NYC LOCAL LAW 84 ‘2009
NYC LL 84 requires buildings more than 50,000 sq. ft. or buildings on a single lot larger than 100,000 sq. ft., are required to annually measure and report their energy and water consumption. This process is referred to as benchmarking and is conducted on a government-provided energy management tool called ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
PRICELESS RESOURCE can manage all law requirements and save your money on building operations, making your building more competitive. Reported ENERGY STAR benchmarking score is made available to the public to encourage and generate energy efficiency and a greener usage of resources. There is an exemption for landlords of “garden apartments” from being required to benchmark properties where is no HVAC system or hot water heating system in the series of dwellings that serve more than two units.
Accurate ENERGY STAR Benchmark generates 35% less GHG Emissions.
NYC LL 133 amends the original NYC LL 84, expanding the list of buildings required to benchmark significantly including mid-sized buildings measuring 25,000 – 49,999 sq. ft. must benchmark annually energy and water use. The property must be registered with the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool, and develop a case for compliance. Failure to comply with this law will result in a violation and any property on the Covered Buildings List that has not submitted a benchmarking report by the deadline will receive a Notice of Violation from the NYC DOB. Continued failure to benchmark will result in a $500 penalty being issued each quarter, up to a maximum of $2,000 fine per year.
Building Benchmarking Summary
- all buildings over 50,000 sq. ft. must have an annual benchmarking
- must gather all building energy usage (electric, natural gas, and oil, including tenant aggregate)
- building energy model is created using a tool from the DOE called Portfolio Manager including occupancy, building size, heating, and air conditioning are defined in Portfolio Manager
- output is used to determine the building’s Energy Letter Grade (NYC LL 95)
- failure to file has a fine of $500 per quarter
- only buildings in the following 5 boroughs of NY are covered by NYC LL 133: Staten Island, Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn
- data collection should be done annually from January 1 to April 30 for the previous calendar year and submitted by May 1.
- the law aims to find out the relative efficiency of underlying systems and the information is useful for all parties involved such as building owners, managers, potential buyers, and tenants
- building owners are required to keep records of building’s energy usage for 3 years