THE GREENER GREATER
BUILDINGS PLAN
In 2009, the City Council enacted a
group of laws designed to improve the
energy and water efficiency of New York
City's largest existing buildings. These
laws form the basis for the Greener,
Greater Building Plan, which can be
found online at www.NYC.ggbp. GGBP
is part of New York City's plan for sustainable
growth called PlaNYC, which
targets a 30% reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions by 2030.
GGBP is a comprehensive, mandatory
policy that addresses energy
efficiency in large, existing buildings
throughout the city. It begins by requiring
that all renovations that impact energy
systems meet the standards of the
New York State energy code to ensure
energy benefits from the natural cycle of
building upgrades.
BENCHMARKING
Local Law 84 of 2009 established
the requirement that buildings of 50,000
square feet or more benchmark their water
and energy use annually. The information
is entered online in the EPA Portfolio
Manager which compares energy
data – and now water data – with buildings
of similar use all over the country
and develops an ENERGY STAR score
for each participating building. 50 is the
median energy score on this scale.
The large buildings began benchmarking
in 2013. In 2016, the requirement
was extended to buildings of
25,000 to 50,000 square feet, who had
to record their 2017 energy and water
use in the spring of 2018. The City
has led by example, benchmarking city
owned properties first and reporting on
their progress in energy conservation.
The City also provided outreach and
help desks to facilitate the benchmarking
process and subsequent energy
improvements (See Retrofit Accelerator
on page 11).
LETTER GRADES COMING IN 2020
On December 19, 2017, the City
Council passed Int. 1632, requiring buildings
covered by Local Law 84 to post at the building entrance their Energy Star
score and the letter grade to which it
corresponds. This system is expected
to trigger more energy efficiency improvements
as owner and boards strive
to make their building as competitive as
possible to energy conscious tenants.
No building that submits benchmarking
data gets a failing letter grade. Some
building are not subject to the Benchmarking
law and some building categories
are not covered by the Energy Star
program. There is a special "N" grade
for these properties to post. The grade
scale is as follows
Letter
Grade |
Energy Star Score |
A |
90 or higher |
B |
50 to 89 |
C |
20 to 49 |
D |
0 to 19 |
F |
No Data submitted |
N |
Not required to Benchmark |
AUDITS & RETRO-COMMISSIONING
Local Law 87 of 2009 required that
buildings of 50,000 or more square feet
commission an energy audit every ten
years (predicated on the last digit of the
property block number) and perform the
tuning or retro-commissioning of energy
equipment recommended by the audit.
Between the more efficient operation of
the building that results from these recommendations
and the increased public
awareness of energy costs and energy
efficiency, it is anticipated that building
owners, boards, tenants and prospective
purchasers will look favorably on continuing
upgrading of building systems for
even more increased energy efficiency.
LIGHTING EFFICIENCY
The final piece of the Greater, Greener
Building Plan is Local Law 88 of 2009,
which requires lighting upgrades and
sub-metering of unit electricity, with a report
to be submitted to the City on or before
January 1, 2025, prepared by a registered
design professional or licensed
master or special electrician to confirm
lighting compliance with Local Law 88
and certifying that a submetering system
is in place. Buildings required to comply
with Local Law 87 must also meet the
requirements of Local Law 88. A list of
these buildings by borough, block and
lot number can be found on the NYC
website www.nyc.gov by searching 2018
LL87 covered buildings.
Although this list clearly includes
cooperatives and condominiums, the
terms of Local Law 88 are directed to
commercial buildings, and there are no
regulations yet to clarify the responsibilities
of co-op and condo boards. CNYC
has requested that these regulations acknowledge
that shareholders/unit owners
are responsible for the interior of
their apartments and has requested that
boards therefore not be required to report
on lighting inside those units.
But that leaves all common areas,
stairwells, basement, roof, etc., making
it practical to begin planning soon
for Local Law 88 compliance, particularly
if electricity is not currently submetered
in your building. It is suggested
that a tracking document be
developed now, covering all areas of
the building and listing what is known
of the status of its lighting.
Local Law 88 specifically requires
the installation or modification of the
lighting system of a covered building to
comply with the standards established
by the Section 805 of the Energy Code
established July 1, 2010 for new systems,
including all of the following elements:
lighting controls (interior lighting
controls, light reduction controls and automatic
lighting shutoff), tandem wiring,
exit signs, interior lighting power requirements
and exterior lighting.
No individual component of the lighting
system that already meet those standards
need be upgraded.
SUBMETERED ELECTRICITY
Additionally, Local Law 88 encourages
electrical submetering and requires
that tenants occupying 10000 feet or
more must be individually submetered.
Adapting this to cooperatives and condominiums,
CNYC strongly suggests submetering for all apartments so that
individual residents pay for the electricity
used in their unit. Finally, Local Law
88 mandates that from January 1, 2025,
owners must send tenants monthly
statements showing their electricity use.
Submetering technology is advancing
rapidly and can already pinpoint the brief
period of highest use. This information
can help tenants participate in 'flattening
the demand curve' which currently is a
major component of electricity bills from
master meters and is likely to continue to
be a factor. If planning now to submeter
or to upgrade simple mechanical meters,
do consider these options.
NYC RETROFIT ACCELERATOR:
VALUA BLE FREE HELP
As part of the Greater, Greener Building
Plan, the Mayor's Office of Long-
Term Planning and Sustainability established
the Retrofit Accelerator program
as a resource to help guide buildings and
their owners or boards through energy
retrofit processes. The program offers
free, personalized advisory services that
streamline the process of making energy
efficiency and water conservation
improvements to the building and help
buildings currently burning #4 heating oil
to convert to cleaner fuels, thus reducing
operating costs, enhancing tenant comfort,
and improving the environment.
Retrofit Accelerator advisors provide
one-on-one assistance to help buildings
understand the requirements of the
Greater, Greener Building Plan, to interpret
the results of their energy audits and
identify upgrades best suited to the building
and its budget. They can help with
contractor selection, securing necessary
permits, analyzing costs and explaining
financing options, connecting with education
and training programs and monitoring
the results of each project. Often
the success of one project will produce
savings to help finance the next.
At CNYC's 38th Annual Housing Conference
on Sunday, November 11th,
representatives of the Retrofit Accelerator
will participate in classes on energy
topics and will have a table in the Exhibit
Hall. The Conference brochure will be
posted on the CNYC website in August.
There is no cost to consult with the
experts at the Retrofit Accelerator. Your
building may need only an hour or two of
their time, or may enter into a relationship
of weeks or months as they help
you analyze your energy needs, prioritize
your projects and then turn plans
into reality.
You can reach the retrofit Accelerator
by dialing 311 or calling 212 656-9202
or at www.NYC.gov/RetrofitAccelerator.
NEW YORK DRINKING WATER
Each day, more than 1 billion gallons
of high quality, fresh, clean water is
delivered from large upstate reservoirs
– some more than 125 miles from the
City—to the taps of nine million customers
throughout New York State, including
all boroughs of New York City.
The City's Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) shares with
the New York State Department of
Health and the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) the responsibility
for maintaining the quality of New York
City water. DEP monitors the water in
the distribution system, upstate reservoirs
and feeder streams, and wells that
are sources for New York City's drinking
water supply. The 2017 Drinking Water
Quality Testing Report shows that the
quality of New York tap water compares
very favorably with all alternatives.
Water for New York City residents
comes from three upstate reservoir systems
which include 19 reservoirs and
three controlled lakes with a total storage
capacity of approximately 580 billion
gallons. The three water collection
systems were designed and built with
various interconnections to increase
flexibility by permitting exchange of water
from one to another. This feature
mitigates localized droughts and takes
advantage of excess water in any of
the three watersheds. In comparison to
other public water systems, this system
is both economical and flexible. Approximately
95% of the water is delivered to
the consumer by gravity. Only about 5%
of the water is regularly pumped to maintain
the desired pressure. As a result,
operating costs are relatively insensitive
to fluctuations in the cost of power. In
drought conditions, additional pumping
is required.
CITY WATER TUNNEL No. 3
This complex system of tunnels,
aquaducts and reservoirs culminates
in two tunnels, opened in 1917 and
1936 respectively, that bring water into
the city. Concern about the age and
condition of these tunnels prompted
the decision to construct City Water
Tunnel No. 3.
Begun in 1970, City Water Tunnel
No. 3 is being built in stages, and is one
of the largest capital projects in New
York City history. Already it enhances
and improves New York City's water
delivery system and is creating redundancy
to enable the City to inspect and
repair City Water Tunnels No. 1 and 2
for the first time since they were put
into service.
The 13-mile Stage 1 section of City
Water Tunnel No. 3 went into service in
August 1998. It runs from Hillview Reservoir
in Yonkers, through the Bronx,
down Manhattan across Central Park,
and into Queens. Stage 2 consists of
the Manhattan and the Brooklyn/Queens
leg. Tunneling on the 9-mile Manhattan
leg began in 2003 and was completed in
2008. Since 2008 ten new supply shafts
have been constructed to integrate the
new tunnel section with the existing distribution
system. The Manhattan leg
was activated on October 16, 2013. The
Brooklyn/Queens leg is a 5.5 mile section
in Brooklyn that connects to a 5-mile
section in Queens. The City completed
the Brooklyn/Queens leg of the tunnel in
May 2001, and substantially completed
the shafts in 2006. The project is scheduled
for completion in the 2020s. When
activated, the Brooklyn/Queens leg will
deliver water to Staten Island, Brooklyn,
and Queens.
For additional information concerning
drinking water visit www.epa.gov/
safewater and see a map of the NY
watershed system at www.nyc.gov/
dep/html/drinking_water/wsmaps_
wide.shtml