Livable Cities - London AMPS | City, University of London Page 121 DECARBONIZATION THROUGH PERFORMATIVE STRATEGIES IN URBAN CITIES Author: ZEPHYR APTEKAR, ALEXANDER APTEKAR Affiliation: SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY, CHINA. NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, USA INTRODUCTION As cities strive to reduce their environmental impact, they are increasingly adopting strategies to electrify their building stock. One key mechanism for this transformation is the shift from prescriptive to performative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets. A prime example is New York City's Local Law 97 of 2019 (LL97) which mandates that buildings over 25,000 ft² reduce their GHG emissions by 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, from the base year of 2005.1 This paper examines LL97's strengths and weaknesses in its effectiveness in electrifying the building stock, as LL97 boasts a beneficial electrification credit ("BE Credit") rule which exchanges emissions limits for electrification,2 as well overall emissions reduction. It also explores the role of educational institutions in supporting such decarbonization projects. LITERATURE REVIEW Urban decarbonization strategies Decarbonization, and by extension climate change mitigation, is subject to both monocentric and polycentric approaches. Monocentric approaches include global policy approaches such as the Kyoto protocol3 and the Paris agreement,4 which have been criticized for their inability to fully address the climate crisis. Polycentric approaches have been suggested to supplement the global polycentric policy solutions with a form of localized collective action.5 Cities are pioneering these approaches, such as the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group of 40 participating and 19 affiliate cities, including New York City—with 80% of its emissions from buildings—a leading case.6 Urban decarbonization strategies are diverse in scope, methods, and goals. Cities principally target the electricity, transportation, waste carbon sinks and storage, as well as buildings.7 Plans from leading cities emphasize capacity building, leading by example, financial incentives, building standards, and benchmarking and reporting as their main policy instruments.8 Buildings are particularly important for decarbonization. The building sector accounted for 31% of total global final energy use, 54% of final electricity demand, and 8% of energy related CO2 emissions.9 Moreover, of the industry, transport, power generation, and buildings sector, the buildings sector has the largest unrealized energy efficiency economic potential.10
