Buildings in New York to be Graded on Energy Efficiency in 2020

The new law that comes into effect as of 2020 requires city-owned buildings that are bigger than 10,000 square feet and all other buildings exceeding 25,000 square feet to be required to display their energy efficiency grade at the public entrance of the building.

This new law will be implemented with the intention of encouraging buildings and real estate, in general, to improve energy efficiency standards with ratings being reassessed yearly.

For the purpose of grading the buildings, a new online tool has been created by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program that will assess information such as building size and number of occupants turning the data into a grade rated from A to F. The building will then be required to display the score in a visible area, similar to how a cleanliness score is displayed.

The new law is an adaptation of the 2018 city bill local las 33 which has been revised with a strict scoring system. The scoring amendment now states that building score was equal to or greater than 20 but less than 50, then it would be graded a C. However, now the range is from 55 to 70.

Previously a D grade would be placed on buildings that scored less than 20 but now a D is given if a building scored lower than 55. F meaning failure is given to buildings whose owners have not complied with rules.

With the new rules, an A grade is awarded to buildings who score 85 or above whereas previously a score of 90 was required.

This action on grading systems have been taken as currently, buildings account for 71% of greenhouse gas emissions in New York.

Earlier this year De Blasio passed a climate mobilisation act that consists of a series of bills that plan to reduce carbon emissions and promote green energy. The bill also includes the goal of reducing emissions by 40% by 2030 and ultimately an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050.

Following this act, the New York City Mayor also revealed a proposal for a ban on glass skyscrapers and fines for high rise buildings that are not energy efficient.

As well as this the city has also launched a zero-waste initiative that provides guidelines on construction waste management, recycling composting and energy consumption for buildings.

Image source by Carbon Tracker