Climate Exchange Seeks Ideas on Self-Healing Concrete, Piezoelectric Floors, and Rooftop Farms
The New York Climate Exchange, which is slated to begin construction next year on Governors Island (and open in 2029), has just announced guidelines for the next Sustainable Solutions Challenge, calling for innovators, entrepreneurs, and organizations to offer ideas that can be incorporated into planning the four-acre campus.
Proposals will be accepted through May 1 in four areas: Built Environment and Design (with a focus on “smart materials,” such as those with embedded sensors or dynamic properties like self-healing concrete); Infrastructure Systems and Resource Efficiency (including non-conventional renewables, like piezoelectric floors or algae-based bioenergy); Resilient Ecosystems and Landscape Design (which could feature rooftop farms, edible gardens, vertical growing systems, and regenerative soil practices); and a Wild Card Category (including carbon capture and sequestration).
The Sustainable Solutions Challenge offers winning entrants the opportunity to gain exposure, inspire broader adoption, and contribute to advancing sustainable practices at scale. Two informational webinars (on March 19 and April 16) will help entrants prepare submissions. After the May 1 deadline, a panel of judges will evaluate the proposals, with finalists announced in September and their work showcased during Climate Week NYC later that month. In early 2026, the ideas will be further refineds and transformed into pilot projects to test and demonstrate the concepts embodied in each proposal.
This is the third challenge sponsored by the New York Climate Exchange. Winners of the second challenge, which focused on the theme of circular economy, were announced earlier this week
“We believe that bold collaboration drives meaningful climate action,” explains Shaina Horowitz, director of programming innovation and acceleration for the Exchange. “This challenge is a call to creative problem-solvers to bring forward innovations that could shape the future of sustainability.”
“The Sustainable Solutions Challenge is an opportunity to integrate cutting-edge innovations into the very foundation of our Climate Hub,” adds Andrew Winters, the Exchange’s director of capital projects, planning, and development. “By inviting forward-thinking solutions at this critical design stage, we are ensuring that the hub not only meets the highest sustainability standards but also serves as a proving ground for the next generation of ideas.”