In this episode of Urban Green Live, host John Mandyck is joined by Justin Driscoll, President and CEO of the New York Power Authority, to discuss the future of nuclear power in New York State.

They explore the role of the New York Power Authority in decarbonization efforts, the advancements in nuclear technology, and the importance of community engagement in the site selection process for new nuclear plants. They also address the challenges of nuclear waste management and the anticipated timeline for the new nuclear initiative. 

Justin Driscoll, President and CEO, the New York Power Authority. Justin E. Driscoll is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the nation's largest state-owned electric utility. He is responsible for developing and implementing the statewide utility's strategic vision and mission, and for overseeing its operations, legal and financial matters, and relationships with external stakeholders. He is also responsible for the operation of the New York State Canal System. Justin supervises NYPA’s 17 generation facilities and 1,550 circuit-miles of high voltage transmission, as well as its role as an energy efficiency project developer and as energy supplier for its governmental customers, including New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York City Housing Authority, state agencies and local governments.

Host: John Mandyck, CEO, Urban Green Council. John joined Urban Green Council in 2018 as its first-ever CEO. He capped a 25-year career as Chief Sustainability Officer for United Technologies Corporation, a Fortune 45 global leader in the building, aerospace and food refrigeration industries. He also serves as a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Business. John is the founding chair of the Corporate Advisory Board for the World Green Building Council, a former board chair of Urban Green, and co-author of the book Food Foolish.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider ⁠becoming a member of Urban Green⁠, and subscribing to our podcast for more insightful conversations on building a sustainable future.

Live from Urban Green's 2025 annual conference, this special episode of Urban Green Live features John Mandyck's keynote conversation with Rory Christian, Chair and CEO of the NYS Public Service Commission.

They discuss the role of the PSC and the levers they can use to advance building decarbonization. They also discuss how utility rates affect electrification, the future of natural gas in New York, and how New York State can achieve a just transition.

This episode was recorded on June 2, 2025 at Urban Green's NYC Next: Shaping Building Decarbonization conference at NYU in New York City.

We'd like to thank ⁠Carrier⁠ for sponsoring the event and podcast.

Con Edison’s centralized district steam system serves more than 3 million New Yorkers and over 1,500 buildings in Manhattan, from the Financial District to 96th Street. In this episode of Urban Green Live, we’re joined by Matthew Ketschke, President of Con Edison, for an insightful conversation about pathways to decarbonizing NYC’s district steam system—the largest in the country. 

For the fifth anniversary of Urban Green Live, we returned to our very first guest: Dr. Joe Allen, Director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings Program and Associate Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan of Public Health.

In this episode, Dr. Allen reviews what we’ve learned since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged five years ago and discusses the latest trends for designing healthy buildings. Learn about recent improvements in Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) sensor technologies, new research about IAQ’s cognitive impacts on creativity, healthier building materials, and more!

At the 2024 Urban Green Gala, we were proud to honor one of the nation’s most respected voices on climate change, Gina McCarthy. As the former White House National Climate Advisor and EPA Administrator, her leadership produced some of the most aggressive climate action in U.S. history.

At the Gala, Gina sat down for a conversation with Urban Green CEO John Mandyck, which we’re excited to release as the latest episode of Urban Green Live! Listen in as Gina lets us in on her experience in the federal government, offers advice to climate advocates, and shares what makes her optimistic about the future of climate action.

The Green Economy Action Plan is a first-of-its-kind roadmap to growing NYC’s green economy. The plan identifies the jobs and sectors that will help the city combat climate change. And its recommendations will help put New Yorkers—particularly those from environmentally disadvantaged communities—in a position to benefit from the nearly 400,000 ‘green-collar’ jobs expected in New York City by 2040.

With buildings-related work accounting for nearly half of these jobs, we’re excited to welcome Nse Esema, Senior Vice President of the Green Economy team at NYCEDC, to Urban Green Live. In this episode, Nse and Urban Green CEO John Mandyck unpack the plan and discuss how NYC’s growing green workforce will accelerate building decarbonization efforts.

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Arup is a global firm dedicated to sustainable development, and they recently answered a simple question: how much carbon could be saved by 2050 if New York City expanded the range of buildings eligible for office to residential conversions?

On this episode of Urban Green Live, John Mandyck talked to David Farnsworth and Tess McNamara about Arup’s research and the impetus, from a sustainability perspective, for making more of NYC’s office buildings eligible for residential conversions.

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Ian Shapiro—founder and co-owner of Taitem Engineering and Professor of Practice (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) at Syracuse University—is one of New York’s leading experts on building electrification, having recently helped the City of Ithaca develop a local energy code that reduces carbon emissions by 80 percent in new buildings and will require fossil-fuel-free buildings starting in 2026.

He joined us on Urban Green Live where we’ll talk to Ian about the building industry’s readiness to electrify and the challenges of growing the workforce and reducing construction costs. This wide-ranging discussion touched on everything from heat pumps to energy opportunities in New York State.

The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has helped provide companies with a clearly-defined and verified net zero pathway to reduce their emissions in alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement goals. And now, the SBTi is setting its sights on buildings—developing target setting methodologies, tools, and guidance for companies and stakeholders in the sector to set 1.5º aligned decarbonization targets.

Karl Downey is a Senior Technical Manager for the SBTi, and is leading their Building Sector project. He joined Urban Green Live to discuss what the SBTi is and how it works, what makes it different from previous and existing standards, and the development and upcoming release of the Building Sector guidance.

The New York City Department of Buildings recently created the Bureau of Sustainability, led by newly appointed Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability Laura Popa, a former member of the Urban Green Council Board of Directors. DOB’s first-ever climate-focused bureau will direct the department’s sustainability and energy efficiency initiatives, including the implementation of LL97.  

On December 15, we sat down with Laura to discuss the bureau’s work, its priorities for the coming months and what it all means for the buildings industry.