Many municipalities have decided on ambitious goals to become climate neutral within the next few decades. Although Germany and most other European countries have significantly and measurably increased their renewable energy fraction in the electricity – less so in the heating sector, urban energy demand has not decreased significantly.
On Thursday, June 2, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., experts will convene at the German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI) in New York to discuss research on energy efficiency strategies and urban refurbishment scenarios. The speakers will also address city-wide energy demand and consumption mapping and monitoring, planning tool development based on 3-D city models, the optimization of building performance by advanced automation concepts, and the integration of renewable energy sources in urban energy networks.
Prof. Charles J. Vörösmarty, Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Director of the Environmental CrossRoads Initiative at the City University of New York, will provide a global outlook on urbanization and densification problems and their relation to energy. He will discuss the impact of heat waves and climate change on cities, resulting peak power increase, and energy supply solutions. He will draw upon his research centering on human-environment interactions. Prof. Vörösmarty has led several teams that have executed interdisciplinary studies using Earth system models depicting the Northeastern U.S., developed and analyzed databases of reservoir construction worldwide and how they generate downstream coastal zone risks, and assessed global threats to human water security and aquatic biodiversity. In addition to his dedication to mentoring CUNY students, Prof. Vörösmarty routinely provides scientific guidance to a variety of U.S. and international water consortia. He has served on a broad array of national panels, including the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (appointed by Presidents Bush and Obama), the NASA Earth Science Subcommittee, and the National Research Council Committee on Hydrologic Science.
He will be joined by Prof. Dr. habil. Ursula Eicker, Professor at the Centre for Sustainable Energy Technology at HFT Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences in Germany. She will present an analysis of the urban energy status quo in Europe, especially in the building sector. She will describe efficiency scenarios in the building stock and in investment and energy life-cycle costs. Further, Prof. Dr. Eicker will speak about local renewable generation potential. Lastly, she will present the first net zero-carbon case study city Wüstenrot as an example. Prof. Dr. Eicker is a physicist, professor, and research director at the HFT Stuttgart. Her research emphasis is on urban energy systems with low-energy buildings and renewable energy integration, energy management, control and simulation, and the role of solar technologies in sustainable urban development. She currently manages several international research projects on energy-efficient cities and renewable energy supply systems.
Michael Bobker, Director of the CUNY Building Performance Lab and Senior Fellow at the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems, will speak about the New York energy infrastructure, especially with regards to heating and cooling. He will discuss the transformation of the heating sector from steam to electricity-based supply, focusing on the consequences for renewable supply by solar and wind farms. Mr. Bobker will draw upon over 30 years of experience as an energy engineer for building projects in New York City. He currently directs the CUNY Building Performance Lab, which he founded in 2006 with support from NYSERDA. The BPL performs applied research, especially around energy-efficient building operations, provides continuing education for building operators, and introduces the next generation of students to the industry via classes and internships.
Prof. Dr. Volker Coors, Professor of Geoinformatics and Computer Science at the HFT Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences, will discuss smart data for smart cities. He will speak about the role of IT for urban modeling and urban optimization. He will also describe 3-D city models and services based on international standards. His research focuses on 3-D geographic information systems and information logistics, in particular data management and visualization of large 3-D urban models. He is currently involved in several international research projects and provides supervision in the areas of 3-D GIS systems for urban energy demand modeling and city model interfaces and information management for the CI-NERGY (Smart Cities with Sustainable Energy Systems) project, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Initial Training Network (ITN).
Prof. Dr. Kurt Becker, Vice Dean for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and Professor in the Department of Applied Physics and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, will moderate the discussion. Dr. Becker is an international expert in the areas of experimental atomic physics and plasma science and technology. He holds seven U.S. patents on the generation and maintenance of stable atmospheric-pressure plasmas and their application, and was involved in their commercialization.
This panel discussion will take place on Thursday, June 2, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the German Center for Research and Innovation (871 United Nations Plaza, First Avenue, btwn. 48th & 49th Streets).
Follow @gcri_ny and the hashtag #UrbanEnergy for live tweets. A video recording will be available on www.germaninnovation.org shortly after the event.
This event is co-sponsored by the German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI) and HFT Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences.
The German Center for Research and Innovation provides information and support for the realization of cooperative and collaborative projects between North America and Germany. With the goal of enhancing communication on the critical challenges of the 21st century, GCRI hosts a wide range of events from lectures and exhibitions to workshops and science dinners. Opened in February 2010, GCRI was created as a cornerstone of the German government’s initiative to internationalize science and research and is one of six centers worldwide.
