The New York City Council passed Local Law 55 of 2018, referred to as the “Asthma-Free Housing Act,” to combat rising asthma rates and improve quality of life for New York residents. The bill requires landlords to prevent and remove indoor health hazards that can trigger asthma such as mold and pests, as well as mandating the use of safe and effective methods to ensure long-term success. The existence of an indoor allergen hazard (mold, pests) in any dwelling unit in a multiple dwelling, is declared to constitute a condition dangerous to health, which must be addressed by the owner.
Buildings in NYC measuring more than 50,000 square feet, or groups of buildings on a single lot larger than 100,000 square feet, are required to annually measure, track, and report their energy and water consumption. This process is referred to as benchmarking and is conducted on ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The Cotocon Group can manage all Local Law 84 of 2009 requirements and will save you money on building operations, making your building more competitive. Furthermore, a building’s reported ENERGY STAR Benchmarking score is made available to the public to encourage and generate energy efficiency and a greener usage of resources.
NYC Local Law 87 of 2009 mandates buildings larger than 50,000 square feet to file an Energy Efficiency Report to the Department of Buildings. This Energy Efficiency Report includes details of energy audit results and retro-commissioning measures. An energy audit is an inspection, survey, analysis, and report of energy flows to improve energy efficiency in a building. It studies buildings systems, such as building envelope, HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning), conveying systems, domestic hot water systems and, electrical and lighting systems. While Retro-Commissioning is a detailed look at how well these building systems are working.
New York City’s Local Law 94 of 2019, passed under the New York Climate Mobilization Act, requires the inclusion of a green roofing zone in new construction and for buildings undergoing certain major renovations. This roofing zone must be comprised of a photovoltaic (PV) electricity generating system (Solar Panels) or a green roof. Buildings with greater than 200 square feet of usable roof space must install a minimum of 4kW PV electricity generating system. If a building is unable to install a PV electricity generating system, a green roof system must be utilized. This is part of the “OneNYC 2050” program.
Have you ever seen the NYC Restaurant Letter Grades? Almost everyone who’s been to NYC has seen these colored letters (A through F) posted on the front of restaurants indicating their inspection results. Beginning in 2020, Local Law 95 requires Energy Grades to be posted on every building over 25,000 square feet and listed on the NYC Covered Buildings List. These grades are based on Energy Efficiency and Water Usage.
New York City Council passed the Climate Mobilization Act (CMA), which is an ambitious legislative package aligned with the City’s commitment to the carbon reduction targets set out in the Paris Agreement. It requires the economy-wide Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to be 40% lower than the 2005’s level by 2030 and 80% lower by 2050. As the centerpiece of CMA, Local law 97 regulates Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from buildings larger than 25,000 square feet.
New York City passed Local Law 133 of 2016 amending the original benchmarking Law, Local Law 84. As a result, the list of buildings required to benchmark has expanded significantly and now includes mid-sized buildings measuring 25,000 – 49,999 square feet. All the covered buildings must benchmark energy and water use by May 1st annually. Building owners need to register their property and submit their benchmarking report on ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.