GREENER, GREATER, BUILDINGS PLAN TO SAVE ENERGY AND MONEY, CUT CARBON EMISSIONS, CLEAN AIR AND CREATE GREEN JOBS

NEWS RELEASE

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GREENER, GREATER, BUILDINGS PLAN TO SAVE ENERGY AND MONEY, CUT CARBON EMISSIONS, CLEAN AIR AND CREATE GREEN JOBS

COUNCIL TO VOTE ON NATION’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE AND AMBITIOUS PLAN TO GREEN EXISTING BUILDINGS

BUILDINGS ACCOUNT FOR 80% OF NYC CARBON EMISSIONS AND $15 BILLION IN ENERGY COSTS – INVESTMENT IN EFFICIENCY AUDITS AND UPGRADES WILL REDUCE GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, LOWER ENERGY COSTS AND CREATE GREEN JOBS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 7, 2009

City Councilmembers joined environmental leaders and other civic activists on the steps of City Hall today to support passage of a package of legislation called the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan. The plan would create New York City’s first Energy Code and includes other initiatives to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower energy costs, and create thousands of construction-related jobs.

The Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, first announced by Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn on Earth Day, represents the most comprehensive, ambitious and coordinated plan ever proposed to cut carbon emissions from existing buildings, the greatest source of CO₂ emissions in American cities.

Buildings account for 80 percent of New York City’s carbon emissions, and energy costs are estimated at $15 billion a year. The proposed green buildings plan would reduce both carbon emissions and consumer costs.

The Greener, Greater Buildings Plan represents New York City’s largest step so far toward reducing carbon emissions to meet the goals of PlaNYC and the requirements of Local Law 55 of 2007, which requires carbon emission reductions of 30% by 2030. Once adopted, the plan will position New York City as the nation’s leader in the goal of promoting energy efficiency and growing the green economy.

New York City’s Greener, Greater Buildings Plan will:
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions nearly 5%;
• Save New Yorkers more than $700 million annually in energy costs;
• Improve conditions for tenants;
• Create more than 17,000 construction related jobs in coming years.

“Improving the energy performance of buildings is the best way to lower energy bills, make the buildings we live and work in more comfortable, create badly needed jobs, and reduce pollution,” said Ashok Gupta, Director of Energy Policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The legislation now before the Council, which will go a long way in decreasing the City’s carbon footprint, is improved and more workable than that introduced last April and has therefore gained broad support from business, labor and environmental organizations.”

Since the bills’ introduction in April, the Mayor’s Office and City Council have worked with a wide variety of stakeholders to address concerns and refine each piece of the legislative package. The plan consists of the following four bills:

Three bills apply only to large buildings, specifically tax lots with a building of 50,000 square feet or more and tax lots with more than one building that add up to at least 100,000 square feet of built area.

Intro 967-A, the Audits and Retrocommissioning Bill, introduced by Environmental Protection Committee Chair James Gennaro, would require large buildings to conduct audits of building energy efficiency every ten years and to optimize building efficiency with focused maintenance. This bill also requires that City-owned buildings retrofit systems when audits show such work would generate an energy-cost-savings pay-back in seven years or less.

Intro 476-A, the Benchmarking Bill, introduced by Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, would make buildings’ energy performance more transparent by requiring large buildings to “benchmark” their energy and water consumption annually, making use of a free, online tool provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Intro 973-A, the Lighting Bill, also introduced by Councilmember Recchia, would require that large buildings upgrade to more efficient lighting technology by 2025. Lighting accounts for almost 20 percent of the electricity used in New York City’s buildings and electricity usage accounts for 49 percent of New York City’s carbon emissions. An additional submetering requirement will change commercial leases so that commercial tenants have the information and incentive to be more efficient in their energy usage.

A fourth bill would create a new New York City energy code.

Intro 564-A, the New York City Energy Code Bill, introduced by Councilmember Daniel Garodnick, would create for the first time a local New York City Energy Code and require that new equipment installed during a renovation must meet current efficiency standards by removing a unique New York State amendment exempting most building renovations from the New York State Energy Code.

Leaders of numerous environmental and planning groups joined in the call for the Council to approve the package of bills proposed by Mayor Bloomberg, Council Speaker Quinn, Environmental Protection Committee Chair Gennaro and other city leaders.

“Transitioning to a sustainable, low-carbon economy and culture may be the greatest challenge we have ever faced, and everyone must contribute to meeting this challenge” said Adam Friedman, Director of the Pratt Center for Community Development. “The proposed legislation will enlist more people in building a sustainable city. It will also provide critically important information so we can better plan and evaluate our efforts.”

Mary Barber, New York Campaign Director for the Environmental Defense Fund, said the package of bills is important both environmentally and economically for the city.

“Empowering consumers with information and focusing on maximizing building efficiency will reasonably reduce the negative financial and environmental impacts of energy waste in New York’s buildings,” said Barber. “This package of legislation addresses the single largest part of New York City’s greenhouse gas footprint, and takes a major step toward transforming the market for energy efficiency.”

Regional Plan Association President Robert Yaro said approving the package of bills will set a standard for cities around the world.

“The Greener, Greater Buildings Plan is one of the most important environmental actions that New York City can take,” said Yaro. “By tackling the core issues of energy efficiency and climate change, it will set a standard for cities around the world and reduce our energy costs over the long term.”

“This is a ground-breaking package of legislation that will dramatically improve New York’s energy efficiency and reduce both energy usage and the costs to owners and occupants across the city,” said Marcia Bystryn, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters. “Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn and Environmental Protection Chair James Gennaro are raising the bar for progressive urban energy policy around the nation and around the world.”

Russell Unger, Executive Director of the Urban Green Council (U.S. Green Building Council of New York), said the package is groundbreaking both in its individual parts and its overall aspects.

“The individual parts of the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan are tremendous achievements in their own right and many are firsts in the nation,” said Unger. “Together, this package represents the most comprehesive effort of any jurisdiction in the United States to reduce energy use in existing buildings.”

Community and environmental justice activists lauded the package of bills for their potential to protect affordability even as they help improve the environment for the most overburdened communities.

“The green buildings plan will do more to reduce New York City’s carbon footprint than any other action the city can take,” said Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE (United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park). “Until then, that footprint weighs most heavily on lower-income neighborhoods already afflicted by dirty emissions and power plants.”

New York City needs to limit the impact of Climate Change and adapt to a green energy future,” said Peggy Shepard, Executive Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice. “Let’s get building emissions under control. Let’s measure and reduce our energy usage through efficiencies and conservation, and let’s keep housing affordable.”

“More energy-efficient buildings are a key to a healthy, secure future for all New Yorkers,” Shepard said.