05-15-2010
The Impact and Importance of New York's New Green Building Legislation
Last December, New York City passed the legislative component of its landmark Greener, Greater Buildings Plan to improve energy efficiency in large existing buildings and, by 2030, to reduce the city's greenhouse gas 30% below 2005 levels. The Plan prioritizes five key areas, four of which fall within the building sector. The targeted incentives aim to curb demand among the city's largest energy consumers—buildings.
With almost one million buildings totaling 5.2 billion square feet emitting 80% of citywide greenhouse gas emissions, addressing building energy consumption provides the greatest opportunity to achieve these greenhouse gas reduction goals. The initiative, while not the city's first, intends greater impact. Existing legislation targets new construction, which constitutes a fraction of potential measures. 85% of energy use in 2030 is projected to come from buildings existing today. Addressing existing buildings is critical.
The content of the four bills follows:
1. New York City Energy Code – Previously, the Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State only applied when an alteration led to the replacement of at least fifty percent of a building's system or subsystem. This loophole has been eliminated. All upgrades must meet the energy code.
2. Lighting Upgrades and Sub-metering – As non-residential lighting is responsible for 18% of carbon emissions from buildings, non-residential buildings over 50,000 square feet will be required to upgrade their interior and exterior lighting fixtures, controls and wiring to meet the new energy code by January 1, 2025. Each floor or tenant space over 10,000 square feet must have a sub-meter (or meters,) with monthly statements of electricity consumption provided to each tenant.
3. Benchmarking – Buildings over 50,000 square feet and city buildings over 10,000 square feet will be required to benchmark their annual energy consumption using the EPA's Benchmarking Tool, as well as benchmark water usage. Individual dwelling units are exempt from reporting this data, though common spaces must be included. The benchmarking information will be made public and compare statistics in several indices.
4. Audits and Retro-commissioning – Buildings over 50,000 square feet will be required to perform an ASHRAE level II energy audit by a certified energy auditor on all base building systems every 10 years, and file an energy efficiency report. In addition, all existing base building systems must be retro-commissioned to ensure optimal efficiency.
With almost one million buildings totaling 5.2 billion square feet emitting 80% of citywide greenhouse gas emissions, addressing building energy consumption provides the greatest opportunity to achieve these greenhouse gas reduction goals. The initiative, while not the city's first, intends greater impact. Existing legislation targets new construction, which constitutes a fraction of potential measures. 85% of energy use in 2030 is projected to come from buildings existing today. Addressing existing buildings is critical.
The content of the four bills follows:
1. New York City Energy Code – Previously, the Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State only applied when an alteration led to the replacement of at least fifty percent of a building's system or subsystem. This loophole has been eliminated. All upgrades must meet the energy code.
2. Lighting Upgrades and Sub-metering – As non-residential lighting is responsible for 18% of carbon emissions from buildings, non-residential buildings over 50,000 square feet will be required to upgrade their interior and exterior lighting fixtures, controls and wiring to meet the new energy code by January 1, 2025. Each floor or tenant space over 10,000 square feet must have a sub-meter (or meters,) with monthly statements of electricity consumption provided to each tenant.
3. Benchmarking – Buildings over 50,000 square feet and city buildings over 10,000 square feet will be required to benchmark their annual energy consumption using the EPA's Benchmarking Tool, as well as benchmark water usage. Individual dwelling units are exempt from reporting this data, though common spaces must be included. The benchmarking information will be made public and compare statistics in several indices.
4. Audits and Retro-commissioning – Buildings over 50,000 square feet will be required to perform an ASHRAE level II energy audit by a certified energy auditor on all base building systems every 10 years, and file an energy efficiency report. In addition, all existing base building systems must be retro-commissioned to ensure optimal efficiency.