Natural Carbon Solutions Portfolio

$2.3 million, in collaboration with the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine and SHoP Architects, to develop and demonstrate two novel bio-based and low-embodied carbon construction materials integrated with offsite pre-fabrication for streamlined building in dense urban environments like New York City.

$1.1 million to develop and manufacture a innovative bio-based insulation product using regionally grown industrial hemp fibers. The project will measure the performance, greenhouse gas emissions, and costs associated with the loose-fill low carbon insulation. Product demonstration and manufacturing assessment will be in the Grow-NY Region (Finger Lakes, Central New York, and Southern Tier).

$1.5 million to develop and commercialize interior architectural tiles for walls and ceilings that sequester carbon from local agricultural residues while increasing the insulative value. This funding enabled Phytostone to locate to Buffalo, New York with the goal of stimulating locally-grown bio-commodities and New York State based manufacturing.

$516,000 to apply a circular business model to reduce waste-related methane by reusing certified hemp byproducts and other plant-sourced fibers for the production of a compostable, grow media line and supporting a secure supply chain to downstream customers (soilless growers) in New York State; project locations include Buffalo, Rochester, Geneva, and New York City.

$546,000 to develop the Tool for Assessing Carbon-Storing Materials (TACSMA) as a consistent, transparent, and open-sourced framework to improve life cycle analysis of New York State harvested wood products. Applications of this tool include improved Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for building products and informing procurement and policy around building products in New York State.

$1.7 million to scale up their rapid aerogel manufacturing method and SeeThruTM aerogel materials that provide triple pane window performance in the existing double pane window infrastructure. Product demonstration will include installation at Union College in Schenectady. According to SunThru’s estimates their product is expected to reduce a single-family-home's energy needs by 13 percent with lower embodied carbon compared with triple pane windows.

$846,000 to develop and demonstrate MycoCore, a product to address lack of low-carbon insulated façade systems for deep energy retrofits through a unique panelized solution manufactured with engineered bio-composites using regional agri-waste, a cradle-to-cradle life cycle, and a scan-to-manufacture workflow that will reduce design and construction costs, build up New York State manufacturing, and localize product supply chains.

$2.5M together with partnerships at the University of Maryland and University of Buffalo, will develop and demonstrate a novel carbon-sequestering, biogenic insulation product. This project will use recycled cardboard and agriculture waste to manufacture exterior building insulation panels for retrofits and new construction. A scale-up manufacturing and demonstration will be implemented in Buffalo, New York, informed by stakeholders in multi-family affordable housing.

$655,000 - Led by the USGS Team in Troy, NY, will quantify carbon fluxes and other relevant parameters in streams and rivers in New York State, contributing to statewide inventories and informed decisions regarding trade-offs in land use with energy related infrastructure and technology investments, as well as opportunities for economic development.

Kiss-Architects with Radiant Exchange will demonstrate modular cooling shelters integrating plants in lightweight frames with rainwater collection, solar-powered irrigation, and options for additional solar-powered cooling/heating elements. This project partners with the Bronx River Alliance, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice in the Bronx and The Campaign Against Hunger in the Rockaways to demonstrate effectiveness for heat-stressed communities in New York City.

Plantaer Inc., will evaluate a novel product line to seamlessly integrate living plants into traditional building surfaces for passive cooling in dense urban environments where other solutions are impractical. Project goals include improvements in embodied carbon of construction materials, reducing energy demand, improved air quality and stormwater management.

Arup, in partnership with NYS municipalities and local communities, will apply existing software tools that use satellite data and machine learning to model urban heat islands and evaluate the effectiveness of optimizing designs of urban cooling that combine green infrastructure and various surface covers.

Electro-Active Technologies (EAT), together with National Urban Forests will evaluate a circular economy concept to scale up passive cooling capacity in New York City and other areas via urban forestry. Nutrient inputs for forests will include a food waste-derived soil additive developed by EAT to address three problems at once : food waste management, urban heat islands and supporting economical hydrogen fuel production.

DRIP LLC, will demonstrate a novel technology to enhance irrigation of street trees in urban areas to reduce the urban heat island disadvantaged communities and reduce maintenance costs for municipalities. Likewise, the program will strengthen and support community stakeholders in “greening” areas that had previously gone unaddressed, initially in New York City and Yonkers then throughout New York State.

Syracuse University will evaluate the effectiveness of a software toolkit using physics based urban modeling for turnkey integration of green infrastructure to achieve greater levels of passive cooling to reduce energy demand, while maintaining occupant comfort and safety.

GenWright B Corp. will demonstrate windows with the potential for higher energy efficiency, reduced costs, net negative emissions, low embodied carbon, and scaled-up production in New York State with local feedstocks for the benefit of rate payers and disadvantaged communities.

Build with Nature seeks to advance prefabricated straw construction systems to create high efficiency, carbon negative structures, and develop NYS manufacturing and support NYS agriculture. This will be achieved through a pilot project featuring a Natur modular home built from the EcoCocon straw panel construction system to demonstrate embodied carbon sequestration, life cycle benefits, and energy efficiency.

The Pratt Institute's Decarbonization Group, in collaboration with Dr. Paul Crovella, Spiritos Properties, and Waugh Thistleton Architects aims to develop and demonstrate NY-NLT — a nail-laminated timber structural and thermal system sustainably sourced from New York State's abundant pine trees and evaluate feasibility of NY-BioNLT , replacing steel nails with wood. Target markets include affordable housing Upstate and Downstate.

The Cornell University Circular Construction Lab, partnered with Schlaich Bergmann Partner, Trade Design Build, CoAdaptive, Tri-Lox and Urban Machine will pilot a new product, GrooveLam that enables use of non-standardized, reclaimed wood to produce structural, high-performance engineered timber building elements, offering potential as a clean, customizable, circular product suite supporting whole-life carbon-neutrality, reducing emissions and waste.

Hempitecture, a manufacturer of high performance, carbon capturing materials from natural fibers will demonstrate improved insulation products and evaluate the potential for scaling up production in New York State.

Bio Force Tech (BFT) will leverage existing OurCarbon production facilities to conduct pilot projects with a carbon negative concrete additive in New York’s construction sector. BFT will partner with manufacturers, engineers, and architects to collect key performance data, and assess scalability by converting biosolids collected from New York municipalities into biochar using its pyrolysis process.

Led by Arbour Group, in New York City, this project will complete industry-standard Product Certification testing of the Liquid Wall, enabling us to bring the system to the New York construction market. Liquid Wall is a novel formulation that improves energy efficiency, low-embodied carbon and facilitates construction.

Thornton Tomasetti will demonstrate performance and scalability of GreenBox® for the New York State market. The GreenBox® will be evaluated for potential as a clean, lightweight, low-carbon timber floor system for big bays and long spans in residential and commercial buildings that supports energy efficiency goals for building owners and residents.