About this Event
Wednesday 23 September 2026 · 1:30–7:00pm · Columbia Engineering Innovation Hub, 2276 12th Avenue, New York
Half a day, six tables, forty-eight seats.
The Sustainable Energy Catalyst is not a conference. There are no panels and no audience. Six roundtables of six to eight people each work through one question under Chatham House Rule, then report what they found back to the room. You will be at a table, not in a seat.
The six tables
- Renewable Energy Integration & Storage — renewables are winning on cost; intermittency and storage at scale are not solved.
- Grid Efficiency & Digitalization — the grid was never built for what we ask of it today.
- Industrial Decarbonization & Hydrogen — steel, cement, chemicals and high-temperature process heat can't run on wires and batteries alone.
- Financing the Energy Transition — the technology exists; the capital deployment doesn't yet match the scale.
- NYC Clean Air: The Bronx–Hunts Point Blueprint — where clean air policy meets street-level reality.
- Transportation & Building Electrification — the two largest sources of urban emissions.
Who is already in the room Doreen Harris, President & CEO, NYSERDA · Ahmed Tigani, Commissioner, NYC Department of Buildings · Keith Kerman, Deputy Commissioner for Fleet Management and Chief Fleet Officer, NYC DCAS · Brandon Owens, Vice President of Innovation, NYSERDA · Matthew W. Daus, President, International Association of Transportation Regulators · Matthias Preindl, Director, Columbia Center of Advanced Electrification (CCAE).
Utilities, state and city agencies, developers, financiers and community organisations sit at the same tables. Chatham House Rule is why the conversation is candid: nothing is attributed, so people say what they actually think.
Your afternoon 1:00 Coffee and registration · 1:30 Opening keynote · 2:30 Roundtables · report-backs and closing synthesis · 6:00–7:00 reception. Refreshments throughout.
Can't be in New York? The opening keynote and closing synthesis are livestreamed free to registered virtual attendees, with recordings after. The roundtables themselves are in person only — the table is the event.
[Eighteen] seats remain across six tables. Take yours.
Co-Hosted with the Columbia Advanced Electrification Center & Event One Solutions International.
Agenda
🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:30 PM
Coffee & Networking - In-person ONLY
🕑: 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Opening Session — LIVE Keynote & Roundtable Leaders' Remarks
Info: Master Minds Roundtables - In person ONLY
🕑: 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Master Minds Roundtables - In-person ONLY (under Chatham House Rules)
🕑: 04:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Roundtable Leaders — LIVE Conclusions & Key Outcomes
🕑: 05:30 PM - 07:00 PM
Reception — Drinks, Canapés & Sponsor Spotlights (In-person ONLY)
Event venue & nearby stays
Columbia Engineering Innovation Hub, 2276 12th Avenue, New York, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.