DFI Magazine September/October 2020 - 126

New York and California are often
viewed as the epicenter of new solutions
and innovative ideas, with many other
states following suit after a process appears
a success. Whilst California has companies
that have carbon and energy conscious
leadership, it helps too when companies
want to build sustainably, and have big
cheque books for renewable energy
solutions. Perhaps more could lead by
California's example.
New York State, through its Clean Heat
Incentive, provides an additional "carrot"
from the New York State Energy Research
and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
The carrot involves added incentives when
renewable technologies are used, which
further reduces the up-front costs associated
with geothermal installations.
In addition to this incentive, there is a
big heavy "stick" that developers and

with the same global warming potential as
one metric ton of another greenhouse gas).
A geothermal solution was reported as
being able to reduce this figure to 20,000
Mt CO2e annually, a 65% reduction. Using
these figures, the carbon tax on this facility
is likely to be $7M (€5.9)/annum in 2024,
rising to $12M (€10.1)/annum in 2030 if
business remains as usual.
A residential tower development in
Manhattan with about 700 apartments that
has conventional boilers and chillers would
reject about 9,000 Mt CO2e/annum, whilst
a geothermal solution would emit 3,000 Mt
CO2e /annum. That is a CO2 reduction of
67% compared to a building using conventional heating and cooling solutions.
Local Law 97 would require the building
owner to pay an annual carbon tax on the
development of almost $1M/annum (about
€846,000) in 2024, rising to $1.6M (about
€1.35) in 2030.
The combination of carrot
and stick approaches in New
York from various federal and
state tax incentives, combined
with Local Law 97, make the

The true benefit of a geothermal solution
is that on its own, it can deliver a 60%
to 65% carbon reduction to a building.
building owners need to be aware of: the
Carbon Tax. Many states nationally are
considering this type of legislation, and
true to form, New York City is leading the
way. Local Law 97 was recently passed
there, mandating that starting from 2024,
building emissions limits will be imposed,
and will apply to most buildings over
25,000 sq ft (2,323 sq m). Emissions limits
will be set by building use type, but
fundamentally, those that exceed limits will
be fined $268 (about €226) per t CO2e
annually. The first reporting deadline is
May 1, 2025. Penalties will be assessed for
exceeding the building emissions limit in
2025. (Reported Building Emissions -
Building Emissions Limit = [difference t
CO2e] × [$268])

Energy Savings
To put this into perspective, a recent study
completed at a university campus facility
with about 20 campus buildings heated
and cooled using a conventional steam
system will eject 58,000 Mt of CO2e
annually (carbon dioxide equivalent, or the
number of metric tons of CO2 emissions
126 * DEEP FOUNDATIONS * SEPT/OCT 2020

state a leader in really pushing for more
low-carbon solutions through the use of
renewable energy systems. In downtown/
city center locations, energy foundations
just make more sense than many other lowcarbon solutions.

DFI Resources
It would be fantastic to see every project
team considering energy foundations as
part of building solutions. To learn more
about doing so, consider joining DFI's
Energy Foundations Committee, which is
only going to get busier! We have a wealth
of great resources and accessible knowledge that can help engineers and consultants develop energy foundation
solutions. If you didn't attend the recent
three-session webinar in July (discussed on
page 79), I also recommend signing up and
downloading the information that was
presented. Pursuing energy foundations
will enable clients and developers to set a
course for building the carbon-zero
structures we need.
Stay safe and healthy everyone, and I
hope to see you all soon.

http://www.loadtest.com/

DFI Magazine September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DFI Magazine September/October 2020