Reports

The Advisory Board, Working Groups, and the Department of Buildings (DOB) will work together to produce a set of recommendations to help owners comply with Local Law 97, targeting a 40% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions from the buildings sector by 2030. 
 
The Working Groups are already soliciting feedback from stakeholders and experts to craft these recommendations. When those recommendations are complete, they will be presented to the Advisory Board, who will then present them to DOB leadership. The final reports will be presented to the Mayor and City Council by January 1, 2023.

Assessing Building Energy Performance

The first report will have recommendations about how to improve methods used to determine the energy performance of a building. The report will also include a reference guide that makes it clear who is responsible for which aspects of improving the energy efficiency of a building, such as the owners and building designers.
 
That report must include the following areas of analysis, but can include further recommendations as well:

• What is the best way for buildings to submit information on their energy performance?
• How will other ways to reach compliance be measured, such as buying clean energy credits or alternative paths for buildings with special uses?
• How will tenant controlled energy usage be taken into account?
• What is the best approach to auditing buildings for compliance?
• What is the best way for rent-regulated housing reduce their emissions?
• When a building changes its usage, which has a different cap for its emissions, how will the new cap and associated penalties be phased in?

• Finally, is the Mayor’s goal of reducing citywide emissions 80% by 2050 addressed by all the recommendations?

Improving Building Energy Performance

The second report will provide recommendations on how to improve energy performance for covered buildings. These recommendations must achieve at least a 40 percent reduction in the emissions of all covered buildings by 2030. That report must include the following areas of analysis, but can include further assessments as well:

• How to incentivize reducing energy demand by buildings at peak energy usage times?
• Should we allow staggered reporting cycles for compliance with the law?
• How should penalties for non-complying buildings be determined?
• How much will individual energy performance requirements reduce emissions?
• What will the economic impact of these energy requirements be? How much money will they save building owners?
• Are there ways to achieve even larger or earlier emissions reductions from city owner buildings?
• Should there be separate improvement requirements for base building energy systems, and those controlled directly by tenants?
• How can we reduce emissions from manufacturing and industrial processes?
• What is the best way to reduce emissions from hospitals, without sacrificing critical care or safety for patients?