Over the past decade, “green” building projects have been sprouting up throughout New York City, as energy efficient and environmentally-conscious design increasingly becomes the norm for developers of new construction projects. Buildings are defined as “green” as a result of efficient use of the energy, water and material or as a result of environmentally-friendly design, maintenance and operations. Through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design (LEED) certification system, buildings earn points by using motion-sensor lighting systems or by locating near public transportation.

LEED is the most common environmental certification system in the United States. Buildings receive a designation from certified (26-32 points) to platinum (52 to 69 points) based on their efficiency and design. The system was established in 2000 by the U.S. Green Building Council. As of September 2009, New York City had 46 LEED-certified buildings (including both residential and office buildings).

Although developers in the City are increasingly incorporating sustainable building practices into new construction projects, existing buildings have largely been left behind. In his PlaNYC 2030 sustainability plan, Mayor Bloomberg set an ambitious goal of reducing the City’s carbon emissions 30 percent by 2030. Energy efficiency in buildings will be an integral part of achieving this goal, as buildings in the City account for two-thirds of total emissions. It is estimated that by 2030, about 85 percent of the existing stock will be still be standing (NYTimes). As a result, officials acknowledge that green building practices will need to move beyond new construction to significant retrofitting of the existing building stock.

Mayor Bloomberg’s Plan to Green Existing Buildings:
In April 2009, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a sweeping package of policies to “green” the City’s existing building stock, including four pieces of legislation and two PlaNYC programs. In December 2009, the New York City Council approved a scaled-back version of what the mayor had proposed. The new law:

1.) Creates a city energy code based on the current state code with strong enforcement mechanisms;

2.) Requires all commercial buildings greater than 50,000 square feet to upgrade lighting to meet city building code by 2025; for example, upgrades include the installation of more efficient lighting fixtures or motion sensors;

3.) Mandates owners of commercial and residential buildings greater than 50,000 square feet to perform an energy audit once every 10 years; owners will also be required to undergo re-commissioning, or the testing and recalibration of building systems to ensure optimum performance; and

4.) Requires building owners to track energy use with an EPA benchmarking tool.

The benchmarking law applies to city-owned buildings greater than 10,000 square feet and privately-owned commercial and residential buildings greater than 50,000 square feet.

Furthermore, all commercial buildings affected by the law will have to install devices to measure each tenant’s energy use separately. The benchmarking bill will make tracking results available to the public with tax assessment information, allowing prospective buyers and tenants to take energy efficiency into account when performing due diligence.

The overall package of policies falls short of Mayor Bloomberg's initial proposal, which would have required building owners to follow up on their audits by undertaking capital improvements to bolster the energy efficiency of a building, provided the renovations were cost-effective over a five-year period. For example, the mayor's plan would have required building owners to replace windows or install new ventilation systems, if the repairs were called for in the audit and cost-effective; the current law only requires smaller maintenance improvements, such as weather stripping or insulating steam pipes.

The New York Chapter of Building Owners & Managers Association and other property owners had adamantly opposed the mayor’s initial proposal, calling it an unfunded mandate during a difficult economic climate. Another point of contention with the retrofits proposal was confusion over how owners and tenants would pay for the costs of improvements and share benefits of reduced energy usage. Under some circumstances, owners would have been required to pay upfront costs for the renovations, while tenants would have enjoyed the savings on their energy bills. Uncertainty about potential savings presented another stumbling block. In an interview with The New York Times, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York said many owners were uncertain about how much they would save from retrofitting, given the lack of existing information in the still-developing field of sustainable building.

The mayor’s retrofitting provision was eliminated to ensure that the rest of the package passed. Building owners now have the autonomy to decide whether they will make substantial upgrades to improve the energy efficiency of a building. The City has set aside $16 million in federal stimulus money to act as revolving loan fund to assist property owners with upfront costs of improvements should they follow up on recommendations through the audits. The availability of loans, however, has been called into question. The fund contains $16 million in federal stimulus funds; in comparison, the mayor’s initial retrofits proposal would have mandated an estimated $2.5 billion in private investment (NYTimes). Even without required retrofits for private property owners, the mandatory audits alone may cost in the tens of thousands of dollars, according to The New York Times.

While the retrofitting provision was dropped for private owners, the City is still obligated to follow through with necessary improvements identified through audits of all municipal-owned buildings, as long as the retrofits pay for themselves through energy savings over seven years or less.

One additional facet of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 “Greener, Greater Buildings Plan” is a job training assistance program to provide workers with green building skills (for example, training to perform energy audits). City officials estimate the new policies will create about 19,000 new energy auditing and construction jobs; however, with the elimination of the energy renovations requirement, some have questioned whether the new laws will create anywhere near that many jobs (New York Times).

New York’s Green Standing Nationwide:
The new laws are some of the most far-reaching sustainable building policies in the U.S., as cities including Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and New York compete for the title as the nation’s greenest. Municipal involvement in energy efficiency has grown substantially over the last decade; in part, because local officials view green building as a cost-effective practice and because they are increasingly recognizing a local role in addressing climate change. Municipalities have direct control over issues such as building codes and waste management, both which have a large impact on carbon emissions.

The Natural Resources Defense Council labeled New York’s package of green building laws as “ahead of the rest of the country,” even without the mayor’s retrofit requirement (NYTimes). Many cities have policies related to energy efficiency in new construction, but few have ventured into regulation of existing buildings. However, in 2009, Seattle also announced a sweeping green building initiative targeted towards existing structures. Seattle’s law requires monitoring of energy use for nonresidential and multifamily buildings; it also offers subsidies and expedited permitting for projects that meet efficiency standards.

The code, benchmarking and lighting components of New York’s Greater, Greener Buildings plan will go into effect in 2010. The audit and retro-commissioning component will take effect in 2013. City officials estimate the legislation will reduce New York’s carbon emissions by around 3 million tons a year by 2022, or 5 percent of the City’s total emissions in 2005 (the last year for which this statistic is cited).

The Greener, Greater Buildings plan builds on New York’s 2005 law requiring most of the City’s new municipal buildings, and additions to existing City buildings, to achieve the minimum LEED certification.

Criticism of New York’s Existing Law:
The City has received a great deal of praise for its new green building laws. However, the package of laws has still drawn criticism. Jeffrey Grabelsky, director of Cornell University’s construction industry program, expressed disappointment with the mayor’s decision to drop his initial, controversial retrofit mandate, calling it a “disappointing retreat,” according to The New York Times. Grabelsky said cities must do more to effect real change in energy use. Others have noted the law has a limited reach in that residential buildings are not required to comply with the new lighting code (requiring more efficient lighting) and no buildings under 50,000 square feet are required to comply with the lighting, benchmarking or audit laws.

In contrast, some have questioned whether the law reaches too far. The legislation initially required efficiency audits in all buildings greater than 50,000 square feet; however, some argued the City would achieve the most energy savings by targeting the most inefficient buildings. Requiring owners of highly-efficient buildings to comply with the audit and retro-commissioning law would be a wasteful mandate; to address this concern, the City created an exemption from the audit requirement for buildings certified under the EPA’s Energy Star or LEED’s Existing Buildings programs.

The Roots of Green Building in NYC:
The country’s first green office building was designed in 1985 by architect William McDonough for the Environmental Defense Fund in New York City. The building was renovated with non-toxic construction materials, had tree-lined interiors, and used natural lighting.

In 1997, the New York City Department of Design and Construction created the Office of Sustainable Design. After two years, the office produced a set of guidelines for sustainable building and proceeded to oversee a number of pilot projects across the City, including the Kensington Library in Brooklyn, which was a pilot for geothermal heating and cooling.

Sustainable building practices in new construction took off in the City in the early 2000s. In 2000, the Battery Park City Authority started requiring its new residential and commercial buildings to be green. A few years later, the Solaire in Battery Park City, became the first green residential high rise in North America. It featured two green roofs and photovoltaic cells.
More recently, the Hearst Building and 7 World Trade Center competed to become the City’s first officially green office towers in 2006. Among the Hearst Building’s distinguishing features is a roof that collects rainwater. The rainwater replaces water lost to evaporation in the office air-conditioning system, irrigates trees outside the building, and provides water for “Ice Falls,” the centerpiece water sculpture in the building’s lobby. 7 World Trade Center uses a daylight dimming system that adjusts according to sunlight. Both buildings achieved a gold rating (39 points) through the LEED point system (NY Times).

As of September 2009, New York City ranked seventh (with 46 buildings) on a list of LEED-certified buildings among U.S. cities. New York City, however, ranks first in the number of registered projects (which also considers projects in the pipeline), and also likely ranks higher when considering total square feet of LEED-certified space.

Last Updated: July 6, 2010