Climate change constitutes an threat to civilization, and our responses to date have been far too modest. The NYC building sector is currently responsible for 75% of the city's GHG emissions. We have shown that our buildings' facades are insulated at levels analogous to wearing tee shirts in winter, and that the expanses of glass giving developers the look they want for commercial and residential sales get covered by shades as soon as occupants actually use the space. The required building measures are essentially cost-neutral over time from a societal perspective. NYC can lower energy use in its building sector by over 60% using technologies available today, including the elimination of fuel combustion.
 
Further, in response to Hurricane Sandy, there have been number of competitions including REBUILD BY DESIGN and FarRock that have looked at new and Innovative technologies and design concepts to deal with resiliency.  These Technologies both look to mimic and enhance natural protection and use cutting edge equipment like such as anerobic digesters to both create greater resiliency and reduce the carbon footprint of the project.  The panel will discuss where the development of these ideas are, what seems to be working, and what is not working.