by Rebecca Walker — December 14, 2009—New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the passage of a sweeping package of bills that will greatly increase the energy efficiency of New York City’s commercial building stock, saving consumers hundreds of millions of dollars in energy costs and creating thousands of jobs.
The legislation, a group of four bills known as the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, was enacted as part of the city’s PlaNYC commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Each of the bills passed with overwhelming majorities, with two achieving unanimous support. Major provisions of the legislation include:
- Annual ENERGY STAR performance benchmarking and public disclosure of energy and water information for public buildings and large private buildings;
- Energy audits and retrocommissioning for large buildings once every 10 years;
- Lighting upgrades and the sub-metering of tenant spaces greater than 10,000 square feet in large, privately owned buildings; and
- The creation of a New York City Energy Code that existing buildings must meet upon renovation.
The New York City legislation could create 17,880 construction and building-related jobs and save consumers $700 million annually in energy costs, according to city estimates. The legislation also includes a workforce development initiative to train workers for new jobs, and creates a financing program using $16 million in federal stimulus funding to provide loans to property owners for energy efficiency upgrades.
Approximately 80 percent of New York City’s carbon footprint comes from buildings’ energy use. Globally, buildings account for roughly 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. For more information, see the Web site for the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of energy efficiency, green building and environmental protection in the United States and abroad.
