Sustainable Building News - April 22, 2024

Sustainable Building News

April 22, 2024

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Happy Earth Day!

The Department of Buildings
wants to wish all New Yorkers a happy Earth Day!

This agency is committed to promoting
sustainable development that will help build a cleaner, energy
efficient and more resilient New York City. Through the
implementation and enforcement of sustainability-focused laws
and the city's Energy Conservation Code, we are helping to make
our city of over one million buildings greener with every permit
we issue.

Carbon emission caps for the largest
buildings in our City are currently in effect, thanks to Local
Law 97, with the first compliance reporting deadline scheduled
for May 1, 2025. The Sustainability Bureau here at DOB is still
hard at work crafting additional agency rules that will be
needed to fully implement the law over the next several decades,
leading up to the 2050 net-zero finish line. We will have more
information about upcoming rules in the near future, so stay
tuned.

Please read on to see some of the other
exciting sustainable buildings news items that we're excited to
share.

Local Law 97 Rules Package

One of DOB's goals to help
build a more sustainable city, is to encourage the use of
electric heating, cooling, and hot water generation in
buildings.

That's why the latest

Local Law 97 rules published in December, 2023, created
a beneficial electrification credit (or "BE Credit") that
rewards building owners who replace their fossil fuel systems
with electric heating, cooling, and/or hot water equipment. One
of the best ways to achieve this credit is to install an
electric heat pump, which emit fewer emissions while providing
the same amount of heating/cooling compared to fossil-fuel
equipment.

These credits can be used towards
compliance with the 2024-2029 Local Law 97 emissions limits, and
also for buildings that will need to reduce emissions to meet
the more stringent 2030-2034 limits.

Learn more about the electrification credit here

Launch of 321 Go!

Did you know over 8,000
affordable Housing buildings are covered under Local Law 97 and
have a compliance deadline this year?

To assist owners and managers of these
buildings, the city announced the creation of 321 Go!, a free
program to help affordable housing buildings comply with Local
Law 97, reduce their energy costs, and capture incentives and
rebates.

321 Go! is operated by NYC Housing
Preservation & Development and NY State Energy Research and
Development Authority (NYSERDA), in partnership with NYC
Accelerator. The program is a compliance helpdesk that uses a
building's address to present options that experts will then use
to help building owners and managers develop a plan to best
achieve their LL97 goals.

Buildings that are in HPD's asset-managed
portfolio, larger than 25,000 sq. ft., and subject to LL97
Article 321 are eligible for the program.

Learn
More and Sign-Up here

New Rule For Lighting and Sub-meters in Large Buildings

In the beginning of Earth
Week, DOB said, 'Let There Be (more energy efficient)
Light,'...and let us measure it!

Earlier this year, new DOB agency rules were adopted for Local
Law 88 of 2009, requiring owners of buildings greater than
25,000 square feet to upgrade their lighting systems and install
sub-meters.

Certain buildings are required to upgrade
lighting power allowances and controls, in accordance with the
requirements of

Article 310 of Chapter 3 of Title 28 of the NYC
Administrative Code; and to install electrical sub-meters in
covered tenant spaces, in accordance with the requirements of

Article 311 of Chapter 3 of Title 38 of the NYC
Administrative Code, by January 1, 2025.

DOB information on lighting upgrades here

Additional compliance information here

New Federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is a new, national-scale fund that
makes a $27 billion investment to combat the climate crisis by
mobilizing financing and private capital for greenhouse gas and
air pollution-reducing projects in communities across the country

Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
created under the federal Inflation Reduction Act, two of the
grants under the program, the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF)
and the Clean Communities Investment Act (CCIA), are intended
for:

Building decarbonization retrofits,

Distributing clean energy resources such as solar and
batteries,

Creating zero emissions transportation projects that benefit
LMI communities.

This funding could potentially help with Local Law 97 compliance
work in lower income, multi-family buildings. Stay tuned for
more information about these funds as it becomes available.

EPA News Release

Fun on Earth Day

Earth
Day isn't just about the call to action for a more sustainable
future, and a reminder about important sustainability
regulations, but it's also a day for celebration.

This year for Earth Day we had a lot of fun on our official DOB
social media accounts, by creating a new video explaining the
various regulations we enforce, with inspiration from one of our favorite development-related video
games, the much-loved 90s classic SimTower. Watch our video here.

We also brought back
our official DOB Earth Day playlist for a second year. As usual the playlist tracks are all inspired by the good work
DOB and the industry are doing collectively to promote a
cleaner, more sustainable buildings industry. So turn up the
volume, hit play and enjoy. Listen to our Playlist here.

For more information on sustainability,

visit us online.

Jimmy Oddo, Commissioner

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