LATEST NEWS from STEN

On October 22, the chairman of the Sewer Thermal Energy Network (STEN), Paul Kohl, was a featured technical session speaker at the Greenbuild International Conference 2026 in NYC. Greenbuild is the world's leading event for green building professionals interested in the future of the sustainable built environment. Global sustainability leaders representing 60+ countries attend Greenbuild each year seeking new building technology and services to incorporate into their projects. New York City, with its many public laws pushing toward sustainability and resiliency, became a natural location for this conference. 

The technical session was very well attended, generating follow-up and insightful questions. Paul shared the stage with Caleb Crawford NYC-SCA (New York City School Construction Authority) which handles capital spending for NYC public schools and Ted Nitza from Kimley-Horn, a national engineering company. 

Electrification of New York City Public Schools Using Sewer Thermal Energy Presentation:

This presentation began by explaining that the heat in wastewater represents a useful and untapped resource that can help communities become sustainable by offering a potentially transformative solution for energy conservation in engineering heating and cooling systems. The technology to remove this energy is well established but underutilized. Traditional methods of electrification rely on air sourced heat pumps, but such methods can be limited. The introduction of a water-to-water based system as found in STEU increases the efficacy of electrification providing the same heating and cooling for about half the energy demand. 

The New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) is pursuing the electrification of both its new and existing schools to reduce the school system’s reliance on fossil fuels while modernizing the building stock. Of 1400 schools in the NYCPS portfolio, SCA is building approximately 10 new schools and electrifying approximately 10 existing schools per year. Gaining access to sewage is particularly advantageous in an urban setting with an existing reticulation of sewers. Once the initial screening is done focusing on mapping proximity to sufficient sewer flow capacity at each site, the top candidates are further analyzed to produce a ranked list from which the top ten are chosen.

ABOUT STEN:  A Commitment to Sustainability

The Sewer Thermal Energy Network is a US based international member-supported 501(c)(6) organization, dedicated to advocacy, education, information dissemination, capacity building, and networking opportunities for industry leaders, municipalities, and wastewater utilities, and academics. We help communities and businesses discover the potential of unused resources with the utilization of freely available heat contained within a sewer system for the heating and cooling of the built environment, from a single building to a whole district.

BECOME A MEMBER of STEN

STEN supports municipalities, utilities, and other entities with education, capacity building, and networking opportunities to advance sustainable urban energy solutions. As a STEN member, you’ll join a group of the most influential professionals in the industry - leaders and decision-makers who are working together to shape the future of sewer heat recovery solutions. Please consider becoming a member of STEN today!