Housing Update | Sustainable Development & Demand for Low Carbon Buildings

Save Energy & Reduce Carbon through Downtown Revitalization

August 12th, 2021

The Pattern for Progress Center for Housing Solutions convenes industry leaders for a virtual panel discussion exploring the many angles of housing and real estate.

Pattern for Progress is pleased to be partnering with the Community Preservation Corporation on a special Summer Housing Webinar Series dedicated to Sustainable Development and Demand for Low Carbon Buildings. The series will offer best practices and solutions through conversation about Sustainable Development. Please join us to hear from industry experts on best practices in multifamily development in July, August, and September.

This month the series focuses on Save Energy & Reduce Carbon through Downtown Revitalization.

Part 2 of this series continues with a look at saving energy and reducing carbon through downtown revitalization. Joe Czajka, Senior Vice President at Pattern for Progress and Executive Director of Pattern’s Center for Housing Solutions hosts Lori Borowiak, Senior Project Manager at NYSERDA as Moderator for this panel discussion with Paul Beyer, Director of Smart Growth Planning at the Office of Planning, Development & Community Infrastructure for New York State Department of State, where he promotes the principles of Smart Growth, sustainable development, Livable Communities and collaborative governance on the state, regional and local levels, joins the conversation with Kevin O’Connor, CEO at RUPCO, an organization whose mission is to provide healthy and sustainable housing at an affordable price, through their preservation and development work in Ulster County, Ken Kearney, Founder and President of Kearney Group, a regional leader in the affordable and mixed-use income housing industry, and David Szlasa, Designer and Project Manager of Basilica Green, which focuses on increased climate action through innovative cultural programming and are breaking ground on the Basilica Net Zero Campus Project, which will transform the institution’s reclaimed industrial building and campus on the Hudson Riverfront into a leading carbon-neutral destination for year-round programming and community engagement.

Moderator:
Lori Borowiak
Senior Project Manager, New Construction
NYSERDA

Lori Borowiak is a Senior Project Manager on the New Construction Program Team for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Lori has worked out of NYSERDA’s Buffalo Regional Office since 2008. Lori is currently managing several projects seeking net zero energy and carbon neutral performance from single family homes and multifamily buildings, to farms, a winery, manufacturing facilities, and campuses. She has her Master of Urban Planning degree from the University at Buffalo, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from SUNY Fredonia.

Paul Beyer
Director of Smart Growth Planning
Office of Planning, Development & Community Infrastructure
New York State Department of State

Paul Beyer is the State Director of Smart Growth Planning at the NYS Department of State. In this position, Paul promotes the principles of Smart Growth, sustainable development, Livable Communities and collaborative governance on the state, regional and local levels. Paul’s experience in land use and Smart Growth began when he worked in the New York State Legislature, where he focused on land use, environmental and public health policy. Paul served on the Planning Board in the Town of Amherst, NY for five years, where he helped develop the town’s Comprehensive Plan. He also served on the Board of Directors of Partners for a Livable Western New York, the premier Smart Growth advocacy group in the Western New York region. Paul has a law degree from the University at Buffalo.

David Szlasa
Designer and Project Manager of Basilica Green

David Szlasa is a producer and designer working across disciplines in Performance, Public Art, and Social Practice. Szlasa’s work is rooted in a commitment to social and ecological sustainability and ranges from scenic design to video art and the construction of tiny solar powered art studios.

Ken Kearney
Founder & President
Kearney Group

Ken Kearney is the founder and president of Kearney Group. Throughout his nearly 20 years of real estate development, Mr. Kearney has grown Kearney Group from a boutique real estate development firm, into a regional leader in the affordable and mixed-income housing industry. Known by friends and associates as “a businessman with a big heart,” Mr. Kearney brings experience, tenacity, a strong work ethic, and solid professional relationships to any project he undertakes. Mr. Kearney is deeply connected to the communities in which he works. He is an active member of the Board of Directors for Patterns for Progress and Hudson Valley Community Foundations and a member of the Putnam Hospital Center Board of Trustees.

Kevin O’Connor
CEO
RUPCO

As an executive in housing and community development, Mr. O’Connor enjoys 30 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector. Prior to joining RUPCO in November 2002, Mr. O’Connor had previously developed over 150 units of affordable housing with combined development budgets exceeding $14 million including homeless housing, homeownership and rental housing.