Checking your building’s carbon footprints is a part of the standard benchmarks for environmental preservation. Urban areas with a thick residential population need immense energy to function. As a result, they create a large amount of greenhouse gases. In fact, 2/3rd of all greenhouse gasses emitted in New York come from residential and office establishments.
Local Law 97 New York City is implemented in order to limit such huge amounts of carbon from being emitted from buildings and turn New York into a decarbonized city by the year 2050. This article covers all the new information on Local Law 97 and how building owners and managers can comply.
What Is Local Law 97?
This law was implemented by the Climate Mobilization Act, passed by the City Council of New York in April 2019 as a part of its carbon neutrality project. It is one of the most large-scale projects for reducing carbon emissions in the States.
According to this, buildings greater than 25,000 square feet have to keep their energy consumption readings updated. As of 2024, the aim is to reduce the emissions of New York’s largest buildings by at least 40% by 2030. By 2050, there should be a net zero of total emissions in the city.
In September 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced the “Getting 97 Done” strategy. This is a 4 part project to accelerate the recursion of carbon footprints. This initiative focused on aspects like:
- Sourcing funds for building upgrades
- Enforce compliance through the New York City Department of Buildings.
- Technical guidance to owners through the NYC accelerator
- Decarbonize major central systems
The law also involves help from the Climate Working Groups and the LL97 Advisory Board. They guide building owners and managers on retrofitting and having higher standard energy audits for their buildings.
What can building Building Owners and managers do?
Since LL97 concerns buildings of size 25,000 gross sq. feet and bigger, owners of such establishments must take eager initiative in implementing the clauses of the law. These buildings can be residential, commercial, industrial properties, etc. The law further also covers:
- Two or more buildings falling in the same tax bracket that constitute 50,000 square feet together.
- Two or more establishments within a condo association under the same board of managers exceed 50,000 sq. feet altogether.
Starting from 2024, building owners must turn in these audits for the purpose of NYC LL97 Compliance. If these audits do not meet the prescribed limits prescribed by the law, the building owners have to face penalties. The disclosure agreement mandated by the law makes this compulsory. Further, these audits should be available for the public to examine. This is so people can know what the living conditions in these establishments are like. This will, in turn, encourage better decisions from shareholders.
Building owners must also continue providing regular updates and stay updated with the latest environmental and technical advancements.
This also works to increase the public’s awareness of environmental protection as well as accurate real estate values. The law encourages public engagement and participation in the initiative. This is so that it can achieve a trickle-down effect on total carbon emissions.
How can you comply with Local Law?
The government has outlined several 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 significant recent measures. Its strategy includes:
- Funding retrofitting in buildings: This part of the strategy focuses on allocating funds to help buildings affected by the Local Law get technological and infrastructure updates and innovations. This uses sources like city, federal, and state funds, as well as utility-based funds, to support the project.
- DOB Mechanisms: The New York Department of Buildings is one of the major enforcers of key compliance mechanisms.
- Technical guidance for owners through NYC Accelerators: NYC Accelerators help with technical advice and guidance to building owners so that they can do what’s best for their establishments by updating them.
- Decarbonizing: Decarbonization refers to the process of mitigation aimed at completely reducing and potentially eliminating the generation of carbon dioxide and other GHG from major economic and social practices. This is one of the most important significant strategies for achieving carbon neutrality.
Removing carbon dioxide from central systems can require a total reconstruction of their mechanisms. This is where the accelerators and DOB mechanisms come into play. All of the above steps need a greater push. Only then can buildings in NYC achieve a net zero carbon footprint while improving the overall livability of the buildings.
Also Read: What NYC Building Owners be doing to reduce its carbon emissions
How Does An Early Adoption Of Local Law Help?
The faster you adopt the mandates prescribed by the Local Law, the faster you can reap the benefits posed by such changes. For example, owners who adopt Local Laws early will be able to reduce their emissions more quickly than those who adopt them later. This can help them prevent any future Local Law 97 penalties and give them time to devise different strategies. It also helps implement these “Getting 97 Done” strategies more rigorously.
Furthermore, different buildings may need different strategies and periods for installing effective upgrades and sourcing funds. Building owners should also keep in mind the implementation of Local Law. This is 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:
- Assess the size of your buildings
- Evaluate and audit the emissions
- Plan energy-efficient retrofits after consulting with experts
- Seek funding sources to cover changes in their buildings.
- Ask for technical assistance and advice from NYC Accelerators
- Understand the rules outlined by the DOB
- Carry out the upgrade planned ahead
- Continue to monitor the new energy consumption pattern and compare them with the previous reports.
- Report these changes as a part of your audit disclosure
- Keep updated with the latest updates and strategy implementations for Local Law.
Using all these steps, building owners can avoid penalties while effectively reducing the energy used by their establishments. Furthermore, having a mandated procedure with frequent audits can help you see which changes and upgrades have the best impact and replicable results.
Conclusion
In the past decade, there have been massive rises in global temperature all over the world. Summers have been getting more and more oppressive, leading to crop failures and rapid melting of glaciers. This poses a significant threat to the lives and well-being of all species, including humans. On a smaller scale, it is also bad news for real estate as it means a drastic loss of value in buildings.
Environmental initiatives like Local Law 97 are crucial for beginning significant and recordable changes. The LL97 sets precedence as an endeavor with targeted strategies and results aimed at accelerating the aim of carbon neutrality At NYC LL97 Compliance Consultants, we know the importance and need of properly complying with the law since there are few of such ambitious stature. If you need help starting with upgrades on your building or even thoroughly understanding the clauses of the law, a Local Law 97 compliance consulting can help demystify the process. Get ready and contact the team for consultations today!
