New York City
BACKGROUND
On Earth Day 2009 (April 22,) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced the "Greener, Greater Buildings Plan," a six-point strategy to increase the energy efficiency of New York City's building stock. The legislation included four energy efficiency bills and new initiatives to train workers for green jobs and help building owners finance building efficiency retrofits. Introducing the legislation, Mayor Bloomberg said it would "do more to shrink our own direct impact on global warming than any other action we can take."
The City Council voted overwhelmingly to pass the legislation on Dec. 9, 2009, days before Mayor Bloomberg traveled to global climate talks in Copenhagen. The Greener, Greater Buildings Plan was enacted as part of the Mayor's PlaNYC initiative to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. It is projected to trim NYC's emissions by nearly 5 percent, the largest projected reduction from any PlaNYC program.
Roughly 80 percent of New York City's carbon footprint comes from buildings' operations, and 85 percent of existing buildings today will still be in use by the year 2030. According to city estimates, the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan will create more than 10,000 jobs in the building and construction sectors, and save consumers $700 million each year in energy costs.
IMT advised the New York City Mayor's Office and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on provisions in all four bills.
KEY PROVISIONS
Requires owners of existing buildings over 50,000 SF to conduct an energy audit and retrocommissioning of building systems once every 10 years. Buildings are exempt if they achieve certain ENERGY STAR performance minimums or LEED 2009 certification for existing buildings, or demonstrate compliance with a prescriptive list of building efficiency measures referenced in the bill. City-owned buildings are also required to retrofit systems when audits show such work would generate an energy-cost-savings pay-back in seven years or less.
Energy & Water Rating and Disclosure
Requires annual ENERGY STAR benchmarking and disclosure for private buildings over 50,000 SF and city buildings over 10,000 SF. In some cases, water use will also be benchmarked and disclosed. City buildings will begin benchmarking in 2010 and disclose in 2011, while private buildings will begin benchmarking in 2011 and disclose in 2012 (multifamily buildings will disclose in 2013.) Information will be posted to a public, online database that displays a building's energy utilization index (EUI), ENERGY STAR rating and water use for multiple years. Utilities are encouraged to automatically upload utility bills into ENERGY STAR.
Requires lighting upgrades to comply with the New York City Energy Conservation Code and the submetering of large tenant spaces in buildings over 50,000 SF by 2025. The lighting upgrades include the installation of more efficient fixtures and sensors and controls to increase energy conservation. The submetering provision applies to tenant spaces over 10,000 SF and requires building owners to provide monthly electricity statements with consumption and cost data to tenants with submeters.
Creates a local energy code based on the ICC's IECC that existing buildings and their systems and equipment must meet upon renovation. The new code closes a loophole that previously exempted many existing buildings from having to comply with energy efficiency code requirements during renovation.
Financing and Workforce Development Initiatives
The legislation also includes initiatives to train new workers for green jobs and help building owners finance energy efficiency retrofits. In partnership with NYSERDA, the city is launching a workforce development and training program to support construction and building-related jobs that will be created by the legislation. The city is also using $16 million of federal stimulus money to provide loans to property owners for energy efficiency upgrades. Loans will be available in mid-2010, according to the Mayor's office.
Read the Bills:
- Int. 967: Energy Audits and Retrocommissioning
- Int. 476: Rating and Disclosure
- Int. 973: Lighting and Submeters
- Int. 564: NYC Energy Conservation Code
PRESS AND MEDIA COVERAGE
New York City Mayor's Office Press Release | 12.9.09
New York City Council Press Release | 12.9.09
IMT Press Release | 12.9.09
Mayor Bloomberg Radio Address Transcript | 1010 WINS News Radio, 12.13.09
City-owned Buildings Now Benchmarked | GlobeSt.com, 5.3.10
New York's New Green Building Laws and the Message They Hold for Climate Talks | GreenerBuildings.com, 12.11.09
Council Passes Curbs on Greenhouse Gases | NYTimes, 12.9.09
NYC Passes Energy-Efficiency Bills for Buildings | Associated Press, 12.9.09
Bloomberg Pushes Efficiency Laws for New York Buildings | CoStar Group, 4.30.09
Carl Pope: A Big Win for Energy-Efficient Product Makers | CoStar Group, 5.1.09
City Plans to Make Older Buildings Refit to Save Energy | NYTimes, 4.22.09
Landlords Will Need More Green | NYPost, 4.22.09
Charlie Rose Interview with Michael Bloomberg, Christine Quinn and Carl Pope | 4.22.09
RESOURCES
The Process Behind PlaNYC (ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability USA and the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, City of New York)
