New York City climate laws are among nation-leading policy and worth getting to know for anyone interested in the building sector or climate action solutions. City Council has been busy at work creating legislative drivers to reduce emissions from the building sector, which account for roughly ¾ of the City’s greenhouse emissions. Many building owners have a good understanding of what is required of them and are now figuring out how to go about it.
In this blog, I’ll outline some strategies for approaching this complex problem. This is the second part of a two-part blog. For the first, which provides more background and context on NYC climate laws, visit the first post.
Come up with a plan to meet the LL97 targets in 2024 & 2030:
Most of the solutions to meet all targets fall into one of two categories: 1) reduce energy consumption and 2) use clean energy.
Reduce consumption – employ energy efficiency measures
Energy efficiency measures can be applied to any of the following end uses of energy:
Lighting: Switching lighting to LEDs plus controls is the biggest no-brainer, low hanging fruit, in my opinion. That measure can reduce your lighting electricity load by up to 70%. While LEDs have been known for being more expensive, prices have dropped, and their slightly higher upfront costs are more than outweighed by the significantly reduced operating cost. Upfront costs still an issue? Lighting as a service makes this more accessible than ever.
Plug loads: In NYC buildings, which are less HVAC driven due to higher floor area ratios than in less dense areas, electricity used for plug loads may be more than you think.
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