- Welcome
- Fall 2009
- Spring 2009
- Fall 2008
- Spring 2008
- Fall 2007
- Spring 2007
- Summer 2006
- Fall / Winter 2006
- Spring 2006
- 50th Anniversary Issue
- Spring 2005
- Winter 2004 / 2005
- Winter 2003 / 2004
- Fall 2002
- Summer 2002
- Spring 2005
- Winter 2004 / 2005
- Winter 2003 / 2004
- Fall 2002
- Summer 2002
- Back Issues
- Contact Us
As the world struggles with rising energy costs, NYIT powers up solutions for a greener tomorrow.
By David McKay Wilson
The 2008 spike in oil prices came at an opportune time for Andy Brooks (M.S. ’07), a senior energy analyst for a nonprofit organization that works with the federal government and owners of multi-family complexes to make their buildings more energy efficient. A year ago, when Brooks was hired by the Association for Energy Affordability in New York City, the agency was looking for landlords to avail themselves of its services. That’s no longer the case.
With heating oil expected to reach well over $4 a gallon this winter, building owners are scrambling to install new windows, insulate their roofs, and replace incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving fluorescent fixtures. His agency’s services can be especially fruitful for New York City landlords with steam heat systems, which waste enormous amounts of energy when they are unbalanced. For example, a building superintendent might jack up the heat for one chilled tenant and inadvertently push the temperature over 80 degrees in other apartments.
“Demand for our services is going through the roof,” says Brooks, 34, who left the field of audio engineering in 2006 to pursue a master’s degree in energy management at NYIT. “We are getting a ton of work.”
For Brooks and fellow NYIT alumni, as well as scores of students and faculty members, the confluence of concerns about global warming and soaring energy prices has created a bull market for professionals in energy policy, sustainable design, and alternative energy. Experts say this year’s escalation in oil prices has signaled a turning point in our society’s reliance on fossil fuels. While environmentalists push for new policies that will cut the carbon footprint of individuals and institutions, consumers are looking for alternatives as energy costs eat up a bigger chunk of their paychecks.
Urban planners, meanwhile, are wondering about the future of the suburbs, which flourished in the oil-rich 20th century during the heyday of the American automobile culture. And architects are looking for innovative ways to build homes and offices that will cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
“We are at the beginning of a huge paradigm shift as we move from the oil economy to something more sustainable,” says Frank Mruk, associate dean of NYIT’s School of Architecture and Design. “Some believe the party is over, and some believe a new party is beginning.”
Fortune’s Fuel
To see how fast the oil market is changing, one has to look back only as far as 2006, when NYIT held its first energy conference at the Old Westbury campus. Then, a barrel of oil cost $70, and experts gathered to discuss how our economy would adjust to the spike in energy costs. Two years later, during the third conference, “Energy Shock and Climate Change: Sustainable Solutions for Converging Crises,” oil had doubled to $140 a barrel.
Among the speakers at this year’s conference was Michael Deering, vice president of environmental affairs for the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). He told attendees that the power needs in the region will be served by both limiting demand through a $1 billion investment in conservation efforts over the next decade and by diversifying LIPA’s energy supplies through the use of renewable energy, such as solar and wind.
“There is no magic bullet out there to provide electricity,” says Deering. “So we have to look for ways to provide it that are economically and environmentally responsible.”
Another speaker at the conference, Janet Larsen, director of research for the Earth Policy Institute, urged business leaders and scientists to cut carbon emissions up to 80 percent by 2020 via energy-efficient appliances that utilize cleaner energy. As the U.S. economy declines, she said, rising food and fuel prices converging with global warming are only going to worsen the world’s energy crisis.
Speaker Daniel Lerch, author of Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty and program manager for the Post Carbon Institute, noted that the fundamentals of oil supply and demand are changing. As “easy oil” declines in availability and rises in price, Lerch said, new oil production in the United States and elsewhere cannot make up the difference.
Energy analysts say world energy demand will grow by as much as 50 percent over the next two decades, and oil prices could rise to close to $200 a barrel. Despite a move to expand development of renewable resources such as wind and solar energy, fossil fuels are expected to remain at the core of this generation’s transportation and electricity needs, according to a recent report by the Energy Information Administration.
In the sunshine of his love: Solar power engineer David Schieren (M.S. ’06) represents the new wave of NYIT graduates seeking cleaner and more energy-efficient solutions to help private and public sectors.
Fries to go: Daniel Rapka (M.S. ’07) takes the cooking oil from NYIT dining facilities and converts it into biodiesel fuel.
Alternative answers: Robert Amundsen, associate professor of energy management, is teaching tomorrow’s engineers to find solutions to today’s energy crisis.
Survival of the greenest: Frank Mruk, associate dean of NYIT’s School of Architecture and Design, says that communities will need to adopt “sustainable urbanism” to thrive in a 21st-century world where traditional energy will not be as affordable or accessible.