Creating Jobs
Local Law 97, also known as New York City’s “Green New Deal” law, is the world’s most-important city-level climate and jobs law Currently, Local Law 97 is sparking a boom in energy efficiency evaluation and design work to meet its targets It is also leading to evermore energy efficiency upgrades As these projects are implemented, large numbers of renovation and construction jobs are created In total, the law is on track to mobilize around $20 billion dollars in capital investment and create tens of thousands of jobs this decade.
The law’s pollution limits match the pace and scale of the Paris climate accord, which is the bare minimum reduction in climate-heating pollution necessary worldwide to avoid global catastrophe. Truly, Local Law 97 is massively impactful.
Local Law 97’s requirements are also affordable and achievable using currently available technology and design practices Indeed, many buildings will save money overfall (including financing costs) thanks to reduced utility bills and operating costs as a result of the energy efficiency upgrades the law will induce them to make High utility bills driven by energy waste are a major source of the city’s affordability crisis The law’s requirements cannot be achieved absent high energy efficiency, which will slash utility bills, saving New Yorkers huge sums over time
This report documents examples of large multifamily and commercial buildings successfully upgrading to high energy efficiency
These buildings satisfy Local Law 97’s requirements through at least 2035 While largescale energy efficiency upgrades in large, existing buildings are not yet common, the buildings documented here tell the practical story substantiated by experts: with thoughtful multidecade planning and implementation, Local Law 97’s requirements are achievable and affordable Already, the law is spurring rapid moves to higher energy efficiency through cutting energy waste
In fact, many buildings are achieving the law’s requirements many years ahead of the law’s deadlines while saving money in the process.
As more buildings begin the course that Local Law 97 sets out for them, we can expect many thousands of large buildings to get into compliance, which will lead to:
Tens of thousands of jobs
Millions of tons of annual pollution reductions
Lower utility bills across the city
Better, more valuable, more comfortable buildings
Global leadership for New York in a cutting-edge field, furthering economic development
In this report, we document examples of large multi-family and office buildings covered by Local Law 97 moving rapidly, successfully, and affordably to high energy efficiency. After their upgrades, these large properties already are below Local Law 97’s pollution limits decades ahead of the law’s deadlines:
Sherman Terrace Cooperative at 1010 Sherman Avenue in the Bronx near Grand Concourse with 67 units International Tailoring Company Building at 111 Fourth Avenue, a 180-unit residential building in Manhattan near Union Square
Casa Passiva, by affordable housing developer RiseBoro, with 9 apartment buildings in Bushwick, Brooklyn Roosevelt Landings, a large, low-rise residential building complex on Roosevelt Island
5 Manhattan West, a Brookfield Properties office building near Hudson Yards
201 East 79th Street, a 12-story, 160-unit coop on the Upper East Side
140 Broadway, a 51-story landmarked office tower near Wall Street
2244 Morris Avenue, a residential rental building with 54 units in the Bronx
Phipps Garden Apartments, with 472 apartments in two Sunnyside, Queens buildings by affordable developer Phipps House
And the Empire State Building
Other examples publicly documented elsewhere include 1271 Avenue of the Americas, a 48 story office tower near Rockefeller Center; The Bergdorf Goodman Department Store building on Fifth Avenue, a retail property; 345 Hudson, a nearly one million square foot commercial space near Canal Street
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwips5zy_puBAxU7jIkEHX5iDKQQFnoECBIQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbeexchange.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F07%2FRG-Core-Advisory-Services-6.21.23.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1Fkd0-1EJIrLEr_xBzcDgL&opi=89978449
3.Traneathttps://www.trane.com/commercial/north-america/us/en/about-us/newsroom/case-studies/retail/neiman-marcus-group-bergdorf-goodman.html
4.BuildingEnergyExchangeathttps://be-exchange.org/case_study/high-rise-low-carbon-partner-profile-345-hudson/
These large properties are many years ahead of the law’s caps They are also saving money as a result of their upgrades As the scale and type of upgrades performed by these buildings become common as Local Law 97’s requirements begin to apply, many more buildings will slash their pollution through energy efficiency
Many more examples of buildings and institutions that undertook upgrades on their way to large-scale upgrades are publicly documented by the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation Deal Spotlights, New York State’s Empire State Building Challenge, New York City’s Carbon Challenge, New York City’s Housing and Preservation Department, Urban Green Council, and the Building Energy Exchange
Yet these properties are far from alone: Local Law 97 is succeeding beyond expectations. Large buildings covered by the law are slashing pollution even faster than expected ahead of the law’s initial 2024 pollution limits.
When the law was enacted in 2019, its initial 2024 - 2029 pollution limit was set to drive down pollution from the worst-performing 20% of buildings to limit their egregious pollution. Setting a high initial limit applying five years after the law’s passage was meant to make the city’s worst polluting buildings cut their emissions first, starting in 2024. 2024-2029 is effectively a “warm up” period to the tighter pollution limits that start in 2030.
Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, New York Public Interest Research Group and TREEage
5. https://nyceec.com/deal-spotlights/
6. https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Empire-Building-Challenge
7. https://climate.cityofnewyork.us/initiatives/nyc-carbon-challenge/
8.https://be-exchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023_BEEx_HPD_LL97_decarbonization_roadmap_multifamily_manual_m23u.pdf
9. https://www.urbangreencouncil.org/ 10. https://be-exchange.org/
Happily, and thanks to good implementation, a robust expert community and enterprising, forward-thinking landlords and owners, the law is off to a roaring start: in the latest data for 2022, the Department of Buildings has confirmed that the percentage of buildings polluting above the 2024-2029 limit has dropped in half as compared to 2019 Only 11% of buildings are above their limit, a full two years ahead of the law’s 2024 initial deadline At this pace, Local Law 97 will be a spectacular success, providing a major boost in the global battle to avoid climate catastrophe
As an August 2023 Bloomberg news story put it: “New York City’s biggest buildings are complying with a landmark emissions law at a much faster rate than the city expected, undermining the real estate sector’s claims that the rules will be too hard to meet ” Buildings all over the city are upgrading ahead of 2024, and the results of those upgrades will be reflected in public data that will be released in the coming years
At this point, the major threat posed to the law is the real estate lobby’s extensive and well-funded disinformation campaign, funded by dark money, as exposed by an amNY investigation These efforts seek to panic building owners and the general public with scare-mongering over costs and penalties Led by REBNY, the landlord lobby hopes to convince Mayor Adams to roll back the law administratively by relaxing enforcement and introducing large loopholes into the law’s implementation
Unfortunately, the Mayor has proposed just that through rule-making: the Mayor is proposing to allow landlords a two-year delay on the law’s initial 2024-2029 pollution limits He is also not setting a tight limit on the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) in place of pollution reductions from the building itself unless a building opts for the 2-year delay Thus, Mayor Adams is proposing that owners get a choice of large loopholes: either they can delay the law’s requirements by 2 years if their property is over the 2024-2029 limit or they can opt to purchase large amounts of RECs in place of upgrading their buildings to higher energy efficiency to reduce pollution
These changes are wholly unnecessary because landlords have had five years from the law’s passage in 2019 to the 2024 limits: a longer delay just eases penalties back It’s a “get out of jail free” card A loose REC limit also allows owners to purchase RECs to cover about 50% of the pollution in aggregate from across the city’s covered buildings That is far too much
The landlord lobby is Mayor Adams’ top campaign donor REBNY and other powerful entities opposing the law employ a wide range of highly influential lobbyists and executives, including the Mayor’s former Chief of Staff and close advisor, Frank Carone, who is retained by the Durst Organization, whose billionaire owner is a prominent opponent of the law If the real estate lobby succeeds in gutting Local Law 97, it would be a tragedy, locally and globally: New York City would lose future jobs and economic development evaporate, leading to much more pollution and higher utility bills, and its global leadership as an example of a “Green New Deal” scale of action
In part to help rebut their scare-mongering, this report documents case studies of buildings achieving the law’s requirements far ahead of the law’s deadlines This selection of large buildings in New York City whose success is publicly documented slashing their reliance on fossil fuels and achieving Local Law 97’s requirements far “ahead” of schedule While upgrading to high energy efficiency is a major challenge for many buildings, requiring time-consuming and thoughtful planning and implementation, it is a major boon to the building and the city, especially in the long run
Mayor Adams should not derail Local Law 97’s success by gutting or weakening its provisions through lax regulation, enforcement, and loopholes He should not grant a two-year delay to landlords who have ignored the law’s requirements to date Nor should he allow REC purchases to excessively take the place of pollution reductions Both loopholes will reduce the law’s benefits, eliminating jobs, pollution reductions, and lower utility bills as building owners opt to delay, scale back, or entirely avoid on-site energy efficiency work Instead, he should rethink his proposed rule Mayor Adams should fully implement and enforce the law to create good jobs, slash pollution, and reduce utility bills
Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, New York Public Interest Research Group and TREEage
15.https://www.urbangreencouncil.org/ll97-recs-balancing-flexibility-and-decarbonization/
16.https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/nyregion/adams-real-estate-donors.html
17.https://hellgatenyc.com/carone-get-the-money
18.Theviewsexpressedinthismemoarethoseofacoalitionoforganizationsthatsupportthefull implementationandenforcementofLocalLaw97:Food&WaterWatch,NewYorkCommunitiesfor
PublicInterestResearchGroup(NYPIRG),andTREEage.
Sherman Terrace Cooperative
1010 Sherman Avenue, Bronx
A 67 unit co-op near Grand Concourse in the Bronx built in 1957, Sherman Terrace faced familiar issues: aging plant and high utility bills Its board, led by a motivated board member with a professional background in project management, worked with the EN-POWER GROUP to upgrade the building to far higher energy efficiency
To address its myriad problems, the cooperative installed a Real Time Energy Management (RTEM) system and smart temperature sensors in over a third of the buildings apartments, and submetered, which provided dynamic feedback on energy use The building also installed a new high-efficiency gas boiler, roof insulation and rooftop solar It also made many basic energy efficiency improvements, such as conversion to LED lighting
In 2018, the building would have scored a “D” on the city’s energy grading, if energy grading had been in force Today? The Sherman Terrace Cooperative sports an A grade and the building is now already in compliance with Local Law 97’s requirements through 2035
The building is an affordable property with middle and low- income owners About 90% of owners are Black or Latino About one-third are retirees The owners now enjoy lower utility bills, greater comfort, better interior air quality, and less impact on the environment and climate After the upgrades, during the first four months of 2021 the building saved $71,892 compared to the same period in 2020
1010 Sherman Avenue is a prime example of the potential for aging and affordable properties across the city to upgrade
More information: please see a Cooperator News story and EN-POWER GROUP’s case study
International Tailoring Company Building 111 Fourth Avenue, Manhattan
In 1977, this 1925 industrial loft building in the East Village was converted into a cooperative With 180 apartments, the building worked with Ecosystem Energy Services to address several of its issues, which included: aging mechanical equipment close to end-of-life, an operationally complex system and uneven heating and comfort complaints due to switchovers
The building’s uneven heating created a problem many New Yorkers are familiar with: some apartments were much too hot, yet the building’s system would still pump heat into the apartment, forcing residents to open windows to cool their apartments down even as the heating ran The building also sought to come into compliance with Local Law 97 for years to come
The cooperative considered full electrification, but ultimately opted for a hybrid system that replaced the building’s aging two pipe hydronic system and gas-fired chillers with a combination of systems: airsource heat pumps, in-window heat pumps, and new gas-fired chillers Thus, the building did not opt for full electrification Instead, the building is cutting its pollution by about 80% by implementing its hybrid system Even though the building is converting much of its space conditioning (heating/cooling) to heat pumps, it has not needed to upgrade its electrical
The building energy letter grade is going from a “D” to an “A” Residents can easily set and maintain precise temperatures in their apartments The building’s upgrades make it compliant with Local Law 97 through 2050 In the future, the cooperative plans many more incremental improvements as building components need replacement For example, as the current windows need replacement, the building will upgrade to more energy efficient windows, further driving down energy waste, pollution and utility bills.
For more information see a Building Energy Exchange case study; contact Ecosystem Energy Services; watch a NYSERDA video documenting the project; or contact Eric Einstein, Board President of 111 Fourth Avenue.
Casa Passiva
104 - 120 Grove Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
Owned by social services agency and affordable housing developer RiseBoro, Casa Passiva is a whole building upgrade of nine old apartment buildings to an affordable, passive house standard Passive house is a super-high energy efficiency standard pioneered in Europe which eliminates fossil fuel use It relies on strong insulation paired with good ventilation and systems to drive down energy use The complex satisfies Local Law 97’s requirements through 2050 RiseBoro is the clear leader in the New York City area among affordable housing entities using energy efficiency to drive down costs
According to a write up in The New York Times, Casa Pasiva was the “brainchild” of architect Chris Benedict, who has worked with RiseBoro for many years The building uses Energiesprong, a Dutch process relying on standardized, premade building panels The process includes heating and cooling systems that fit with the panels Gas stoves have been replaced with induction cooking
The complex relies on a new, tight envelope and proper ventilation, thanks to the new panels added to the exterior of the property Heating and cooling is provided by air source heat pumps The work on the building also was done without displacing tenants even temporarily, although much work was done inside apartments
Casa Passiva is submetered Management keeps a close eye on performance Most of the time, residents do not run HVAC systems because the building is so well-insulated, which is a goal of passive house design Energy costs have dropped in half
For more information contact Ryan Cassidy with RiseBoro, news stories or informational videos documenting the project
Roosevelt Landings
546 Main Street, Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Landings is a 1,003 unit complex of mostly lower-rise residential rental buildings on Roosevelt Island. Around 2013, the complex underwent a series of upgrades - well before Local Law 97’s passage - that have positioned it for compliance through 2035. The complex was plagued by an aging design that relied on inefficient electric baseboard heating. The building’s basement was also flooded during hurricane Sandy, causing an outage.
The complex’s energy efficiency upgrade program was sponsored by Urban American (UA), a real estate investment company. The energy-efficiency measures were engineered by a team led by Marc Zuluaga at SWA, who is now co-founder of Cadence OneFive. Roosevelt Landings upgrades included a new combined heat and power plant, domestic hot water load reduction, wireless apartment thermostats and programmable thermostats, energy-management systems, floor-slab insulation, corridor ventilation, and air-sealing.
Many of these types of improvements can sound complex, but they address simple issues. For example, the design of the buildings meant that in the winter, corridor windows were often opened because corridors would overheat. Proper corridor ventilation fixed that problem. Air sealing covered the building’s envelopes to minimize leaking air. Installing high-density spray foam insulation concrete floor slabs and wall penetrations of apartments that protrude over walkways and sidewalk arcades eliminated cold floors in apartments and blocked cold air from leaking into the building.
The upgrades cost a total of $7.4 million and cut energy use by 24 percent. In its first full year after upgrade, the complex saved $708,000. As of June 2015, the second year of operation, the project had generated over $515,000 in energy cost savings in its first six months. The simple payback period on the complex’s improvements is 9 8 years
For more information see analyses from the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation analysis and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association
A Brookfield Properties office building near Hudson Yards, 5 Manhattan West had a dated exterior and was wasting large amounts of energy Recladding the building envelope with high performance glass with glazing led to a higher insulation value than the previous concrete exterior and allowed daylighting of the property
The new exterior increased the window to wall ratio by almost half The facade’s self-shading through its geometric design reduces solar heat gain at mid-day, cutting the need for cooling Panels of glass are partly opaque and also glazed to reduce energy waste The building also installed a Building Management System (BMS) and mechanical ventilation
Together, these upgrades reduced electricity costs by 48% and steam costs by 30% The building is still slightly above the 2030 pollution limit, but is far better positioned to further reduce its energy waste Large scale envelope upgrades are not common, yet, so the building’s upgrade is a useful case example for an aging office building that was becoming out of date
For more information, see a case study from the Building Energy Exchange or contact Brookfield Properties
2244 Morris Avenue Bronx
2244 Morris Avenue is a residential rental with 54 units in the Bronx The property owners cut costs by $32,000 per year by upgrading building systems and ending use of polluting heavy #6 oil The total cost of the project was $150,900 and climate pollution was reduced by 30% For more information, visit the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation’s analysis
201 East 79th Street Manhattan
201 East 79th Street is a twenty story, 160 unit cooperative It is a luxury building with spacious, expensive apartments Nonetheless, it faced serious problems with its aging white brick facade The building’s construction had skimped on its envelope work By 2015, the building had repeatedly replaced segments of exterior brickwork to avoid a potentially-fatal accident of falling masonry and comply with the facade law Each piecemeal facade project involved sheds, scaffolding, and major work At the same time, the building’s envelope was th source of major energy waste On a windy day, residents could feel a breeze coming through electrical sockets located on the exterior wall The building, whose board includes a design expert, decided to go forth with a large-scale envelope upgrade. They hired various firms, led by Alyssa Bucher at Rogers Partners, for a major overhaul.
The building upgraded to a entirely new facade, replacing the aging brickwork with panels. Windows were also replaced in about 1/3rd of owners homes who had opted into a choice to replace at the time of the major project. As units turn over, new owners will be obligated to upgrade to highefficiency windows now used in the co-op.
The project is delivering: the facade problems are over, the building’s appearance is greatly improved, and the energy use is low enough that the building meets Local Law 97’s standards through 2035, and is only slightly above the law’s 2040 - 2050 limits. The building is in a great position for the future.
A full facade replacement is a very involved and expensive project that is not typically going to be a Local Law 97 solution in the next decade or so. However, 201 East 79th made a smart set of decisions based on their circumstances and capabilities to manage a sophisticated project years decades before more such project will become more typical in New York City.
For more information, visit the Building Energy Exchange panel discussion online for building envelope replacements, or contact the building or Rogers Partners.
Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, New York Public Interest Research Group and TREEage
30.https://nyceec.com/wp-content/uploads/Morris-Avenue_v2.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?vhttps://nesea.org/conversation/masters-blog/inside-story-retrofitting-roosevelt-landings
=g2hv7rN-nZQ
31.https://be-exchange.org/climate-mobilization-act-series-if-how-when-nyc-building-envelopes/https://www.youtube.com/watch?vhttps://nesea.org/conversation/mastersblog/inside-story-retrofitting-roosevelt-landings
=g2hv7rN-nZQ
140 Broadway Manhattan
140 Broadway is a landmarked, iconic mid-century modern office building in the financial district, near Wall Street. It is a 51 story tower built by SOM. The building was a revolutionary, widely-praised design in the 1960s. Over time, however, its windows and skin needed to be updated. The building management and firms knew it could improve its aesthetics and reduce costs through treating its envelope to reduce energy waste.
The building is owned by Union Asset Management, a subsidiary of the German DZ Bank Group, which is the central institution in a network of over 800 cooperative banks. Robert Derector Associates was engaged to design and implement the project. The building was landmarked in 2015. Over time, prior to landmarking, various work had slightly changed the exterior look of the building, resulting in a slightly uneven look to the building’s gloss.
The owners opted to apply 3M’s Low-E film to the glass windows to minimize energy waste. The film was provided by EPD and installed by Layr. The film reduces energy waste through a 35% in conduction heat loss at the perimeter and 20% annual reduction in heating energy use in the building. The exterior also looks better, restoring the building’s original, glossy and even look. The building’s pollution is below Local Law 97’s pollution limits through 2035.
For more information, visit the Building Energy Exchange panel discussion online for building envelope replacements. or contact the building or Robert Derector Associates.
Phipps Garden Apartments Queens
The Phipps Garden Apartments in Sunnyside, Queens are 472 apartments in two buildings built in the 1930s and owned by affordable developer Phipps Houses Phipps slashed energy waste by replacing the aging boiler with an energy efficient dual-fuel heating system; upgrading common area and apartment lighting; adding insulation to the roof; insulating and caulking windows; replacing refrigerators with higher efficiency units; and installing weather-stripping, low-flow showerheads and heating and hot water pipe insulation
The total project costs were $2,062,537 and annual savings are $179 663, for an 11 5 year payback period While the Sunnyside Garden Apartments upgrades cut pollution substantially, the buildings would need more work to get under Local Law 97 2030 thresholds for multifamily buildings
For more information, check out a case study from the Building Energy Exchange
The Empire State Building is one of the world’s best-known buildings Its ownership, led by CEO Tony Malkin, is motivated to reduce pollution and make money No bleeding heart socialists, Malkin and the company’s leadership saw a clear economic opportunity to upgrade the building’s efficiency to make it a model of green action
The Empire State Building cut its energy use by about 40% through 8 projects that are virtually unnoticeable from the outside or by visitors to its iconic viewing platform Changes include upgraded windows and radiators; building system control upgrades; advanced lighting and controls; enhanced energy management by tenants including meter data for each tenant in 15 minute intervals; and a chiller plant retrofit These projects cost $13 2 million incrementally (increased costs above already-planned renovations) and save about $4 4 million each year The Empire State Building is now below Local Law 97’s pollution caps through 2035
For more information visit the Empire State Building’s page or contact the Empire State Realty Trust