New York-specific: Climate Mobilization Act

Introduction

New York City’s population is booming. It’s expected to continue increasing, which puts some serious strain on the city’s infrastructure and the environment. Buildings account for roughly two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions in New York City. Due to this, Mayor de Blasio pledged to address these emissions as part of a plan to make the city carbon neutral by 2050. This will be done through Local Law 97. The law is anticipated to decrease cumulative emissions from large buildings at least 40 percent citywide. This Fact File will explain who is covered under the Climate Mobilization Act/Local Law 97 and how it will likely affect New York City.

Background

Local Law 97 was included in the Climate Mobilization Act. It was passed by the New York City Council in April 2019. It’s part of the New York City Green New Deal brought on by the mayor. The hope is that by targeting the city’s largest buildings, it will promote energy efficiency, helpful electrification, and renewable energy while making new, good-paying jobs for New Yorkers. It will also discourage continued reliance on polluting fossil fuels. And it will cut down on damaging air pollution that causes respiratory illnesses and save building owners money over time by dropping operating expenses. Climate emissions caps for the buildings will greatly lower the city’s carbon emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and other particulate matter.

Who does Local Law 97 apply to?

Most buildings over 25,000 square feet will be required to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits by 2024. Stricter limits should come into effect in 2030. The goal is to lower emissions produced by the city’s largest buildings. Specifically, the aim is 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. The law established the Local Law 97 Advisory Board and Climate Working Groups. These both advise the city on how best to meet these sustainability goals.   

Local Law 97 normally covers, with some exceptions:

• Buildings that are over 25,000 gross square feet;
• Two or more buildings on the same tax lot that combined are over 50,000 square feet;
• Two or more buildings owned by a condo association that are governed by the same board of managers and that combined are over 50,000 square feet.

The law applies to 50,000 buildings across New York City (those that are greater than 25,000 square feet), across 22,000 properties. The New York City Council found that out of buildings that are greater than 25,000 square feet, hospitals emit the most greenhouse gases. This is because they are required by law to maintain constant air flow which is quite energy intensive. Houses of worship and storage facilities emit the least amount of greenhouse gases per square foot since they are not occupied most of the time. Regardless of what your large building is used for, there is still room for improvement when it comes to greenhouse gases.

Building owners can reduce their energy use by improving heating and cooling systems, and upgrading hot water heaters, roofs, windows, and electric appliances. They can also reduce their emissions impact by installing solar panels and switching to less polluting energy sources.

Climate Mobilization Act financing help and effects

It may seem intimidating at first but there is help available for the affected buildings. The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) law (Local Law 96 of 2019) establishes a low-cost financing system that will help ease the financial burden of making energy efficiency and clean air retrofits. PACE loans, which attach to the building, rather than to the owner, require little or no money at the start. They are paid back based on the expected energy savings. This can help owners make essential retrofits while saving on operating expenses.

The Act should have a far-reaching impact. By 2030, the Climate Mobilization Act is likely to:

• Lessen New York City’s overall emissions 10 percent
• Remove 6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of taking 1.3 million cars off the road each year
• Make 26,700 green jobs
• Prevent 50 to 130 premature deaths yearly
• Prevent 150 hospital visits yearly

Applicable laws & regulations

Bill 1253 (Local Law 97 of 2019) (Int. No. 1253-C) - Commitment to achieve certain reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

Bill 1032 (Local Law 94 of 2019) (Int. No. 1032-A) - Requiring that the roofs of certain buildings be covered in green roofs or solar photovoltaic electricity generating systems

Related definitions

“Building Emissions” means greenhouse gas emissions as expressed in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted from operating a covered building and calculated in accordance with rules promulgated by the department in consultation with the mayor’s office of long-term planning and sustainability.

“Greenhouse Gas” means a unit of greenhouse gas, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride.

Keys to remember

Keep in mind that there are some exemptions to the law. Buildings exempt from Local Law 97’s annual building emissions limits are:

• Owned by New York City or the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
• Houses of worship owned by religious organizations
• Properties owned by a housing development fund company organized pursuant to the New York State Business Corporation Law and Article XI of the New York State Private Housing Finance Law
• Buildings with at least one rent-regulated dwelling unit
• Buildings with low-income or subsidized housing
• Industrial facilities mainly used to produce electric power or steam, and
• Multi-family buildings that are three stories or less with no shared HVAC or hot water heating system.

Affordable housing developments created with government subsidies are exempt from the law until 2035.

Real world example

On June 16, 2021, the first PACE loan for the Climate Mobilization Act was finalized. A Wall Street office building was given an $89 million loan to retrofit 900,000 square feet of office space. The project is set to save $2.5 million in annual energy costs. Additionally, it will avoid $750,000 in yearly Local Law 97 fines, which begin in 2030. Thankfully, already 80 percent of buildings impacted by this legislation are performing within their 2024 targets. That means the majority of them will not have to face that hefty fine if they keep on track. Already this Act is proving to be a collaborative effort that is well on its way to successfully reducing greenhouse gas emissions.