"The first three of four bills before me today are Introductory Numbers 341-A, 347-A, and 358-A which will facilitate more sustainable practices in rooftop development.  New York's rooftops are one of our last great, untapped resources in terms of space and these bills will help move us toward more beneficial and sustainable use of that space.  These bills also act upon recommendations of the Green Codes Task Force, which the Urban Green Council established in 2008 at the request of Speaker Quinn and myself to make recommendations for code amendments that could improve the sustainability of the City's built environment.

"Introductory Number 341-A, sponsored by Council Members Dilan, Barron, Brewer, Cabrera, Chin, Comrie, Fidler, Garodnick, Gentile, Gonzalez, James, Koppell, Koslowitz, Lander, Mark-Viverito, Nelson, Palma, Rose, Vann, Williams, Rodriguez, Van Bramer, Halloran, Levin, Lappin, Recchia, Vallone, Crowley, Gennaro, Jackson, Wills, Greenfield, Reyna and Koo, will exempt solar panel installations from height and story restrictions in the Building Code, even in cases where such installations cover more than one-third of the roof's area. 

"Introductory Number 347-A, sponsored by Council  Members Garodnick, Brewer, Chin, Comrie, Fidler, Gentile, Gonzalez, James, Koppell, Lander, Mark-Viverito, Nelson, Palma, Sanders, Vann, Williams, Rodriguez, Gennaro, Van Bramer, Levin, Lappin, Recchia, Vallone, Crowley, Jackson, Koo, Wills, Barron and Greenfield, will more closely align the existing white roof requirements in the 2008 Building Code with the performance-based "cool roof" standards for emissivity and reflectivity prescribed by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.  The proliferation of dark surfaced roofs in the City contribute greatly to the "urban heat island" effect, by which dense urban areas experience increases in summer temperatures relative to neighboring communities.  This bill compliments ongoing efforts to reduce the urban heat island effect, such as the NYC Cool Roofs collaboration between NYC Service and the Department of Buildings.

"Introductory Number 358-A, sponsored by Council Members Reyna, Cabrera, Chin, Fidler, Garodnick, Gentile, James, Koppell, Lander, Mark-Viverito, Nelson, Palma, Sanders, Williams, Rodriguez, Van Bramer,  Halloran,  Barron, Greenfield and Koo, will explicitly include co-generation - distributed energy systems that produce both building electricity and heat - among the mechanical equipment that is exempt from height and story restrictions in the Building Code, provided that the total area covered by any such exempt equipment and structures is no more than one-third of the area of the entire roof. 

"I would like to thank Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability Director David Bragdon, Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri, and their staff along with my Office of City Legislative Affairs for their work on these bills.  I would also like to thank the Council for approving this legislation.

"I will hold another public hearing on these bills Friday in the event anyone was unable to attend today's hearing due to religious observance."