Local Law 84 (LL84) has recently gotten significant press due to mayor de Blasio's One City, Built to Last initiative to reduce New York City's greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2030.
Although LL84 compliance can be confusing (research finds that 20% of the reports submitted have errors), it provides valuable information for property managers that can lead to real energy reductions and savings. Here are 10 questions your boss needs you to know the answers to:
1. What's the point? Around 71% of the city's GHG emissions come from buildings. LL84 aims to benchmark NYC buildings' energy and water usage and improve their overall sustainability. It provides a baseline to measure energy and water improvements over time, a critical step to hit the city's goals.
2. Who qualifies? Any building in the five boroughs, >50,000 s/f or two buildings on the same lot that are >100,000 s/f.
3. When is the deadline? May 1st - May Day! Prepare early to collect all the data you need.
4. What are the fines? $500 each quarter up to $2,000 per building.
5. Is the data we need free? Compliance requires full building data. If your tenants pay utility bills, you need to purchase this data through the utility provider. ConEd costs $102.50 per Building Identification Number.
6. What building info do we need? Basic building characteristics including age, s/f, number of units, heating/cooling/fuel systems, any green certifications, utility account information, etc.
7. What is Portfolio Manager? EPA's Portfolio Manager is a free on-line tool used to submit the compliance report and generate an ENERGY STAR score.
8. Who can help us? Visit NYC.gov or you can outsource compliance to a third party like WegoWise who partners with Steven Winter Associates, a New York-based energy consultant, to submit compliance reports.
9. Are there upcoming rule changes? The law currently requires all buildings >50,000 s/f to submit their energy usage but there is a widespread belief that the threshold will decrease to 25,000 s/f in 2016.
10. What are the next steps once our buildings are in compliance? Benchmarking provides actionable information about your portfolio. By complying, you discover how your buildings stack up to similar buildings and which operational areas can be improved.
You can use benchmarking data to prioritize retrofits that will result in the biggest ROI. These improvements equate to less energy usage, lower utility bills, and improved NOI.
Sarah Allen is an account manager at
WegoWise, Inc., Boston, Mass.
Tags: