Panel: Smart Cities and Sustainability: Emerging Technologies in the Building Sector

The transformation of contemporary cities across the globe to truly smart cities will be central to improving urban quality of life in the decades ahead. The incorporation of sensing and other IT technology into municipal infrastructure and widespread networking of data management, part of the next wave of the Internet of Things, will be crucial to optimizing delivery of urban services, while reducing energy and resource consumption. Buildings are on the leading edge, using strategic combinations of technology to automate building management towards those key ends while better satisfying individual and user preferences.  Panelists: Rich Harris, Manager of Technical Facilities …

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A Message from Program Director, Professor Hillary Brown

Dear CCNY Sustainability Alumni and Friends, As we mark the tenth year of the interdisciplinary Sustainability in the Urban Environment master’s program, we hope this newsletter will sustain your ongoing engagement with CCNY and our Sustainability Program. Our plan is to hold a celebratory reunion event at the end of spring semester 2020 commemorating our first decade and we anticipate a great alumni turnout. Additionally, we are excited to announce that this year, CCNY’s president, Vincent Boudreau, has launched a college-wide initiative focused on sustainability and climate justice. Our reunion will be calendared along with multiple other sustainability- and climate-themed …

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Lecture: Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Disease from Daniel Brooks

On March 18th, 2020, Daniel Brooks was slated to give a lecture on Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Disease: Three Things Most People Don’t Know. Following the spread of COVID-19 and CUNY-wide transition to fully remote operations, Mr. Brooks could no longer visit the City College campus to give such a timely lecture. Instead, more than 100 people attended remotely via Webinar and the session was recorded. It can also be viewed and shared here: https://bluejeans.com/s/aMGUv/​. Additional information is below. About the Lecture Emerging Infectious Diseases in humans, livestock and crops currently cost the world 1 trillion dollars a year …

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Alumni Profile: Kenneth Almario, Class of 2019

Kenneth Almario is a Sustainability Coordinator and Assistant Urban Designer at the New York City Department of Design and Construction. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture (2015) from the New York Institute of Technology and a Master of Science (2019) in Sustainability in the Urban Environment from the City College of New York. As an undergraduate student, Kenneth became interested in the future of cities and the potential for applying innovative design solutions to the environmental challenges of our century. He focused on developing sustainable and resilient methods of design, aspiring to one day design functional and attractive spaces for …

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Alumni Profile: Yuliya Dzyuban, Class of 2015

I received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a masters degree in the U.S. Sustainability program at CCNY which looked like a good fit to connect my architecture background and interest in sustainability. The program gave me a solid introduction to sustainability concepts and helped me to understand that it is a truly interdisciplinary science. It was my first experience working with classmates from a variety of fields many of whom came from the industry. My interest and capstone project in resilienceto flooding enabled me to get a fellowship at the NSF funded project Urban Resilience to Weather Extremes Sustainability Research …

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Associate Professor June Williamson, RA LEED AP, Department of Architecture Chair

1999: That year marked the first time I taught a class on building construction materials and methods to architecture students. I added a lecture on new ideas about green design, striving to explain the concept of sustainability with use of the nifty 3 “e’s” Venn diagram.The field of sustainability studies has come a long way since then,maturing into a pressing set of professional opportunities and challenges facing today’s students. 2004: Five years later, I arrived at City College as a “mature” graduate student, already a licensed Architect with twelve years of combined professional andteaching experience, and a toddler at home. …

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An Introduction: Sustainability’s New Academic Program Manager

Katherine Gloede Silverman has assumed the role of Program Manager of the Sustainability in the Urban Environment Program as of August 28th. George Smith was the director until the end of September, helping to assure a smooth transition. Katherine is thrilled to join the unique interdisciplinary Sustainability Program at City College. With more than ten years of experience studying climate change adaptation across multiple departments, she is excited to apply her background to support students’ goals at a diverse, public institution with both deep local roots and strong global reach. Katherine is looking forward to supporting the faculty mentors and …

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A Message from Former Program Manager George Smith

About nine years ago, after a decade of academic administration work at other colleges, I became an administrative assistant to the first Director of CCNY’s brand newSustainability in the Urban Environment program. I thought of the position as temporary, and had plans to return soon to freelance writing—something I’d done years earlier. But the program started to grow, one thing led to another, and a full-time Program Manager position emerged. Looking back, I’m glad I’ve been able to helpa series of program Directors (Latif Jiji, David Rumschitzki,Alan Feigenberg, and now of course Hillary Brown) to ensure that a farsighted new …

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Student Profile: Lawrence V. Desimone, P.E.

I decided to attend the M. S. in Sustainability in the Urban Environment at CCNY because I was feeling stagnant at work. I wanted to earn credentials that would help me land an employment position thatseemed more interesting. I often find myself wantingsomething more out of work regardless of how useful I am to my company and my ‘workload’. For me, pursuing the Sustainability program is an attempt at finding an increased sense of meaning and gratification in my work. So far, it seems worthwhile. Most course assignments are related to topics Iam deeply interested in, and my areas of …

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