To reach its aggressive sustainability goals, New York City needs to do more than improve new construction and renovations. It has to proactively address energy waste its existing structures, a problem that is difficult to tackle because New York City has almost a million of them. However, it turns out that the city's square footage is highly concentrated in less than two percent of its properties; two percent translates into 15,000 properties over 50,000 square feet, which account for half of New York City's square footage and 45 percent of New York City's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These larger buildings also tend to have more sophisticated management and more financial and technical resources than do smaller buildings.
Consequently, New York City enacted a comprehensive effort, called the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan (GGBP), which targets energy efficiency in these large existing buildings. The City's signature effort in energy efficiency is an internationally recognized, industry-transforming energy efficiency package that is leading the nation in energy efficiency policy. GGBP is designed to ensure that information about energy is provided to decision-makers and that the most cost-effective energy efficiency measures are pursued.
GGBP consists of four regulatory pieces supplemented by job training opportunities and a financing entity called the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation (NYCEEC).The regulations include
These laws will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by almost five percent, have a net savings of $7 billion, and create roughly 17,800 construction-related jobs over 10 years.
For a detailed overview of GGBP, download the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan Overview (in PDF).
Watch the video of Mayor Bloomberg signing GGBP into law.
Read the City’s press release: December 28, 2009 - Mayor Bloomberg Signs Landmark Package of Legislation to Create Greener, Greater Buildings in New York City
Follow PlaNYC
