Mayor Bloomberg's office recently released the city's first report on Local Law 84/09, which requires New York City buildings with more than 50,000 square feet (or multiple buildings with a combined square footage of more than 100,000 square feet) to annually benchmark their energy and water use.
The report, which analyzes the 2011 energy data of more than 8,000 buildings covering 1.8 billion square feet of space, points out there are significant opportunities for property owners to make their buildings more efficient through improved operations and maintenance. Some of the key findings:
- Buildings account for 75 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in New York City, almost double the proportion in the United States as a whole. New York City's buildings, however, are generally less energy intensive than the national average.
- Older buildings tend to have better energy performances than newer buildings for a variety of possible reasons, including less extensive ventilation systems, better thermal envelopes, and less dense or energy intensive tenant occupations.
- Newer office buildings in New York City tend to use more energy per square foot than older ones. Measurement per square foot, however, does not necessarily reflect efficiency measured by energy per unit of economic activity.
- Larger office buildings tend to be more energy intensive than smaller ones, whereas smaller multifamily buildings tend to be more energy intensive than larger ones.
- Multifamily properties constituted 80% of the number of properties benchmarked, with offices constituting another 11%. The multifamily sector accounts for half the energy use and offices one third.
- Approximately 75% of covered properties complied with the benchmarking requirement by the extended deadline of December 31, 2011,
- Most building owners and managers do not know whether their buildings are energy efficient.
The mayor's full report can be viewed here. The deadline for filing your building's 2011 energy use was May 1, 2012. (Buildings that fail to comply face potential violations and fines of $500 for a quarter, up to a maximum of $2,000 per year.) If you have not yet submitted your building's energy data and would like a free estimate for benchmarking your building's energy use, please contact Rand's Energy Team at info@nullrandpc.com; 212-675-8844.
