As the Senate deliberates over the Bush-backed energy bill and enviros send out another round of distress signals over America's obdurate fossil-fuel dependency, who would believe that the next big thing in renewable energy is being driven by a tenacious commercial developer with strong GOP affiliations and 25 mega-malls under his belt?
Picture a gargantuan shopping complex in upstate New York -- a so-called "retail city" big enough to make Mall of America look like a five-and-dime -- with thousands of shops plus restaurants, theaters, hotels, a high-tech research park for commercial R&D, and a sprawling, climate-controlled biosphere for recreation. Yet another environmental abomination, you say?
Not so fast.
Shopping-mall titan Robert Congel, one of the world's biggest commercial real-estate developers, is about to begin building a multi-billion-dollar, 800-acre shopping and entertainment complex with all of the above-mentioned amenities, but without -- and here comes the part that strains belief -- so much as a barrel of oil or a kilowatt of fossil-fuel-generated power. That's right, folks, a 100 percent clean-energy mega-mall. He vows that it will be the closest thing to an "Apollo Project" for renewable energy that America has ever seen -- one that grows the economy, strengthens national security by encouraging energy independence, and protects the environment.
Congel's bulldozers -- fully powered by pure biodiesel, along with the rest of his construction equipment -- are scheduled to begin leveling the development site in early June on a massive brownfield in Syracuse, N.Y., formerly dubbed "Oil City" for the giant tanks of crude it once housed. On it he plans to erect the optimistically named "DestiNY USA," a retail complex powered entirely by wind turbines, solar panels, fuel cells, and biofuels.
Despite skepticism from a number of Syracuse locals, commercial-development analysts, and renewable-energy experts that the immense and unprecedented scheme can be pulled off, Congel doesn't hesitate to make grandiose predictions for DestiNY, claiming it will attract tourists from around the world and become a paradigm-shifting catalyst for the nation's renewable-energy markets. Muckraker heard these forecasts firsthand during a lavish investor symposium in February at the developer's 6,000-acre retreat an hour north of Syracuse where, in the interest of full disclosure, room and board were provided for a night.
Congel so relishes the symbolism of his project that he is working with a bipartisan cohort of politicians to get a provision into the energy bill that would call on the president to select and recognize "renewable and sustainable mega-projects that can move America toward energy independence," as Rich Pietrafesa, a DestiNY managing director and policy adviser to Congel, explained it. The measure does not entail any subsidies or tax breaks for the venture; it's purely symbolic. "If the White House says, 'This kind of project is fundamental to the future and safety of America,' it will go a long way to accelerate the commercial acceptance of [renewable-energy] technologies," Pietrafesa said.
That's not to say that the complex isn't getting any tax breaks. On the contrary, the DestiNY team has managed to secure a staggering raft of tax benefits at every level -- city, county, state, and federal -- with the help of New York politicians on both sides of the party line, including Sens. Hillary Clinton (D) and Charles Schumer (D) and Gov. George Pataki (R). On the federal plane, Clinton and Schumer went to bat last year to add $231 million to the corporate tax bill to finance $2 billion in "green bonds" for eco-friendly shopping developments. DestiNY is expected to reap a significant portion of these funds due to its unparalleled size.
That is, of course, if the developers can meet the bond requirements, which will be no small task, according to Ashok Gupta, the senior energy economist at Natural Resources Defense Council. "The green guidelines for these bonds are as stringent as I've seen -- hardly a giveaway from a policy standpoint," he told Muckraker. Gupta said he was impressed by the DestiNY team's enthusiasm for the strict guidelines, but wasn't sure the mall builders knew what they were in for. "I have a hard time believing that the DestiNY executives can deliver on their green promise," he said. "These are not developers who have ever attempted a green project, and it's not clear to me that they understand the extent of their commitment, financially and practically." Even developers who have worked on multiple green buildings would find a project of this scale to be extraordinarily challenging, he said.
Rick Fedrizzi, president of the U.S. Green Building Council, who consulted with the DestiNY executives on their green-building goals, was less skeptical. "At first, it had a lot of us in disbelief. I had never seen anything of this magnitude," Fedrizzi told Muckraker. "But the DestiNY team kept pushing us further and further to develop a plan that not only meets but exceeds LEED standards," the council's green-building guidelines, considered the benchmark for the industry. Fedrizzi added that Congel "clearly knows how to execute," as evidenced by his decades of success as a developer. "This is his legacy project. He's dead serious about making this into a world-class showcase."
A Touch of World-Class
Congel's renewable-energy goals for DestiNY are world-class indeed. To take solar, DestiNY would produce and consume "at a minimum 32 megawatts of solar electricity," according to Pietrafesa. To put this in perspective, 32 MW would not only be the world's biggest solar installation, it would account for one-third of the total solar capacity installed annually in the United States.
The complex would also consume a minimum of 28 MW of electricity from fuel cells (with hydrogen derived from renewables), said Pietrafesa, which in turn would increase the total amount of installed "electricity-generating" fuel-cell capacity in the country by roughly 60 percent. DestiNY would also rely on a minimum daily feed of 120 MW from biodiesel and biomass combined, and 44 MW of wind power -- both mind-boggling numbers as well.
Congel has gone so far as to predict that DestiNY could accelerate economies of scale to the point where the price of renewable energy would become cost-competitive with fossil fuels in as little as a decade, thereby revolutionizing the energy industry far sooner than experts forecast.
Renewable-energy advocates are more circumspect. Thomas Leyden, a vice president with the solar-development firm PowerLight Corp., one of DestiNY's potential energy partners, said, "It may be the biggest solar installation and renewables project in the world, but there's no way DestiNY will move markets to that extent within a decade, or even move markets in any substantial way." Leyden pointed out that Germany is adding 600 to 800 MW of solar a year and Japan is in the same ballpark -- meaning that DestiNY is a drop in the bucket in terms of global economies of scale. "Nevertheless," he quickly added, "I applaud Congel's vision, and want to be a part of it."
Pietrafesa countered that the mega-mall's long-term impact on the energy economy will stem from its role as a trendsetter. Congel's team is in discussions with developers nationally and overseas who are eager "to create, as it were, their own DestiNYs," he said. He also predicted that the DestiNY model will "inspire visitors to make clean-energy decisions in their own lives," in turn moving markets from the grassroots.
But could a trend in green mega-malls backfire, if it means more people traveling farther distances to shop? Gupta pointed out that there's a contradiction inherent in a fossil-fuel-free tourist destination that requires a huge volume of fossil fuels to deliver the hordes of visitors expected daily -- whether by plane, train, car, or tour bus. "There's just no way around the fact that the energy associated with traveling to the mall would offset the environmental benefits of a fossil-fuel-free destination."
And then, of course, there's the obvious fact that it's a mall -- a massive temple to American-style hyper-consumerism.
Still, all this doesn't negate the breathtaking ambition of Congel's plans to construct a zero-energy retail mecca -- a powerful symbol that profits and cheap fossil fuels aren't inextricably entwined. Who else in this country is willing to commit the staggering sum of an estimated $20 billion to such a vision? Who else is willing to grandstand for renewables with a project as eccentric as a zero-energy mega-mall? At a time when Republican leaders are pushing a myopic, five-year-old energy bill with massive handouts to Big Oil and King Coal, Americans should applaud the optimism and sheer audacity of Congel's dream.
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Comments
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skeptic Posted 11:36 am
23 May 2005
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mindless Posted 12:32 pm
23 May 2005
The proposed site of the mall, on the shores of Onondaga Lake, is far from ideal. Onondaga Lake is one of the only wet Superfund sites in the country. It is one of the most polluted waterbodies in America, and building a mega-mall on its shores is only going to add to the waste and sewage dumped into the lake. Congel touts the "paradigm-shift" that this DestiNY will produce in the renewable energy market. What about the paradigm shift we should be striving toward? The paradigm shift AWAY from consumerism.
In addition, while there are two highways intersecting in the middle of Syracuse, neither would be capable of handling the excess load caused by tourists. This would mean a widening of the highways into areas that are mostly low-income and minority communities. Many of these communities became low income and minority because of the original building of the highways. These communities don't need more destruction and separation; they need investment and attention. A mega-mall is not going to bring that help. And, while powering it on renewable energies is a great idea for many reasons, I don't think a mega-mall, no matter how it's powered will bring much help to any of the environment.
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davidjacot Posted 1:22 pm
23 May 2005
But it's still a big mall; meaning the vast majority of patrons will arrive and depart via private automobile. Remember that the auto is what makes big box retail stores and malls possible in the first place; the larger the development, the large the geographic area it must draw customers from to maintain sales volume. Where's the residential component? Where's the office component so that the parking can be shared (office during the day, mall in the evenings and weekends)? At least it's on a brownfield, which implies a more central location than a green field.
Further, lets look at the sources of energy the mall will be using. Solar and wind; great. Fuel cells, if the hydrogen truly comes from renewable energy sources; great. But slightly over half (53%) of the energy needs of the project are scheduled to be met with biodiesel and biomass. Biofuels only make sense as long as they are sourced from the waste stream of another process; i.e. agriculture. Once you start growing the biomass for the sole purpose of generating energy, it becomes energy negative. The energy inputs of tilling the ground, planting seeds, fertilizing, harvesting, and processing into fuel consumes more energy than the resulting fuel provides. So, biofuels are inherently limited in their ability to ever supplant more than a small fraction of the fossil fuels we use today.
So, as showcase for the potential of solar, wind, and renewable hydrogen powered fuel cells, the project has considerable merit. But let's not go overboard and say this project represents the future of sustainable development.
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klp Posted 9:19 pm
23 May 2005
Many sources in the story, as well as some blog contributors, rightly pointed out that malls inherently encourage wasteful fuel consumption by private autos. But this could be at least somewhat mitigated by negotiating regular bus service with the local transit authority, and by providing bike shelters and bike paths that connect safely with city bike paths or bikeable streets.
In fact, an attractive bike/pedestrian path loop meandering all around the mall grounds, and connecting via multiple "spoke" access paths to the mall itself, might tempt some shoppers to park a little farther from the doors and get a little exercise, as well as tempting cyclists and pedestrians to stop in at the mall for a snack.
Syracuse environmentalists should push the issue of accomodating multimodal transit at DestiNY with the developers and public officials, and Grist should follow up their original story to let us know the outcome.
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Barbara Posted 11:05 pm
23 May 2005
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mpeterson321905 Posted 11:44 pm
23 May 2005
I foresee with the urban sprawl around major US cities, that both urban and suburban communities will set-up amenity hubs in their towns, for shopping, gathering, services and entertainment, with easy access, without cars. Obviously, these amenity hubs may not be as elaborate as DestiNY USA, but would still provide the amenities that people want.
Then hubs could be connected with energy efficient public transportation corridors (using biofuels, renewable electric, fuel cells, etc.), with express lanes for cars to minimize stop-n-go traffic.
Thus our American, suburban lifestyle could be maintained; Movement within communities could be manual or by efficient public transportation; and amenity hubs could be great gathering, service, entertainment and shopping places (preferrably with a significant portion of locally produced or fair trade goods).
So, eventhough their was concern expressed in the article about burning fossil fuels to get to DestiNY USA. That problem can eventually be eliminated as we convert to biofuels, hydrogen or other clean fuels, plus efficient, comfortable, convenient public transportation. Cars and trucks won't go away, but we can do alot to make public transportation more attractive, thus minimizing car use and the number of vehicles on the road.
This process and transition would realistically happen over decades.
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NYCO Posted 5:14 am
25 May 2005
This project has been languishing for years, and with good reason -- Congel wants an endless stream of subsidies and tax breaks and nothing has been built yet, yet he's still got his palm out.
Now, because he wants to build a huge R&D park, the city is about to kick out a couple dozen business owners via eminent domain, without paying them fair value for the loss of their location.
If you want to write about revolutionary environmental proposals in the Syracuse area, why not write about environmental justice -- issues such as the Onondaga land rights action, where the Onondaga Nation is foregoing casino demands in favor of proper cleanup for Onondaga Lake?
I mean, why quote from a Congel press release?
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Shalini Ramanathan Posted 5:08 pm
05 Jul 2005
Once you start growing the biomass for the sole purpose of generating energy, it becomes energy negative. The energy inputs of tilling the ground, planting seeds, fertilizing, harvesting, and processing into fuel consumes more energy than the resulting fuel provides.
-x-
It depends on the fuel being displaced by a given biofuel. If a commercially produced biofuel can displace heavy fuel oil or coal, even full-cost accounting of all inputs may show that biofuels are desirable from an environmental and climate mitigation perspective.
The issue of land use is a further complication in assessing biofuels. But unless you're going to clear virgin rainforest to plant jatropha, it's not a reason to dismiss biofuels as unpromising.
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Ben Rosenthal Posted 1:20 am
04 Aug 2005
While it'd be nice to see a massive example of green-built structures in the U.S., rather than offer the nation yet another reason to spend money on more "stuff," perhaps Congel would be better liked by the environmental masses if he developed a green town. Anyway, I've had enough just hearing that the parking space alone would be about the same area as the National Mall. Apparently, no one has considered trying to reduce traffic, let alone energy or environmental impact.
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