

Here's an explanation as to how the fuel cell works to provide electricity.

You Tube Video Of Octagon Fuel Cell Case Study

Octagon developer Bruce Becker made the following remarks

at yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony:

Good morning. I’m Bruce Becker, and welcome to the Octagon’s Fuel Cell Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. I’m delighted that we have such a great turn out to celebrate this monumental achievement in clean energy for Roosevelt Island, the city and State of New York.

We’re thrilled to have Homer Purcell from UTC here today, the manufacturer of the Fuel Cell, along with Peter Douglas, Director of R&D for NYSERDA, which is providing a grant to help fund its purchase, Jim Landau of Bentall-Kennedy representing the pension fund MEPT, that is footing the bill for the balance of its costs, and Leslie Torres of RIOC, a constant advocate of progressive energy and smart growth policy on Roosevelt Island.

 

I want to express my sincere gratitude too, to the entire the design and construction team, including our engineers from LN Consulting here with us today, our general contractor, TryState Mechanical and the many Union contractors responsible for installing the fuel cell and combined heat and power components within the building; as well the Octagon’s stellar building management staff who have expertly weathered every challenge presented throughout installation while keeping all of our residents happy, informed, and educated about their new cleaner form of energy distribution. I’d also like to thank Con Edison and the NY State Public Service Commission; without their forward-thinking position on clean energy policy in this city and State, our fuel cell wouldn’t be here today.

To give a little background on our team, this is MEPT, Becker +Becker, LN Consulting, and UTC Power’s second fuel cell collaboration. In fact just one year ago, almost to the day, we installed the world’s first fuel cell together to power a 500- unit multifamily building in New Haven CT. Today as we relieve another 500 units for the electric grid, we’re particularly proud to claim our team’s success in powering the first 1000 homes with clean on-site distributed generation.

I hope the success of our projects will pave the way for energy innovation and a reduction of fossil fuel dependency in New York and beyond. We live in a country where 77% of all electricity produced is used to operate buildings, and where buildings are responsible for nearly half of all carbon emissions. Here we have a box which can fit in the size of a parking space; can provide a clean, reliable, combustion- free source of power and heat to supply our entire building; at efficiency levels greatly exceeding traditional grid power, and I wonder why with over 16 million multi-family housing units in the country, this is only the second application of this technology, which has been around for decades?

With the Octagon, we’ve made strides towards improving this statistic in New York. Let’s hope our story can reach the many other building owners, developers, engineers, and public officials responsible for our country’s existing and future built environment to foster a new vision for sustainable development, where on-site distributed generation is the norm not a novelty.

Fuel Cell Works reports on the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) incentive program for fuel cell use and reports that:

... a 400 kilowatt system installed at the 500-apartment Octagon complex on Roosevelt Island in New York City cost $2.4 million and is about the size of a small truck....

NYSERDA's Director of Research and Development, Peter Douglas,

attended the Octagon Fuel Cell Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and commented:

Good morning, thank you Bruce (Bruce Becker from Becker and Becker Associates). It’s a pleasure to join you here today to unveil this very exciting project, and to recognize a valuable partner of NYSERDA’s for making a significant contribution to the energy future of the State of New York. The new combined heat and power fuel cell system will cut energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide more secure and reliable power back up for heating and cooling services.

In layman’s terms, if the grid happens to go down, the natural gas fired fuel cell keeps working. Not only does the Octagon save valuable dollars and use less power from the grid - they are practicing environmental stewardship through a reduction in emissions, and can provide electric power, heat and hot water to the building.

CHP systems typically achieve overall energy efficiencies of 50% to 70% a dramatic improvement over the average 33% efficiency of conventional fossil-fueled power plants. Higher efficiencies reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas associated with climate change. In addition to reducing air pollution, CHP conserves our limited fossil fuel resources, thereby increasing our nation's energy self- sufficiency.

NYSERDA is pleased to provide $1.2M as a result of a competitive selection process for this incredibly worthwhile and groundbreaking project, which demonstrates the commitment and vision we share with (Gov.Cuomo) Chairman Brown of the Public Service Commission to administer energy efficiency and clean energy programs on behalf of NY ratepayers to ensure that these leading edge projects become reality.

Distributed generation systems increase the overall efficiency associated with electric power generation and distribution by producing the power on-site, making beneficial use of the byproduct heat on-site and avoiding transmission losses associated with central generation. The increased efficiency reduces green-house gases and criteria pollutants. The local production of power also contributes to grid reliability by reducing demand.

NYSERDA clearly recognizes that realizing the total DG-CHP potential and reaping the ensuing benefits will necessitate demonstrating DG resources on the grid to manage peak demand, improve power quality, alleviate Transmission & Distribution load pocket constraints, and defer distribution system upgrades. Simply stated, the success of DG depends on finding applications that benefit both the electric utility and the end-user or host site, and today’s project is a perfect example of that winning combination.

Over the past 10 years, NYSERDA’s investments of more than $100 million for CHP have helped industrial, commercial, institutional and multifamily residences implement this vibrant technology to cut their energy costs and decrease their energy use.

During this time, NYSERDA has amassed the most comprehensive repository of publicly-available CHP performance data in the nation, and this is an important tool for raising awareness about the capabilities and value of CHP.

CHP projects will help decrease energy use and help New York achieve the ambitious energy reduction goals New York has targeted under the 45 by 15 initiative to increase our energy efficiency(15% off 1993 e), and stimulate the production of renewable energy(30% rps) , and to increase our energy security, improve our environment, and create economic opportunity.

The Octagon Park Apartments are a shining example of what an organization can achieve when it adopts, as a corporate policy, both energy efficiency, distributed generation, and renewable energy as integral resources. Through hard work and a keen eye for opportunity, they have shown what is possible, and NYSERDA is proud to have partnered with them to assist in achieving their energy efficiency and reliability goals.

I congratulate the Octagon Park Apartments for its leadership and initiative. Their efforts will help reduce their energy use, and is an example of the contributions that are necessary for New York to achieve the ambitious energy reduction goals established under 45 by 15. Reducing our overall load through energy efficiency, and stimulating the growth of renewable energy generation are the platforms of 45 by 15; and this project is another step forward in achieving our collective goals. Thank you.

More information on financial incentives for the installation and operation of fuel cells from NYSERDA here.

The Octagon Fuel Cell is just another example of Roosevelt Island at the forefront of using new technology for urban planning purposes.

Here's an interesting article from Tech President on Roosevelt Island's use of new technology.   

Bright Lights, Small City: Is Tiny Roosevelt Island a Microcosm of Urban Innovation's Future?