Working Groups

The Buildings Department, in conjunction with the Local Law 97 Advisory Board, convened eight Climate Working Groups to assist the City with a wide range of implementation challenges related to the law. Among other aspects of the law, the Working Groups examined the methods owners will use to report compliance with the law, the criteria for how building performance is measured, and challenges and solutions for specific building types, such as hospitals, commercial buildings, and rent-regulated buildings. These Working Groups leveraged subject-matter experts in a variety of fields and assisted the Advisory Boardby developing recommendations on how the City can best implement this first-of-its-kind greenhouse gas emission reduction law. Recommendations made by the Working Groups were presented to the Advisory Board and Department of Buildings leadership, and due to the Mayor and City Council by January 1, 2023. Read the report.

In each of the eight Climate Working Groups, members focus on different factors that will be key to implementing energy efficiency retrofits citywide. Details of each group's focuses and specific missions are as follows:

  • Building Technologies & Pathways (Multifamily Buildings)
    Focus: Improving building scale energy usage for multifamily buildings through retrofits, enforcement improvements and studying tenant energy use.

  • Building Technologies & Pathways (Commercial Buildings)
    Focus: Examine the impacts of tenant/owner structure, building typology, and building electrification on energy usage and greenhouse gas emission reduction opportunities.

  • Carbon Accounting
    Focus: Recommend methodologies to calculate buildings' greenhouse gas emissions and identify metrics to prove reliable and effective results.

  • Energy Grid
    Focus: Understand potential impact of a changing energy infrastructure on buildings and provide advice on how to navigate it.

  • Economic Impact
    Focus: Analyze the economic impact that achieving reduced energy and emissions may have on city-wide financial growth, leasing agreements and operating costs.

  • Hospitals
    Focus: Address the unique energy demands of healthcare facilities and recommend solutions for compliance.

  • Communications
    Focus: Provide input on necessary outreach to educate building owners, designers and operators about requirements for compliance and foster transparency on new rules and regulations.

  • Implementation
    Focus: Provide input on the practical realities of demonstrating compliance and achieving the long-term goals of the mandates under LL97.