AIA New York Zero Waste Challenge

This June, the Center for Architecture will be opening the exhibition Designing Waste: Strategies for a Zero Waste City, based on the Zero Waste Design Guidelines (ZWDG) released last fall by AIA New York.

The Zero Waste Design Guidelines address the crucial role that design plays in achieving New York City’s ambitious goal, outlined in OneNYC, to send zero waste to landfills by 2030. Created with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the guidelines are a collaboration by the AIANY Committee on the Environment; Kiss + Cathcart, Architects; ClosedLoops; the Foodprint Group; the NYC Department of Sanitation; and other organizations throughout New York City.

In conjunction with these zero waste initiatives, AIANY will be hosting a Zero Waste Challenge, with support from the Durst Organization. From mid-June to mid-October, the Zero Waste Challenge provides resources for firms of all sizes to reduce their waste generation and increase recycling in their offices. The challenge will give firms access to hands-on design experience to reduce waste with support from Think Zero LLC, a zero waste consultant.

We invite and encourage your firm to engage in this socially and environmentally impactful project.

Your participation entails:

• Benchmarking current waste generation.
• Creating a waste management plan with input from ThinkZero LLC.
• Performing two intermediate monthly waste assessments.
• Reporting on final assessment of improvements, culminating in an acknowledgement event in October.

We hope your firm will join us in our Zero Waste Challenge. Specifics on how to participate in the challenge will be provided to interested firms. If you have any questions, please email zerowaste@aiany.org.