By: Dante Levinton
The NYC Sustainability Help Center (SHC) serves as a vital resource for navigating local building energy compliance requirements affecting NYC’s largest buildings. Through impeccable technical support, SHC responds to thousands of inquiries each year from building owners, property managers, and energy consultants who want to learn more about NYC’s sustainability laws or need help with various reporting requirements.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of SHC is its interns, both graduate and undergraduate CUNY students, who comprise a majority of the staff. The educational background of these interns ranges from architecture, engineering, and environmental science to liberal arts, mathematics, and more. What ties all the interns together is their shared passion for sustainability and the drive to help those in need of guidance. Throughout their time at the SHC, interns develop valuable skills that prepare them for competitive job searches. Whether it’s advanced proficiency in EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool, data analysis, marketing, communications, writing, or graphic design, their hands-on experience at SHC, combined with opportunities to network with industry professionals, equips them with the tools they need to thrive in the job market.
Since 2018, SHC has hired 23 interns, many of whom have gone on to pursue successful careers in sustainability. Three former interns, Israel Garcia, Jessica Schmidt, and Genesis Reyes, have shared testimonials about how their time at SHC helped launch their careers.
Israel Garcia interned with SHC for three years, while he was a Human Services and Community Justice major at John Jay College. Despite not having a background in sustainability, he quickly grew to enjoy the work. It became evident that Israel was a people person and excelled at one-on-one phone calls with clients who needed an advanced level of assistance to understand NYC’s building energy laws. He explained that his favorite clients were those who needed gentle guidance, such as older or less experienced callers. Having gained extensive knowledge on GHG emissions and sustainability laws, Israel was committed to working within the buildings industry, and upon graduating, he received a Multifamily Building Analyst (MFBA) certification from the Building Performance Institute. Today, Israel works as a Benchmarking Analyst at Carleton Energy Consulting, where he leads a team of three that is responsible for benchmarking 900 buildings in the City of Boston. Israel credits his internship with SHC for affording him the opportunity to learn about benchmarking and NYC building sustainability laws and building information systems.
CUNY BPL’s current Training Department Manager, Jessica Schmidt, also started her professional career in sustainability as an SHC student intern. As a Master’s Student in Public Administration, the scope of important public policy issues presented a multitude of career options, and Jessica struggled to decide just what her path would be. Her time at SHC allowed her to do “a deep dive into local sustainability laws and demonstrated how crucial it is to our climate goals, and our collective future, that we focus on building energy consumption and lowering carbon emissions.” It was this gained insight and knowledge that inspired Jessica to pursue opportunities in the field. In closing, Jessica said, “SHC is such a key piece of NYC’s sustainability plan, offering a trove of knowledge and support every day. I’m proud to have been an SHC intern and very happy to still be supporting the program through my position with CUNY BPL!”
Of all the skills interns gain through their time at SHC, client relations and account management are two of the most important, as expressed by former intern Genesis Reyes. Genesis interned with SHC in 2023 and today works as an Energy Analyst at Bright Power, where she applies these skills to multiple aspects of her current role. She stated that “learning how to effectively communicate green building principles and laws to others with varying levels of knowledge is one of the greatest draws from my time at SHC.” The strong foundational skills she developed through her internship enabled Genesis to transition to her current role with ease. As an energy analyst, she collects, monitors, and analyzes utility data for dozens of client portfolios. Genesis handles the energy and water benchmarking program requirements for each property, including Local Law 84, New York State Homes and Community Renewal, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and Fannie Mae benchmarking programs. SHC also granted Genesis invaluable professional development opportunities, such as admission to BuildingEnergyNYC and other conferences and events, which enabled her to connect with the Northeast’s green building community. Genesis’s story is another prime example of how an SHC internship prepared her for the workforce, saying, “it is greatly rewarding to apply skills harnessed at the Sustainability Help Center.”
It is evident through the experiences shared by Israel, Jessica, and Genesis that CUNY BPL’s Sustainability Help Center acted as an invaluable stepping stone for their careers. We’ve seen the gratitude these interns have expressed for SHC, and that feeling is mutual! Lillibeth Liriano, Senior Associate at SHC, said, “What makes SHC special and successful are the student interns. SHC benefits greatly from each student’s talents and contributions. They all leave their mark in their own unique way.” It is through this symbiotic relationship that SHC continues to thrive and provide the best possible assistance to those who need it.