New York City is soliciting ideas from manufacturers, developers and designers on ways to mitigate urban heat and air pollution. The program is designed as a competition and is open to anyone with expertise in the field.
The competition is organized into two tracks:
Track 1 is targeting products, service offerings, and operational practices that can improve air quality and/or reduce the intensity or harmful effects of Urban Heat Island effect.
Track 2 is soliciting design solutions for how NYC can reimagine aspects of city life to improve air quality and/or reduce the intensity or harmful effects of Urban Heat Island effect.
For solutions that will help NYC lower its ambient air pollution, particulate matter and ozone will be specifically targeted. For solutions that address reduction or adaptation to urban heat, either indoor or outdoor temperatures can be addressed (Note: indoor temperature reduction needs to be novel or significantly evolved when compared to conventionally available cooling systems or make strides in making existing green technology scalable to existing NYC building stock at a reasonable price point. In addition, it must have very low energy consumption (high EER rating), output no/low waste heat, and reduce or eliminate refrigerant derived greenhouse gases. Solutions need to be tailored to NYC’s existing building stock and not only to new buildings. Although any solution that addresses mitigation or adaptation regarding air quality or urban heat will be considered, some example applications to consider are high-efficiency/low-emission cooling, personal cooling, direct air capture of pollutants/GHGs, increasing high-albedo surfaces, passive reduction of indoor temperatures (facades), integrated vegetation, and water-based cooling techniques.
