NYC Accelerator June Expo gathers building owners, service providers

Brooklyn, NY About 900 building owners, service providers, registered design professionals, and city representatives came together for “LL97 Compliance: Service Provider Expo” at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to pave the way forward on implementing the carbon emissions law.

The Expo, sponsored by NYC Accelerator, Con Edison, National Grid, and NYSERDA, included 130 exhibitors, ranging from engineering and design firms to electrical heating and solar panel installers. Presentations throughout the day included discussions about the evolving decarbonization regulatory landscape, public-private partnerships, tools and resources for building owners, and options to fund decarbonization projects.

The city’s roll out of added support included an announcement that the Department of Buildings is offering an extension for the first Local Law 97 reporting deadline, currently set for Monday, June 30. Building owners now have until Friday, August 29 to request the extension, which allows them to avoid penalties through Wednesday, Dec. 31.

New York City Chief Climate Officer and New York City Department of Environmental  Protection commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said in opening remarks, “We don’t want to windup penalizing buildings that genuinely tried to get the work done. We want to help building owners focus on what matters, which is reducing their carbon emissions and reducing their energy consumption and not be focused on the bureaucracy of deadlines and filing fees.”

“The success of LL 97 hinges on the city’s ability to mobilize property owners and connect them with service providers so they can get to work on reducing carbon emissions from our city’s largest buildings,”said New York City Department of Buildings Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability Laura Popahas said. “Public events like the Expo go a long way towards making those connections.”