Championing Climate Justice, One Building at a Time: Lizette De Alem
What does climate justice look like in action? In Bedford, it looks a lot like Lizette De Alem—Bedford 2030’s Climate Justice Fellow—who’s been on the front lines of making our community healthier, fairer, and more sustainable.
Over the past year, Lizette has played a key role in launching one of Bedford’s most impactful climate-forward initiatives: an amendment to an existing law, now known as the Building Health and Performance Law, a pioneering policy helping make our buildings safer, more energy-efficient, and more equitable. The amendment, championed by Bedford 2030, mandates energy efficiency inspections and benchmarking in all rental units.
It’s the first law of its kind, not just in Bedford, but in all of New York State—and Lizette has been essential in building the infrastructure to support the law.
Bridging Climate, Health, and Housing
Lizette provides support for the process and system of the rollout of Bedford’s Building Health and Performance Law, an effort designed to increase transparency around building conditions, especially in rental housing, where tenants may lack the power to demand improvements. The goal? Make sure everyone, regardless of income or background, can live in a safe, healthy, and energy-efficient home.
“When I started, I knew climate, housing, and health were connected, but being part of this project showed me just how deeply these systems intersect.”
From Vision to Implementation
Lizette wears many hats: she helps create educational materials for landlords and tenants, coordinates outreach to building owners, and fields questions with clarity and compassion. Behind the scenes, she tracks compliance, streamlines communication between departments, and troubleshoots data snafus. Her work has helped launch a new town-wide CRM system, with the Building Health and Performance Law amendment as the pilot use case for community members and the building department.
It’s not easy to amend a law. But thanks to Lizette’s dedication, Bedford is on the map for taking real, enforceable action on building performance, tenant safety, and greenhouse gas reduction.
A Voice for Fairness and Inclusion
One of Lizette’s biggest takeaways? Meet people where they are. That means breaking down complex policies into plain language, listening to concerns, and building trust with landlords and tenants.
“I’ve become a lot better at explaining policies in simple terms and helping people through the process. I also learned how to work within local government systems, while making sure we were being fair and inclusive every step of the way.
Why This Matters
Buildings account for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions in Bedford, and we all feel the impacts of our community’s fossil fuel use at home. The Building Health and Performance Law directly addresses an entire subset of buildings that are largely excluded from voluntary building performance upgrades due to the landlord/tenant split incentive. Too often, renters bear the brunt of outdated energy infrastructure, poor insulation, and health-harming conditions. Lizette’s work with Bedford 2030 and the Town of Bedford helps change that, creating a blueprint for climate justice that other towns and cities can replicate.
Celebrating Climate Justice in Action
Lizette Alem’s leadership, empathy, and determination have made a lasting impact on our town. She’s shown us that climate justice isn’t just about the planet—it’s about people. And thanks to her, Bedford is one step closer to becoming a model community where sustainability and equity go hand in hand.
Stay tuned as we continue this critical work to drive real change at home.