Getting to the Crux of Local law 87 NYC to Optimize Your Property’s Energy Efficiency

Author: Sam Ellis

If you are a property owner in New York then you appreciate the arduous task of making your facility energy efficient. Indeed most of the properties in the city are rundown because their owners could not cope with the pressure of maintaining them profitably without financial ruin.

According to the EPA energy use in buildings in New York accounts for 75% of greenhouse emissions and in a world that is seeking to halt environmental degradation this is an untenable situation. With the government working in overdrive towards zero emissions your input as a property owner becomes critical.

The 2009 NYC Charter Amendments

The Local law 87 NYC of the city’s charter seeks to address these issues. As a property owner it behooves on you to get deep insight on how to comply with the same and the concomitant benefits. Like with any other amendments to the administrative code most property owners did not get the facts right which can exacerbate the problems they are already having with their investments.

Demystifying Local law 87 NYC

In the simplest terms the new requires you to carry out an energy audit, retro-commission your property to make it more efficient and give this information to the authorities every 10 years starting 2013. As a property owner in the city you require such an audit in case of the following:

  • Your commercial or mixed-use property is 50,000 gross square feet or more.
  • Your property has two or more buildings within the same tax lot with gross square feet of more than 100,000 square feet.
  • If your property consists of two or more buildings held in condominium ownership exceeding 100,000 square feet and governed by the same board of governors.

On the face it might seem like a simple task to determine whether your property needs to comply or not. The fact that there are exemptions in certain situations calls for you to work with a reliable expert in the industry such as Elevator inspections NYC.

By so doing you will avoid falling foul of the law and running into penalties. For instance a delay of up to 2 years will knock you with a $40,000 fine while a delay up to 5 years will hit you with $115,000.

Win-win Situation for All

In essence the law is aimed at making buildings more energy efficient. In so doing it will improve revenues for you as an investor while contributing to overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. As simple as it sounds there is much more that is incorporated into the law and this is where a reliable energy auditing service comes in handy.

Choosing an Energy Auditor to Comply

So far, it is obvious that the three major requirements for compliance required by this law are quite intricate. The ASHRAE level 2 audits, retro-commissioning and finally handing in the energy efficiency reports all require technical expertise.

With so many audit firms around you need to choose carefully to ensure you get the most out of the process. Here are some factors to consider:

  • Experience in auditing: You need to query a company’s longevity in the sector by looking at its cumulative square feet contracted audits.
  • Network value: After auditing your structure needs retro-commissioning and this needs funding. You need an audit firm that can connect you to funding institutions such as NYSERDA Flex TECH for the whole process.
  • Resource base: Always work with an audit firm that has the funds, personnel and technology to carry out the process in the most cost-efficient way possible. In fact some firms provide funding for the whole process.
  • Dedication: Ensure the energy audit firm will take the whole project from the point of signing to the report submission. If the company can go an extra mile and offer level III energy audits to give you a higher ROI the better.

There is no gainsaying the value of a credible service such as Elevator inspections NYC working on your energy audit project. The benefits far outweigh the initial costs.