A new state-of-the-art educational and research institution on Governors Island dedicated to implementing climate solutions is making advances as new renderings of the campus have just been revealed.
The New York Climate Exchange was selected in 2023 to develop this prominent climate solutions center on NYC’s Governors Island. The campus will make history as the first-of-its-kind model focused on combating New York’s global climate crisis.
Through research, policy development, workforce development, education and public programming, the hub will work towards advancing climate action on both small and large scales.
According to The Exchange’s website, “[their] mission is to confront urgent climate impacts and issues of environmental justice, breaking down silos through an innovative, scalable, and sustainable model that will rapidly develop new urban climate solutions.”
Noted as what will become a “living labratory,” SOM, MNLA, Buro Happold, and Langan Engineering are all helping design the center alongside Stony Brook University.
The climate solutions hub will span 9.3 acres, generating 4.5 acres of new outdoor public space, in addition to creating 230,000 square feet of new buildings. The project will expand beyond new builds by also repurposing 170,000 square feet of historic architecture on Governors Island, reducing embodied carbon. Here, research labs, classrooms, exhibits, greenhouses, dormitories, and community spaces will thrive.
Governors Island’s hub will be among the first to receive True Zero Waste certification in the nation, using rainwater and treated wastewater to for 100% of its non-potable water demand. Moreover, it will run solely on electricity generated on the site.
U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler once said:
The climate crisis is the most urgent threat facing our world, our country, and our city. Just as NYC leads the way in business, technological advancement, and innovation, we should lead the way in developing solutions to this most existential of challenges. Establishing a world-class Climate Solutions Center on Governors Island will ensure that NYC will be a world leader in finding solutions and ways to overcome the perils of climate change. And with these solutions, we can bring green jobs to our city and provide meaningful opportunities for education and research, while figuring out how to protect NYC from the future effects of climate change and sea level rise.
Its completion date is set for some time in 2028. You can learn more online.