Big Buildings, One Small Saving
What Buildings Greater than 50,000 sq. ft. Don't Want to Miss!
If you're on the board of a building in New York City that is greater than 50,000 square feet, you might be wondering how to comply with and not break Local Law 97's new emissions standards without breaking the bank. The good news is that you might have already taken a step towards compliance without even realizing it.
Local Law 97 (LL97) is a comprehensive package of legislation that aims to tackle climate change in New York City. It includes the Carbon Emissions Limits for Buildings (CELB) component, which sets emissions limits for buildings over 25,000 square feet and fines those that do not comply. This means that if you own or manage a building greater than 25,000 sq. ft., you are most likely already familiar with LL97 and the need to comply with its emissions limits.
But what if your building is greater than 50,000 square feet? The good news is that you may already have an energy audit report as part of Local Law 87 (LL87), the city's existing energy audit and retro-commissioning law. In this case, you may not need to spend extra money on an energy audit to comply with LL97 at this time.
Confused about the difference between LL87 and LL97? LL87 requires owners of buildings over 50,000 square feet to perform an energy audit and retro-commissioning every 10 years. The audit must be performed by a licensed professional and the retro-commissioning must correct any deficiencies found in the audit. The report must be submitted to the city and must identify cost-effective measures to improve energy efficiency.
Let’s recap New York City’s three main energy laws:
Local Law 84: Benchmarking for buildings greater than 25,000 sf
Local Law 87: Retrofitting for buildings greater than 50,000 sf
Local Law 97: Fining buildings greater than 25,000 sf
LL97, on the other hand, sets emissions limits for buildings over 25,000 square feet and requires building owners to reduce their emissions or face penalties. The law aims to reduce New York City's greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.
So, if your building is greater than 50,000 square feet and you have already performed an energy audit under LL87, you may be able to use that report to identify carbon emission reductions and save some money. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your existing energy audit report:
Review Your LL87 Report: Take a fresh look at your LL87 report and identify any cost-effective measures that you can implement to reduce carbon emissions. You may be surprised to find that there are some relatively easy changes you can make that will have a big impact on your building's emissions.
Revisit Your Retro-Commissioning: If your retro-commissioning was performed more than a year ago, consider revisiting the report to ensure that all deficiencies have been corrected. Making sure that your building's systems are working at peak efficiency can help to reduce carbon emissions.
Evaluate Your Building Envelope: The building envelope, or the walls, roof, windows, and doors, is an important factor in determining a building's energy efficiency. Consider ways to improve your building's envelope to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. For example, adding insulation or upgrading windows can help to reduce heat loss in the winter and keep cool air inside in the summer.
Look into Renewable Energy: Renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, can help to reduce your building's carbon emissions. Investigate the feasibility of incorporating renewable energy into your building's energy mix.
Get Your Residents Involved: The residents of your building play a big role in energy consumption. Consider ways to engage them in efforts to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. Simple steps, such as reminding residents to turn off lights when they leave a room, can make a big difference over time.
If your building is greater than 50,000 square feet and you have already performed an energy audit under LL87, you may be able to use that report to identify cost-effective measures to reduce carbon emissions and comply with LL97. Take a fresh look at your LL87 report, revisit your retro-commissioning, evaluate the envelope, look into renewable and get the residents involved too!
Have an upcoming project that the building’s engineer or property manager is getting bids for? Get a second opinion on the cost of the project so that you don’t have to assess your coop or condo owners. We welcome any size project, but large and frequent savings are for façade inspection safety programs (FISP) and elevator replacements. Set up a strategy call to hear more about this.