Decoding NYC’s Local Law 97: A Guide for Building Owners

Carbon emissions and footprints are standard benchmarks when it comes to environmental preservation. Urban, cosmopolitan areas with dense residential spaces require a lot of energy to function. As a result, they generate large amounts of greenhouse gasses. In fact, two-thirds of all greenhouse gasses emitted in New York come from buildings. 

Local Law 97 is implemented in order to curb such large amounts of carbon emissions from buildings and make New York carbon neutral by the year 2050. This article covers all the updated information on Local Law 97, its significance, and compliance for building owners.

What Is Local Law 97? 

The Climate Mobilization Act, passed by the City Council of New York in April 2019, implemented Local Law 97 as a part of its carbon neutrality project. It is one of the most ambitious projects for reducing carbon emissions in the United States. 

According to the law, buildings over 25,000 square feet need to update energy-efficient consumption and usage standards. As of 2024, the law seeks to reduce the carbon emission of New York’s largest buildings by 40% by 2030. By 2050, there should ideally be a net zero of carbon emissions in the city. 

In September of 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced the “Getting 97 Done” strategy in 4 parts to accelerate the cutting down on emissions. This initiative focused on aspects like:

• Sourcing funds for building upgrades
• Offer technical guidance to owners through the NYC accelerator
• Enforce compliance through the New York City Department of Buildings.
• Decarbonize major central systems

The NYC LL97 also enlists help from the Climate Working Groups and the Local Law 97 Advisory Board to guide building owners on reducing carbon emissions and having better energy audits for their buildings.

Also Read: How NYC Is Leading The Decarbonization Race With NYC Local Law 97

Why Should Building Owners Care? 

Since local law 97 New York concerns buildings greater than 25,000 gross sq. feet, owners of such buildings must take prompt initiative in implementing the classes of the law. These buildings can be residential, commercial, industrial properties, etc. The law further extends to:

1. Two or more buildings within the same tax bracket that together constitute 50,000 square feet.
2. Two or more buildings within a condo association under the same board of managers that exceed 50,000 sq. feet altogether. 

Starting from 2024, building owners must submit these audits for compliance. If these audits do not meet the prescribed standards of the law, the building owners may have to face penalties. The disclosure agreement of the law makes this compulsory. Further, these audits should be publicly available so people can easily access them. This can encourage better decisions from shareholders. 

Building owners must also keep up with the provisions of regular reviews and updates so that the buildings can stay updated with the latest environmental and technical advancements. 

This also aims to increase the public’s awareness of NYC Local Law 97. The law encourages public engagement and education with the initiative so that it can have a trickle-down effect on overall carbon emissions.

What Are Local Law Compliance Strategies? 

Since 2019, various strategies have been outlined by the clauses of the law to help reduce New York’s overall carbon emissions. Mayor Eric Adam’s “Getting 97 Done” is one of the most recent and proactive ones. Its strategy includes:

1. Funding updates in buildings: This part of the strategy focuses on allocating financial resources to help buildings affected by the Local Law get updates to keep up with the latest environmental innovations. This uses sources like city, federal, and state funds, and utility-based funds to support the project. 
2. Technical guidance provided to owners through NYC Accelerators: NYC Accelerators provide technical advice and support to buildings so that they can implement the best and latest technologies in the market geared towards helping the building emit less carbon. 
3. Enforcing DOB Mechanisms: The New York Department of Buildings is one of the major enforcers of key compliance mechanisms.  
4. Decarbonizing systems: Decarbonization refers to the process of environmental mitigation aimed at completely reducing and eliminating the generation of carbon dioxide and other GHG from major economic and social practices. This is one of the most important strategies for achieving carbon neutrality. 

Removing carbon dioxide from central systems can require a total reconstruction of their mechanisms. This is where the accelerators mentioned above, and DOB mechanisms come into play. All of the above steps are important in pushing New York and its buildings to achieve a net zero carbon footprint, while improving the overall functionality of the buildings.

Also Read: Understanding Green Building Regulations

How Does An Early Adoption Of Local Law Help? 

Early adoption of government policies is one of the most effective ways of being ahead and accessing the benefits of making such updates. For example, building owners who adopt Local Law early will be able to reduce their emissions faster than those who adopt it later. This can help them prevent any future penalties and give them time to figure out different strategies. It also helps implement these “Getting 97 Done” strategies more efficiently.

Furthermore, different establishments may need different strategies and time periods for installing upgrades and sourcing funds. Building owners should also keep in mind the implementation of Local Law in conjunction with all the other laws enforced with the aim of reaching a carbon-neutral New York. 

To effectively implement these strategies, building owners can follow these steps:

1. Asses the size of their buildings
2. Evaluate and suit the emissions produces
3. Plan energy-efficient upgrades after consulting with experts 
4. Seek funding sources to cover all the necessary systemic changes in their buildings.
5. Ask for technical advice from NYC Accelerators
6. Understand the rules outlined by the Department of Buildings
7. Carry out the upgrade planned ahead
8. Continue to monitor the emissions generated by the building after updates and compare them with the previous reports.
9. Report these changes as a part of your energy audit disclosure
10. Keep informed about the latest updates and strategy implementations for Local Law.

Using all these steps, building owners can avoid penalties while effectively reducing the amount of energy used by their establishments. Furthermore, having a standardized procedure with regular audits can help determine which changes and upgrades have the best impact and replicable results. 

Conclusion 

In the past decade, there have been massive rises in temperature all over the world. Summers have been getting hotter which has affected crop cycles and caused glaciers to melt at an alarmingly rapid pace. Not identifying and curbing such drastic climate changes can have a detrimental impact on all life on Earth, including humans. 

That’s why environmental initiatives like Local Law 97 are crucial for beginning significant and recordable changes. Often, matters of climate change and environmental preservation are vested as individual actions rather than systemic ones. In most cases, no matter how much effort is put into the former, there can be no overall changes. The LL 97 sets precedence as an endeavor with targeted strategies and results aimed at accelerating the aim of carbon neutrality. At NYC LL97 Compliance Consultants, we identify the importance and necessity of properly upholding the law since there are few of such ambitious stature. If you need assistance in starting with upgrades on your building or even going through and thoroughly understanding the clauses of the law, a Local Law 97 compliance consulting can help demystify the process. Contact the team for consultations today!