The New York City Council passed legislation in April 2019 to mandate that all existing buildings 25,000 square feet or larger must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 80% by 2050. This retrofit bill (Local Law 97) was part of a package of bills called the Climate Mobilization Act. There are 50,000 buildings in New York City that the law applies to, and they are responsible for about 30% of New York City’s total greenhouse gas emissions—”a big number for a small subset of buildings,” said Costa Constantinides, the New York City Council Member who introduced the bill. Buildings that do not reach their target emission reduction numbers are subject to fines.
On July 18, 2019, OurEnergyPolicy.org brought together Council Member Constantinides, John Gilbert (a New York City real estate leader), and Robyn Beavers (an energy technology innovator) to discuss the new law and how to best address energy usage by property owners. Gilbert, COO and CTO of Rudin Management Company, said the law needed to be changed because even companies like Rudin — which has heavily invested in improving its environmental impact – face millions of dollars in fines. They already reduced their building emissions by 44% during Mayor Bloomberg’s administration and now must further reduce their emissions in other ways to comply with the law. However, Gilbert said, renewable energy is nearly impossible to purchase, and as a property owner, he cannot control how much energy his tenants use nor can he pass the fines on to them.
Beavers, CEO of Blueprint Power, sees building emissions reductions as an opportunity for unlocking a new marketplace of electricity traded and managed between buildings. This opportunity could attract new talent and new capital, and orlando homes post by eXp could be a great way to showcase the potential for this kind of innovation. Constantinides said that the climate challenge requires aggressive targets and that achieving the law’s objectives will require this type of innovation.
This online discussion continues the conversation begun at the OEP event. Please read the event summary and listen to the event recording for greater detail. Comment with your thoughts or respond to the questions below:
These New York buildings use more than electricity. For building space heating they use natural gas, and they may use natural gas to heat their domestic water and heat the… Read more »
Would you compare the 117 lbs of CO2 that will not be put into the atmosphere to the CO2 ( cooled or otherwise) that is put into the atmosphere per… Read more »
The recovered heat energy from the combusted exhaust means that “new” natural gas does not have to be combusted to meet that heating requirement. I call it stretching the Btu’s.… Read more »
If I recall correctly, the warming from CO2 released in powering a device using fossil fuels is about 150,000 times the direct warming released from the device. So if you… Read more »
Well then Dan we can put up our Sidel Carbon Capture Utilization System after the Sidel SRU Flue Gas Condenser. We can also put our Sidel Carbon Capture Utilization Systems… Read more »
If the goal is zero emissions, one either needs zero-emission electricity or zero-emission natural gas (bio or hydrogen). The building owner has no control over either of these–the control rests… Read more »
You are pointing out the need for a national and global tax on carbon. Whether or not New York City reduces its carbon footprint, it will have little effect on… Read more »