New NYC Law Aims to Curb Building Emissions

New York City has hundreds of thousands of buildings which are responsible for 79% of the city's greenhouse gas emissions. But the City Council this week approved a law requiring owners of large buildings to conduct energy audits and perform environmental tune-ups to reduce that number.

While the law is weaker than what was originally proposed, it still received praise from environmental groups.

The law requires owners of large buildings — 50,000 square feet or more — to do energy audits every 10 years and to improve energy efficiency in their operations and maintenance by taking such steps as replacing weather stripping and insulating steam pipes.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the bills will take the city closer to his goal of cutting the city's carbon emissions by 30% by 2030 by focusing on energy efficiency in those buildings.

The city buildings' consumption of a combination of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and steam are responsible for the high percentage of emissions.

As originally proposed, the energy efficiency bill would have mandated major and costly environmental upgrades, but backed off on the stiffer requirements in the face of opposition from building developers and real estate companies. Bloomberg said the more stringent requirements would be an excessive burden for building owners during the current economic climate.

But even with the weaker end result, environmental advocates said the legislation positions New York City well ahead of other American cities in dealing with building emissions.

"It's one of the most comprehensive, aggressive efforts anywhere in the country," Donna De Costanzo, a senior attorney for the National Resources Defense Council, was quoted as saying in BusinessWeek.

Related legislation passed by the city council includes the establishment of a new energy code that existing buildings will need to comply with when they renovate, and a requirement that large buildings upgrade lighting systems by 2025 to comply with the new energy code.

   BusinessWeek article

   Energy Efficiency resources on SGN

   Building Automation channel on SGN