Two years ago, the City Council passed a law I wrote – The NYC Climate Protection Act – to mandate that New York City reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2030.
On December 9, the City Council passed four more bills that will move our city dramatically closer to fulfilling the vision of that landmark law. These new bills constitute the most progressive and comprehensive legislative package ever proposed by an American city to make its existing buildings more energy efficient.
These bills focus on the energy efficiency of buildings because nearly 80 percent of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants come from the heating, cooling and powering of the one million buildings across our city. And, I’m focusing on existing buildings because the New York City of 2030 will consist predominantly (approximately 85 percent) of buildings that already exist.
While many cities across the country are making strides to make sure that new building construction conforms to “green” standards, which is certainly important, this legislative package is unique in the country in that it recognizes that we cannot green our cities, lower our energy costs and clean our air with new construction alone. To create the kind of environment we want for our children and to protect our grandchildren from the effects of disastrous climate change, we need to green our existing buildings.
And, as compelling as the environmental rationale is for this initiative, just as compelling are the economic reasons to proceed. In advancing these measures, New York City will be creating a new green industry that will create 19,000 new jobs over a 10-year period and save New Yorkers more than $750 million in annual energy costs.
The first bill, which I authored, would require owners of buildings larger than 50,000 square feet or multiple buildings on a single tax lot that in aggregate exceed 100,000 gross square feet to perform an “energy audit” of the building and to implement energy-efficiency improvements that pay for themselves through energy savings within seven years. Although this law would only apply to approximately 22,000 buildings, a small fraction of New York City’s building stock, these buildings represent almost half of the built square footage in the city and 45 percent of the city’s energy consumption.
The second bill will require large building owners to conduct an annual analysis of their building’s energy and water consumption, with the goal of reducing energy and water use and greenhouse gas emissions in these buildings.
Third is a measure that would require lighting systems in large buildings be upgraded to meet a greener standard. Lighting systems consume 20 percent of energy used in buildings in New York City.
The final bill will create an energy code for New York City buildings. The new code will be more stringent than the New York State energy code, which the city currently uses. The new code will close a loophole that allows buildings to ignore energy regulations in certain cases.
Years from now, people will look back at this legislative package as the moment when city government, critical stakeholders and concerned citizenry came together to transform our buildings into centers of environmental innovation, showcases of engineering excellence and engines of economic revitalization. These bills are transformative for our environment, a boon to our economy and a beacon to other cities on the journey to environmental sustainability. I am honored to partner with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn in shepherding these bills through the legislative process.
City Councilmember James Gennaro represents District 24 in the Council and is the Chair of the Environmental Protection Committee.
