NYC Energy Reporting Blog

How to Determine Your NYC Local Law 97 Compliance Pathway

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 20:45:35 GMT

Whether you are a property manager, a co-op board member, or a commercial real estate investor, Local Law 97 (LL97) is no longer a distant regulatory abstract. It is actively reshaping the New York City real estate landscape, representing one of the most aggressive municipal carbon reduction mandates in the world.

If your building fails to hit its targets, the financial consequences are steep: an annual penalty of $268 for every single metric ton of carbon your property emits over its assigned limit. For a mid-sized commercial building or a large multifamily complex, these fines can easily scale into tens—or hundreds—of thousands of dollars every single year.

However, LL97 is not a one-size-fits-all law. The City of New York recognizes that a luxury market-rate high-rise faces entirely different financial, regulatory, and structural realities than an income-restricted or affordable housing development. Because of this, the law branches into several distinct compliance pathways.

Determining your exact pathway is the critical first step to mapping out your capital improvement pipeline and protecting your asset's bottom line. Here is exactly how to find where your building stands.

Step 1: Confirm If Your Building is a "Covered Property"

Before spending time diagnosing a specific pathway, you must first verify if your building meets the legal threshold of a "Covered Property" under Article 320 of the law.

LL97 automatically applies to any property that matches at least one of these criteria:

A single building that exceeds 25,000 gross square feet.
Two or more buildings located on the same tax lot that together exceed 50,000 gross square feet.
Two or more condominium buildings governed by the exact same board of managers that together exceed 50,000 gross square feet.

�� The Quick Check: Do not rely on marketing brochures, architectural blueprints, or your own estimates for square footage. The NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) publishes an official Covered Buildings List (CBL) every year. This list pulls directly from the Department of Finance records. If your BBL (Borough, Block, and Lot) number is on that list, you are legally required to comply.

Step 2: Identify Your Specific Compliance Pathway

Once you establish that your property is covered, look at its occupancy type, funding mechanisms, and legal structure to determine which of the four primary pathways it must follow.

1. The Standard Pathway (Article 320)

The Target Audience: Market-rate multifamily buildings (co-ops, condos, and traditional rental properties) as well as commercial office buildings, hotels, and retail spaces.
The Mechanism: This is a strict emissions-cap pathway. Your building is assigned a hard carbon limit based on its specific Energy Star Portfolio Manager property use type (the law utilizes over 60 distinct occupancy classifications). Your annual carbon footprint is calculated by multiplying your actual utility consumption (gas, electric, fuel oil) by specific greenhouse gas intensity coefficients.
The Timeline: The initial compliance caps are active, with annual reporting required through the city's BEAM portal. However, the real cliff occurs in 2030, when the carbon caps tighten dramatically. Buildings that easily glide under the current limits may find themselves facing massive structural fines if they do not begin retrofitting immediately.

2. The Prescriptive Pathway (Article 321)

The Target Audience: This pathway covers a massive percentage of New York’s affordable, rent-regulated, and income-restricted housing stock. This includes:
Buildings where more than 35% of the dwelling units are rent-regulated (rent-stabilized or rent-controlled).
Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) cooperatives.
Buildings receiving federal project-based housing assistance (such as Section 8 or HUD programs).
The Mechanism: Recognizing the capital constraints of affordable housing, Article 321 provides a massive variance. Instead of trying to hit moving carbon targets, these buildings generally can choose between two compliance tracks:
Track A: Implement a strict checklist of low-cost, high-impact Prescriptive Energy Conservation Measures (PECMs) designed to tighten building performance without requiring deep-energy retrofits.
Track B: Explicitly demonstrate that the building's emissions are already safely below the city's established 2030 carbon limits.

3. The 2026 Delayed Pathway

The Target Audience: This track is designed for properties with a smaller footprint of rent-regulated housing—specifically, buildings where rent-regulated units exist but make up 35% or less of the total building.
The Mechanism: Because these properties are transitioning into the carbon-cap framework, they receive a delayed initial timeline. Instead of the general 2024 start date, their active emissions limits take effect in 2026 , pushing their first mandatory annual carbon reporting deadline out to May 1, 2027.

4. The 2035 Delayed Pathway

The Target Audience: Strictly defined affordable housing properties that are under specific, long-term regulatory agreements with the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) or the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
The Mechanism: To prevent capital improvement costs from triggering housing instability or displacement, these properties receive a long-term deferral. They are completely exempt from standard emissions caps until December 31, 2035, at which point they will step into a modified compliance and reporting framework.

Step 3: Action Plan to Map Your Compliance Pathway

Once you suspect which path your building falls under, you must formalize it. A mistake here can lead to retroactive fines or wasted capital on unnecessary upgrades.

Audit Your LL84 Benchmarking Data

Log into your building's Energy Star Portfolio Manager account. Review your historical Local Law 84 (LL84) filings. Because LL84 requires annual energy benchmarking, this data is the exact foundation the city uses to calculate your LL97 carbon footprint. If your data is messy or inaccurate, your LL97 outlook will be flawed.

Perform a Carbon Gap Analysis

Take your actual utility consumption data and run it against the LL97 target caps for your occupancy code. Free, public calculators—like the one provided by the Building Energy Exchange (BE-Ex)—can show you exactly how many metric tons of carbon you are over or under your target, mapping out your projected financial liability.

Assess Financing and Utility Incentives

Explore available state and utility-level financial frameworks before locking in contracts. Investigate NYSERDA programs, Con Edison commercial incentives, or specialized clean energy financing tools like PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) loans, which can tie retrofit financing directly to the property's tax bill rather than requiring heavy upfront board capital.

Retain a Registered Design Professional (RDP)

The final, non-negotiable step is hiring a licensed energy engineer or architect. No matter how clean your internal data is, the NYC Department of Buildings requires that all official Local Law 97 compliance reports be formally stamped, certified, and submitted by a Registered Design Professional.

The Core Exceptions: Are Any Buildings Completely Exempt?

While LL97 impacts the vast majority of the city’s large real estate footprint, a few specific property types are fully exempt from the law under the current text:

Federal and State Properties: Buildings owned directly by the United States federal government (such as federal courthouses or military facilities) or New York State are exempt from local municipal building code mandates like LL97.
Low-Rise Residential Structures: Detached or semi-detached residential buildings (like traditional one-to-three-family homes) that stand three stories or less and utilize fully independent, localized HVAC and hot water systems.

The Federal Lease Distinction: It is critical to note that this exemption applies strictly to ownership. If a private landlord owns a building but rents space to a federal agency, the building is currently not exempt. The private owner remains legally responsible for the building's overall emissions and any resulting city fines. While there are ongoing discussions and pushback regarding the logic of penalizing private owners who host federal tenants, the law as written only clears government-owned deeds.

Summary for Owners and Boards

If your property is on the Covered Buildings List, doing nothing is the most expensive option available. Start by pulling your building's historical energy data, verifying your housing classification, and determining whether you are chasing a strict carbon cap or executing a prescriptive checklist. Knowing your pathway changes your strategy from a reactive scramble into a managed, cost-effective capital plan.

Stopping the Bleed: How the NYSERDA FlexTech Program Cuts the Cost of Compliance

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:47:23 GMT

Curing "Paralysis by Analysis" and Escaping LL97 Penalties

You have probably heard the term "FlexTech" floating around New York City real estate circles lately. The city loves a new program that sounds overly technical, but behind the jargon, it actually boils down to one simple question: Who is paying for your energy audit?

Specifically, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) FlexTech Program is designed to split the bill with you when you decide to take a look at how your building actually functions - from the boiler room to the roof.

The $30,000 Hard Pill to Swallow

We've been there. You know the building is hemorrhaging heat in the winter, or the summer electric bills are skyrocketing. However, shelling out $20,000 or $30,000 just to have an engineer tell you exactly what you already suspect feels like a tough pill to swallow. It is money out of pocket before you even lay a finger on a valve or replace a single motor.

FlexTech changes that dynamic. It is a cost-sharing setup where NYSERDA covers up to 50% of the cost of an eligible energy study .

The state's goal is to find systemic inefficiencies so they can move the needle on carbon emissions. Your goal is to get a professional, data-backed roadmap for your building's mechanical systems at half the standard market price.

Beyond the Standard Walk-Through: What FlexTech Covers

This is not a superficial walkthrough. The FlexTech program is broad enough to cover the heavy-duty engineering studies that commercial and multifamily owners actually need.

Depending on your portfolio's vulnerabilities, a subsidized study can look into:

Deep-Dive Energy Audits: ASHRAE Level 2 or Level 3 assessments that map out exactly where energy is wasted.
Water Saving Studies: Identifying massive drops in efficiency across domestic water and mechanical cooling loops.
Specialized Systems: Exploring complex setups like Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or electrification readiness.

The primary objective is to equip you with actual, defensible data. Instead of guessing which upgrade might stop tenant complaints, you have concrete numbers to prove what works.

Curing "Paralysis by Analysis" and Escaping LL97 Penalties

For property managers and boards, the toughest hurdle is often the "paralysis by analysis" phase. When you work through the program, you hire a technical consultant—chosen from a pre-approved list of vetted engineering firms—to do the heavy mathematical lifting for you.

They calculate the exact payback period, upfront capital requirements, and long-term utility savings. If you are debating whether a new heat pump system makes sense, the final report will prove it one way or the other.

Crucially, this data is your best weapon against Local Law 97 (LL97) penalties, which are no longer a distant problem - they are here, and they carry real financial consequences. It makes board meetings or owner updates much quieter when you can point to an independent, subsidized study rather than a gut feeling.

Checking Your Eligibility

If you are looking for the fine print, the official NYSERDA FlexTech Program Overview is the place to start. They outline the specific sectors that qualify, but since most multifamily and commercial buildings in the city cross the state's size thresholds, there is a very high probability your portfolio fits the criteria.

For broader compliance help, the NYC Accelerator Resources on Local Law 97 can help map your FlexTech findings directly to the city's carbon limit targets.

The Bottom Line

Ultimately, leveraging this program is about keeping the Department of Buildings (DOB) off your back while ensuring you aren’t overpaying your utility providers. It is one of the rare instances where the state puts its own skin in the game to lower your upfront risk. It won't fund the final construction bill, but it makes the first step vastly less painful for the annual budget.

NYC Local Law 97: What Article 320 Means for Your Building

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 19:00:27 GMT

Article 320 is the core Local Law 97 compliance pathway for most covered private buildings in NYC, requiring annual emissions reporting and compliance with building-specific greenhouse gas limits.

What is Article 320?

Article 320 is the part of Local Law 97 that applies to most covered private buildings in New York City. It sets greenhouse gas emissions limits for covered buildings and requires owners to file annual emissions reports with the Department of Buildings.

Iif your building is covered under Article 320, the city wants to know how much carbon your building is producing. If your building is over the allowed limit, you may face penalties. Article 320 is supported by DOB rule 1 RCNY §103-14 , which explains how the Department of Buildings enforces the law.

The big takeaway

Article 320 is the primary Local Law 97 compliance pathway for most private buildings. If your building falls under Article 320, you need to:

Understand your emissions limit
Track your annual greenhouse gas emissions
File an annual report with the Department of Buildings
Have the report certified by a registered design professional
Reduce emissions if your building is over the limit
Keep documentation organized
Plan ahead for stricter 2030 limits

This is not just another “file it and forget it” requirement. Article 320 can directly affect your operating costs, capital planning, and penalty exposure.

Who falls under Article 320?

Article 320 generally applies to most private covered buildings under Local Law 97.

This can include:

Individual buildings over 25,000 gross square feet
Two or more buildings on the same tax lot that together exceed 50,000 gross square feet
Two or more condominium buildings governed by the same board that together exceed 50,000 gross square feet
Large multifamily buildings
Commercial buildings
Mixed-use buildings
Co-op and condo buildings
Other private properties that meet the covered building criteria

If you own or manage a large private building in NYC, there is a good chance Article 320 applies. The very first step is confirming whether your building is covered and whether Article 320 is the correct compliance pathway.

Article 320 vs. Article 321

LL97 is broken into different articles because not every building follows the same rules. Here’s the simple version:

Article 320 applies to most covered private buildings.
Article 321 applies to certain affordable housing properties and houses of worship.
Article 320 focuses on annual greenhouse gas emissions limits.
Article 321 offers prescriptive energy conservation measures.

What does Article 320 require?

Article 320 requires covered buildings to comply with greenhouse gas emissions limits. Building owners must report their annual emissions to the Department of Buildings. The report must be certified by a registered design professional, such as a licensed engineer or architect.

For Article 320 buildings, owners generally need to:

Calculate annual greenhouse gas emissions
Compare emissions against the building’s applicable limit
File an annual emissions report with DOB
Certify the report through a registered design professional
Take corrective action if emissions exceed the limit
Maintain supporting documentation
Prepare for stricter emissions caps in future compliance periods

The first compliance period began in 2024, and the emissions limits become more strict in 2030. That means a building that is compliant today may not stay compliant forever.

What is the Article 320 reporting deadline?

Article 320 covered buildings must file an annual greenhouse gas emissions report with the Department of Buildings. The first report for the 2024 calendar year was due by May 1, 2025. After that, reports are due every year by May 1.

The report must be certified by a registered design professional. This is important because Article 320 is not just about doing the work. It is about proving the work, documenting the numbers, and filing correctly.

What happens if your building is over the emissions limit?

If your building exceeds its Article 320 emissions limit, you may need to reduce emissions or face penalties. Common next steps may include:

Reviewing your building’s current energy use
Identifying which systems are driving emissions
Improving heating system performance
Upgrading HVAC equipment
Improving lighting efficiency
Optimizing controls
Improving insulation and air sealing
Upgrading domestic hot water systems
Evaluating electrification options
Considering renewable energy where practical
Creating a longer-term decarbonization plan

The right path depends on the building. A large multifamily building, an office property, and a mixed-use property may all require different strategies. The goal is not to throw money at upgrades randomly. The goal is to reduce emissions in the smartest, most cost-effective way possible.

What are the penalties under Article 320?

Article 320 can carry real financial consequences. If a covered building exceeds its emissions limit, the annual penalty is generally calculated based on how far the building is over its limit.

The maximum annual penalty for excess emissions is calculated by multiplying the building’s excess emissions by $268 per metric ton of CO2e.

There are also penalties for reporting problems, including:

Failure to file: $0.50 per building square foot, per month
False statements: fines up to $500,000

In other words, missing the mark can get expensive quickly. As limits tighten in 2030, more buildings may find themselves at risk if they do not plan ahead.

What is Good Faith compliance?

The Good Faith compliance pathway was created to give certain building owners some flexibility during the first compliance period. If an owner can show they are actively working toward compliance, they may be able to avoid or reduce penalties during the 2024–2029 period.

Good Faith compliance may involve:

Filing required reports
Staying current with other energy-related laws
Retaining qualified professionals
Creating a decarbonization plan
Beginning work to reduce emissions
Demonstrating real progress toward compliance

Beware. Good Faith is not a free pass. DOB can still enforce penalties if the owner does not follow through or cannot show meaningful action. Think of it as the city saying, “We’ll give you room to fix it, but we are absolutely keeping the receipt.”

Why Article 320 matters for building owners

Article 320 matters because it turns building emissions into a direct compliance and financial issue. For NYC owners and property managers, this affects:

Annual reporting obligations
Operating costs
Capital planning
Building systems strategy
Future retrofit decisions
Penalty exposure
Property value
Long-term compliance planning

Article 320 compliance checklist

If your building falls under Article 320, you may have to:

Confirm whether your building is covered by Local Law 97
Confirm whether Article 320 applies
Identify your building’s occupancy type
Determine your applicable emissions limit
Gather utility and energy usage data
Calculate your annual greenhouse gas emissions
Compare your emissions against the legal limit
Work with a registered design professional
Prepare and certify the annual emissions report
Submit the report to DOB by the required deadline
Identify whether your building is at risk for penalties
Review possible efficiency upgrades or operational improvements
Create a plan for the stricter 2030 emissions limits
Keep supporting documentation organized

Common mistake: assuming Article 320 is just another filing

Article 320 is not just a reporting rule. It is an emissions-limit law with financial penalties attached. So, if you are on the covered buildings list then yes, you need to file.

While many property owners believe they are on track because they comply with Local Law 84 benchmarking, this is a dangerous misconception. LL84 merely requires you to report your energy data; Article 320 of Local Law 97 penalizes you based on that data.

Article 320 and the 2030 problem

The 2024–2029 limits are only the first phase. The bigger challenge comes in 2030, when emissions limits become stricter. That means some buildings may pass today but fail later if they do not make improvements. Building owners should use the current compliance period to understand their exposure, plan upgrades, and avoid being boxed into expensive last-minute work.

Local Law 97 Article 321: Compliance for Affordable Housing & Houses of Worship

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 19:10:40 GMT

Local Law 97 is not one-size-fits-all. Under LL97, different buildings follow different compliance pathways depending on their use, ownership, and classification.

Most private buildings fall under Article 320. But certain affordable housing properties and houses of worship may fall under Article 321, which has its own rules, requirements, and compliance options. If your building qualifies under Article 321, you may have an alternative path to compliance. But let’s be clear: Article 321 does not mean you get to ignore LL97. It just means the city gave you a different maze.

What is Article 321?

Article 321 is part of Local Law 97 and applies to certain buildings that are treated differently from standard private buildings under Article 320. Article 321 generally covers:

Affordable housing properties
Certain rent-regulated buildings
Houses of worship
Buildings with specific housing or occupancy characteristics

Article 321 is supported by DOB rule 1 RCNY §103-17 , which explains how the Department of Buildings enforces this compliance pathway.

The big takeaway

Article 321 buildings may have a different compliance path than Article 320 buildings. But different does not mean exempt.

If your building falls under Article 321, you still need to:

Understand your requirements
Complete the right work
Submit the proper report
Keep documentation in order
Work with the right qualified professional

Article 321 vs. Article 320

LL97 is broken into different articles because not every building is treated the same way. Here’s the simple version:

Article 320 applies to most covered private buildings.
Article 321 applies to certain affordable housing properties and houses of worship.
Article 320 focuses heavily on annual greenhouse gas emissions limits.
Article 321 offers alternative compliance pathways, including energy conservation measures.

Who may fall under Article 321?

Article 321 may apply to certain buildings that are not handled the same way as standard private buildings under Article 320.

This can include:

Affordable housing buildings
Rent-regulated buildings
Houses of worship
Mixed-use properties with qualifying housing or religious use
Properties with specific ownership, occupancy, or regulatory characteristics

This matters because two buildings can look nearly identical from the sidewalk but have completely different compliance obligations once you review the details. The question is not just: “Does LL97 apply to my building?”

The better question is: “Which LL97 pathway applies to my building?”

What are the Article 321 compliance pathways?

Article 321 buildings generally have two main ways to comply.

1. Performance-Based Compliance

Under this pathway, the building demonstrates that it meets the applicable greenhouse gas emissions limits. This usually means showing that the building’s emissions are within the required limit.

2. Prescriptive Compliance

Under this pathway, the building completes required Prescriptive Energy Conservation Measures, often called PECMs.

Instead of only focusing on whether the building is under an emissions cap, the owner shows that specific energy-saving improvements were completed.

What are Prescriptive Energy Conservation Measures?

Prescriptive Energy Conservation Measures are specific upgrades or improvements that help reduce energy use and emissions.

Depending on the building, these may involve:

Lighting
Heating systems
Cooling systems
Ventilation
Insulation
Domestic hot water systems
Controls
Building envelope improvements

The goal is simple: make the building more efficient and reduce waste. The city’s version is less simple, obviously. It involves rules, reports, certifications, and probably at least one spreadsheet that makes someone sigh audibly.

What is the Article 321 deadline?

Article 321 covered buildings were required to submit a compliance report to the Department of Buildings by May 1, 2025. The report depends on which compliance pathway the building follows.

For the prescriptive pathway, the report generally shows that the required energy conservation measures were completed.

For the performance-based pathway, the report generally shows that the building meets the applicable emissions requirements.

Either way, documentation matters.

This is not the kind of rule where “we upgraded some stuff a while back” is enough. The filing needs to match DOB requirements, and the work needs to be properly documented.

Who certifies Article 321 compliance?

Depending on the compliance pathway, Article 321 reporting may need to be certified by a qualified professional. This may include:

A registered design professional
A qualified retro-commissioning agent
A licensed engineer or architect, depending on the filing requirement

The important part to know here is that owners should not treat this as a self-attestation. DOB expects the report to be properly prepared, reviewed, and certified.

Are Article 321 buildings exempt from LL97 penalties?

Not automatically. Article 321 may provide an alternative compliance pathway, but covered buildings can still face enforcement risk if they:

Fail to submit the required report
Submit an incomplete report
Miss required deadlines
Fail to complete required measures
Choose the wrong compliance pathway
Do not maintain proper documentation

The safest move is to confirm the building’s status early, identify the correct pathway, complete the required work, and keep records organized.

Why Article 321 matters for affordable housing owners

Article 321 matters because it may provide a more realistic compliance path for certain affordable housing properties. Instead of forcing every building into the same emissions-limit structure as standard private buildings, Article 321 may allow qualifying buildings to comply through required efficiency measures. That can be helpful. But it is not automatic.

Owners still need to know:

Whether Article 321 applies
Which pathway they qualify for
What work must be completed
What report must be filed
Who needs to certify it
What documentation must be kept

Getting this wrong can lead to missed deadlines, unnecessary penalties, and the kind of last-minute scramble nobody wants.

Why Article 321 matters for houses of worship

Houses of worship may also qualify under Article 321. This matters because religious buildings often have:

Unique layouts
Older systems
Irregular occupancy patterns
Limited capital budgets
Mixed-use spaces
Historic or hard-to-upgrade building systems

A single property may include:

A sanctuary
Offices
Classrooms
Community rooms
Residential space
Event areas

That can make LL97 compliance more complicated than it looks on paper. Article 321 may offer a compliance pathway that better reflects how these buildings actually operate. Houses of worship should not assume they are automatically exempt just because they are religious or nonprofit properties. The building still needs to be reviewed.

Article 321 compliance checklist

If your building may fall under Article 321, start here:

Confirm whether your building is covered by Local Law 97
Determine whether Article 320 or Article 321 applies
Review whether your building qualifies as affordable housing, rent-regulated housing, or a house of worship
Determine whether your building must meet emissions limits or complete prescriptive energy conservation measures
Gather energy and building system documentation
Work with the right qualified professional
Prepare the required compliance report
Submit the report to the Department of Buildings
Keep records in case DOB requests support later

Local Law 97 (Article 321) Prescriptive Measures

§ 28-321.2.2 Prescriptive energy conservation measures. By December 31, 2024, the owner of a covered building shall ensure that the following energy conservation measures have been implemented where applicable:

Adjusting temperature set points for heat and hot water to reflect appropriate space occupancy and facility requirements;
Repairing all heating system leaks;
Maintaining the heating system, including but not limited to ensuring that system component parts are clean and in good operating condition;
Installing individual temperature controls or insulated radiator enclosures with temperature controls on all radiators;
Insulating all pipes for heating and/or hot water;
Insulating the steam system condensate tank or water tank;
Installing indoor and outdoor heating system sensors and boiler controls to allow for proper set-points;
Replacing or repairing all steam traps such that all are in working order;
Installing or upgrading steam system master venting at the ends of mains, large horizontal pipes, and tops of risers, vertical pipes branching off a main;
Upgrading lighting to comply with the standards for new systems set forth in section 805 of the New York city energy conservation code and/or applicable standards referenced in such energy code on or prior to December 31, 2024. This provision is subject to exception 1 in section 28-310.3, provided that July 1, 2010 is replaced by January 1, 2020 for the purposes of this section;
Weatherizing and air sealing where appropriate, including windows and ductwork, with focus on whole-building insulation;
Installing timers on exhaust fans;
Installing radiant barriers behind all radiators.

Common mistake: assuming Article 321 means “we’re exempt”

This is the big one. Article 321 does not mean LL97 disappears. It means your building may have a different way to comply.

That difference matters, especially for affordable housing properties and houses of worship. But owners still need to take action, file properly, and document the work. If you are not sure which article applies to your building, don't guess! LL97 has too many trapdoors for guessing.

I received an "N" letter grade, what does it mean?

Mon, 16 Oct 2023 19:58:02 GMT

What does this mean?

Per LL33, buildings that receive an “N” grade will not receive a label, and DO NOT need to

post by the end of October.

Are there any resulting ramifications/penalties for an “N” Grade?

No.

Your building may have received an N grade for any of the following reasons:

Number of Residential Living Unites under 20
Building has secondary retail space less than 5,000 sqft
Building has secondary retail space comprised by more than one individual store
Building has secondary office space less than 1,000 sqft
Building is “Mixed use” – building features multiple property use-types, none of which represent 50% of gross floor area or more.
Building is characterized by a primary use type that is not eligible to receive an Energy Star 1-100 score (Ex. Manufacturing/Industrial Plant, Parking garage)

Rent Stabilized Properties and LL97 Emissions Law

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 14:03:46 GMT

At first glance, NYC’s Local Law 97 emissions law seems to offer rent stabilized properties an olive branch.

Unlike their counterparts, rent-regulated buildings (defined as buildings with >35% rent regulated units) are provided with two “alternative compliance pathways” in which they can file a “one and done report” and be free of LL97’s requirements and emissions limits in perpetuity.

Here's why the alternative pathways are great on paper but not so great in reality:

One pathway is to demonstrate by May 1, 2025 that the property is already under the 2030 emissions limits, an unlikely scenario given that 80% of all NYC buildings already exceed that threshold.

The second is to implement (again by May 1, 2025) a list of thirteen prescriptive measures , a seemingly benign checklist that, upon closer inspection, reveals itself to be quite onerous and expensive.

While the prescriptive measures are “low hanging fruit” and beneficial, the price tag is likely to give pause to rent regulated property owners already reeling from the 2019 HSTPA, rising interest rates, and tougher credit conditions.

Replacing steam traps or installing TRVs or “smart radiator covers” are definitely advisable, but multiply them by all the radiators in a building and add some master venting on the steam risers and mains, pipe insulation on all water lines, etc and we find that that the low hanging fruit may not be so reachable after all.

And herein lies the problem...

The alternative pathways dangle the relief of a one-time report, but the trade-off is having to meet the stringent 2030 emission standards five years ahead of other buildings OR having to implement a potentially six figure list of prescriptive measures RIGHT NOW.

Rent stabilized buildings may want to play for TIME right now which is something the alternative pathways lack.

More time would allow...

for buildings to wait until 2027 when it is expected that they will be able to purchase “Renewable Energy Credits” to offset some of their emissions.

for buildings to wait for rules on purchasing “Carbon Offsets” and “Off-Site Solar” which could further offset emissions.

for buildings to wait for rules on obtaining extensions.

for buildings to wait for a potential change in the political winds. Currently there is legislation to extend the compliance deadlines for seven years.

for newer and better financing options for upgrades than what exist today.

for more rules on the process of which there are precious few right now. Do buildings really need to do the prescriptive measure in every unit? How does DOB propose getting access to units?

So what's the best move for Rent Stabilized properties here?

If you haven't read my initial opinion on Local Law 97, you can read it here .

We’re offering an affordable program built specifically for rent-stabilized buildings. Call us at 212.650.1591 or email us at Sales@Redocs.com .

Local Law 97 Q & A - ReDocs Roundtable - Ep 02

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 13:45:02 GMT

President of ReDocs, Mark Balsam, sits down with Marketing Director Kate Hoffer to discuss questions that customers and building owners alike are asking about Local Law 97.

Quick Summary:

It's hard to determine what LL97 is going to cost each building. It's unique to the building's needs.
Financing for energy efficiency is growing and it's availability is increasing.
Buildings with rent stabilized units will have to comply with a set of prescriptive measures.
Energy letter grades may help push building owners to improve on their score, depending on the building type.

Don't feel like reading the transcript? Click here to watch the Round Table.

Full Transcript

Mark Balsam

Okay. All right. Kate, you've been here with ReDocs now for about eight months. And I understand you have some questions about Local Law 97. What it is, what it means for buildings in the city.. So, fire away!

Kate Hoffer

Yeah, sure. So, amongst my research and seeing what our customers are asking, I gathered some questions for us to discuss Local Law 97 that I think would be really insightful for us to get your opinion and your position on some of these questions.

Mark Balsam

Sure.

Kate Hoffer

Will the buildings be able to afford the upgrades? Or do you think that they're gonna have to just get stuck with the fines and where do you think that they're gonna get this money from?

Mark Balsam

Right. It's a good question. Well, first of all, let's just take a quick step back and you know, just to bring everybody up to the same level. Local Law 97, which has now been in the books for a few years but hasn't actually come into effect just yet. Basically puts emissions caps on buildings in New York City over 25,000 square feet.

So the idea is that through some sort of reporting mechanism, buildings will have to report what their emissions are each year and they have to be below preset caps. Otherwise they'll be subject to fines which can, in some cases be quite substantial.

So to answer your question, Kate, you asked me about the expense of it. And you know what, in other words, what happens if a building is above their cap? What can they do about it and is it expensive? Was that the question?

Kate Hoffer

Yes.

Mark Balsam

Yeah. Well, it's a good question, I think, to a large extent, because as I said, the law is in effect, yet. They haven't even written all the rules yet of how it's going to work. We don't even know what the forms look like or the web portal for how you're going to disclose to the city what your emissions are. But, you know, it could be expensive, depending on how far over the cap you are. You know, the the fines themselves can get quite substantial. You know, it may come down to replacing systems doing a major retrofit of the building, or it may be something simpler. You know. The other thing we don't know yet is that there seems to be some plans for provisions which will allow buildings to buy credits to offset some of their use their emissions as opposed to actually doing work. However, we don't know exactly what that's going to look like yet.

We do know that the plan is to only allow buildings to apply the credits to grid purchased electricity. In other words, they couldn't apply the credits to emissions resulting from oil or natural gas or something like that. So it's really hard to say what the costs are going to be.

Assuming that for some buildings, it is a large cost. The financing world for energy efficiency has come a long way. Right now there's something called PACE financing, which is it's something that's authorized by individual municipalities and now it's been authorized by the City. And that basically allows lenders certain lenders who have signed up for the program to lend to buildings on energy and emissions reduction, upgrades and then the payments are secured through an on bill mechanism, an on tax bill mechanism, whereby the the billing to the the building owner or Co Op or condo what have you is done through their tax bill. And so the idea is that lenders are more comfortable with the risk because, you know, it's being paid as part of that their loan is being paid back as part of the tax bill.

So more mainstream lenders are starting to get more interested in, you know, at what lending might look like, even, you know, banks that land on acquisitions of buildings are more interested now. And, well, maybe there's a benefit to us for the building to also be energy efficient. So there's a lot of interesting things brewing but again, it's kind of early in the game. And that's a long answer for you.

Kate Hoffer

No, that's good I'm wondering along the same lines of building owners being able to afford these these upgrades and you're talking about different lending opportunities.

What about - I was reading in the New York Daily News recently that somebody had suggested a program called the E 51 program, which will allow for partial property tax abatements. For those that use energy conservation measures, and I don't think that's defined, what do you think about that? Have you have you read up on this?

Mark Balsam

It's funny, I hadn't heard that term before. You asked me about it just before we got on, but I kind of knew with and then I did take a look at the article you're referencing and I kind of knew already, what it was. Basically it was a suggestion made, which may or may not be a good one that maybe the City implement something similar to what many building owners would know as the J 51 program. Where you know, in the J 51 program, building owners would do capital improvements to the building to upgrade the building and would get tax abatements in return. So the idea with this E 51 thing. And by the way, this is just it looks like it's just one person suggestion. I don't think there's anything real about it. But the idea behind the E 51 abatement would be that you would spend money on energy upgrades and get a property tax abatement on the building. I would be even if that were to come into effect. I would be very, very skeptical of it.

Building owners have been through quite a number of problems with the J 51 program which we don't have to get into but I would be worried that the same problems would exist with an e 51. Program. Interesting thing, you know, the E 51 idea, though. Yeah.

Kate Hoffer

Do you think that it's fair that building owners are going to have to comply with this if they don't have the resources, the financial resources to be able to keep up with the upgrades that in time for their due dates?

Mark Balsam

Yeah! I mean, look, there are a couple of things. So one is the law already has a carve out for buildings with rent stabilized units. I believe if a building has 35% of its units are rent stabilized, meaning that there's a pretty good chance it's, it's in somewhat of a, you know, an affordable or it it's providing some level of affordability.

In those cases, the building won't be subject to the emissions requirements, they will have to take a certain set of what are called prescriptive measures. Unclear if they'll have to do it yearly, or if they'll have to do it once and show it, but there's basically a laundry list of, maybe 12 or so low hanging fruit, pipe insulation, things like that, which these building owners will have to do.

But they don't have to worry necessarily about being over the cap and getting fines or having to do some sort of major retrofit to get there. So there's that.

There's also, as I mentioned, there's going to be some level of credits involved in this where a building owner can buy credits to offset some of their emissions, which presumably would be less expensive than doing some sort of energy upgrade.

And then, you know, you have some good faith provisions where if you can show good faith that you're trying and you haven't gotten there, although we don't really know anything about how that's going to work, but it allegedly, there will be some mechanism for showing that you have tried or that you have some sort of hardship, which is impeding your ability to reach the emissions goals. So there are some things and it looks like there are more and more as we get closer to the law being rolled out where the City is taking some steps to try to alleviate some of the pain which might result from this.

Kate Hoffer

Right. Right. Interesting. I think that's a little more comfortable to hear for building owners that there'll be practical steps that you can take rather than

Mark Balsam

Yeah, yeah, well, if you've heard me say it, it's why I don't have a a firm piece of advice for buildings as a whole. It's really building my building. I think that there are certain cases where it might make sense for a building to just take a wait and see attitude on this law. For a variety of reasons.

One, as we said, there are going to be energy credits. We don't know how it's going to work, how much it'll be helpful. That has to play out. We're still about a year away from 2024. When this actually comes into effect, a lot can happen in the rulemaking process and in the law.

There's certainly an argument to be made for some people to like, slow down. Let's see how this progresses. But then there's also an argument to be made. I've heard some people say that look, contractors are going to be scarce when you're going to need them the most. If you wait, you know, I don't know if I buy that. But that's that's one argument.

Some buildings have the funds, you know, they have the vision, the forward thinking. They want to be at the forefront of this. And for those buildings, it may might make sense to you know, start dealing with this now. You know, what I can tell you in our own business is that you know, we've been consulting on this with our clients a lot more in the last year and you know, it's become more being a New York City energy consultant has become more than just doing the benchmarking and just doing the Local Law 87 energy audits. I mean, that's important.

But, you know, I think it's reasonable for a client to expect that they that for the price of doing the benchmarking and for the price of doing the Local Law 87 and energy audits that they should get some sophisticated consultation on Local Law 97, on the energy letter grades, which I know you had a question for me about as as well.

And so yeah, I think that's reasonable to expect, you know, and we certainly do that with our clients. I mean, we're providing, you know, a no additional cost, Local Law 97 penalty analyses we're doing letter grade analyses, I mean, basically, where we're helping in all, all areas associated with, you know, the benchmarking and the and the audit and just New York City Energy compliance.

Kate Hoffer

Right, right. So that leads me to my next question perfectly about the energy efficiency grade analyses. So, my question was going to be do you think that the energy efficiency grades are going to be a motivation factor or more of a nuisance, but if you could explain, it sounds like you break down the whole entire grade per building with your customers, if you could tell me how you feel that benefits them? That would be really interesting.

Mark Balsam

Yeah. So it's important to note, first of all, I think people are understanding this more than they were a year ago. But the energy letter grades are different from the Local Law 97 emissions requirements.

The energy letter grades are basically each year you do your Local Law 84/133 Energy Benchmarking, which has been on the books now for many years. And based upon that data, and how efficient or not efficient your building is, you are basically given a letter grade, which you then have to post somewhere conspicuously at your building. So, and that is truly about energy. It's based on total energy usage, not on emissions, then the Local Law 97.

While of course, there's a lot of overlap between energy efficiency and emissions. It is different in that it's a law first and foremost, to reduce emissions. It's separate from the letter grade. The cap and the letter grade don't have anything actually to do with with each other in practical terms, but is it a motivation? It's interesting, I thought, when they first when the City first rolled out the letter grades that nobody would care. And I was mistaken! I think it's, what it has done is - Yeah, sure. It is a nuisance. Every regulation is a nuisance on buildings and I do get that.

But it's also, what I think it's done is it's stirred the conversation. It's brought more awareness and more of a spotlight to the conversation around energy efficiency. It's kind of like you know, if you saw it, it's like the restaurant letter grades for you know, cleanliness, it's something that's hard to ignore. And yes, there are a bunch of buildings that really, you know, they don't want a D or a C or anything less than an A on their building.

And, you know, it really, it's again, it's building by building but I do think it has stirred the pot in a certain way to different extents for different buildings.

Kate Hoffer

Yeah. So instead of thinking that somebody gets their letter grade on their building, you thought that everybody would brush it under the rug. It's just a thing, a requirement that we have to post up now.

Now, you've seen that it's generated all this conversation and that people actually do care and that they are interested in improving that number. And do you think that people want to improve that number because of the tenants that are in their building? Or what is their motivating factor?

Mark Balsam

Great, great question, I mean, I again, it's a building by building thing. So you have buildings, certainly office buildings, we know more and more companies. have made a commitment to, you know, environmentally friendly practices. ESG. And so certainly for office buildings, I think it's becoming more and more important to the tenants.

I think, you know, definitely a co op or condo where the residents own their units. it's becoming more and more important to, you know, first of all feel like they're living in an efficient building. And also there's also a cost element to it, too. You have to pay your portion of the maintenance or the common charges.

And so to know that your building is operating efficiently, is a good feeling from a financial standpoint, too. Then there are areas in buildings where I don't think tenants care that much, you know, it's more of you know, it's more of a consideration over rent, what's reasonable, what's not just like always, so.

Kate Hoffer

Right. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. From a tenant's perspective. Yeah. Mark, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Mark Balsam

Yeah. Thank you.

Standard Carbon - ReDocs Round Table - Ep 01

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 16:04:08 GMT

What is Standard Carbon and how can NYC building owners benefit from it? And most importantly, does it make sense financially? Also, find out how you can decarbonize a 100-year-old NYC building with their existing boiler system. Mark Balsam sits down with Nathan Winkler to discuss Standard Carbon in ReDocs' very first roundtable.

Quick Summary:

Standard Carbon changes the carbon dioxide coming out of the chimney into natural gas.
It can be utilized in industrial and commercial facilities, as well as residential, such as NYC apartment buildings.
Use in tandem with solar panels and off-peak hours, it can be well worth the investment.
Installing this system can qualify for a number of tax credits.

Don't feel like reading the transcript? Click here to watch the Round Table.

Full Transcript:

Mark Balsam

So Nathan, you have a I don't even know what to call it a product? A system? You're one of the founders of something called Standard Carbon?

Nathan Winkler

It's a product at this point, yeah.

Mark Balsam

Can you tell me what it is? And, what it does?

Nathan Winkler

Yeah. Standard Carbon takes what's coming out of the chimney of your boiler and it removes the carbon dioxide from that exhaust going out the chimney and turns that carbon dioxide into natural gas. And it does that using electricity. Which ideally will come from a renewable source.

Mark Balsam

Got it. And I actually saw one of your videos - I forgot if it was on your website or if you posted it on LinkedIn - but you actually had, you are connected to a car's exhaust ..

Nathan Winkler

My car!

Mark Balsam

.. and then on the other end, you lit a cigar! I'm assuming it's the same process. You're capturing the exhaust and then creating natural gas which then is a, you know..

Nathan Winkler

Correct! When we tested the system we hooked it up to my car, put a brick on the gas pedal. Of course it's a lease, so whatever damage you do the engine, it's on the leasing company, not me. And then the natural gas reproduced at the other end. We wanted to create a visual so in the efforts of being politically correct, we thought Cuban cigars would be the most appropriate way to show off natural gas that we produced from the carbon dioxide emissions coming out the tailpipe of the car.

Mark Balsam

Right. And is there an application for New York City buildings? I know that just in separate conversations, you said that the ideal candidate is some sort of industrial or commercial facility. But, you know, does it work for a New York City apartment building?

Nathan Winkler

Absolutely. The best application is like you said probably larger scale but actually the origins of the idea was my work in New York City. The issue with New York City buildings is that they're 100 years old, oftentimes, and it's really difficult to keep them other than with the existing boiler steam system and everything you have in place. And so, if you can keep that boiler and steam system exactly as is and then just remove the carbon dioxide from it and do something useful with that carbon dioxide. You can essentially decarbonize the heating system of your building without demolishing what's already there, and that's a huge advantage. And that's where what we're doing is applicable because we can install our product right next to the existing boiler, capture the exhaust from the boiler, convert the CO2 in the exhaust into natural gas, feed that natural gas back to the boiler, and run the whole thing off off-peak electricity or from solar panels on the roof. Electricity from another source.

Mark Balsam

But that's a good point. My understanding is that in order to recycle the exhaust gases back into into natural gas, you're using a process called "electrolysis," is that right? Is that the term for it?

Nathan Winkler

So, diving into the technical aspects, there are three main processes inside the Standard Carbon box. There's carbon capture to separate CO2 from everything else in the exhaust gas, and isolate it, so you have pure CO2 that we can work with. There's electrolysis, which is the using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. So we have hydrogen. And then there's a third part, methanation, where we combine hydrogen and carbon dioxide together to produce methane. And methane is the primary constituent of natural gas.

Mark Balsam

Sure, so there is a considerable amount of electricity that this product consumes in order to - provide - to turn it back into methane.

Nathan Winkler

Absolutely. It continues -

Mark Balsam

Is that a deal breaker for a lot of buildings. Is it going to pencil out?

Nathan Winkler

So, assuming that you can get electricity from the grid at off peak times, or that you can install solar panels then it's a home run. So, I was shocked. I looked at the locational-based mean pricing from Manhattan. And -- more than 20% of the time the price drops below two cents a kilowatt hour in Manhattan. So it's possible to get off-peak, really cheap electricity. Also, if you're generating electricity on site with solar, that solves the whole issue as well.

Mark Balsam

And you're doing or you're discussing a project currently in a New York City apartment building where solar is a component of it? I understand.

Nathan Winkler

So, the project that we have the informal 'go ahead' is a multifamily building in Brooklyn. And actually, it's a complete home run because they're going to install our system with solar panels. So, all the electricity that's needed is going to be generated on site. They're gonna get the full value of the solar if they didn't have us then they'd have to export to the grid and get paid pennies on the dollar relative to the value of the electricity they're producing. And because it's coming from solar, they're gonna get the full Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. So we're looking at a simple payback of less than two years for the whole system to decarbonize the building. So, the building is going to be carbon neutral, and they're gonna make a fortune in the process.

Mark Balsam

And presumably, that plays into Local Law 97 as well and has some benefits there and that the emissions are averted.

Nathan Winkler

We're not even taking into account the fact that we eliminate their Local Law 97 penalties in our analysis because the value of essentially producing free natural gas for the boiler from solar panels on the roof, plus the tax credits is so enormous that we didn't need to even discuss Local Law 97 penalties kicking in in 2030 to justify the investment.

Mark Balsam

And I understand that this building that you're in discussions with they are also they've optimized their steam heating system. And so that was one thing that allowed this to work for basically their solar installation to provide enough to cover the load, essentially.

Nathan Winkler

Yeah, these owners have done everything possible to take a building built in the 1930s and make it as efficient as possible, so their annual gas bill of about $30,000 a year, that includes domestic hot water, and heating for a 50-unit multifamily building. That's about half of what we typically see for a building that size in New York City. And the reason why it's so low is because of the work they've done to make it as efficient as possible. If they had not reduced their load to that extent then we wouldn't be able to make the building carbon neutral. It's really because they've done the hard work of doing all the boring stuff already over the years, now we can come in with something really exciting, and push them to 100%.

Mark Balsam

Right. Now I'm curious, let's say they were more typical. And they hadn't reduced their fuel usage as much. Understanding that they couldn't become carbon neutral, does it still work? The numbers.

Nathan Winkler

So, the financials would still work.

Mark Balsam

Right

Nathan Winkler

What makes it work financially is the fact that the electricity is coming from on site solar panels.

Mark Balsam

Right.

Nathan Winkler

The wild card with a building, which doesn't have rooftop solar, is we don't know if we're getting electricity from the grid, what that means as far as tax credits. We also then have a more complicated task of getting off-peak electricity pricing. So, it's really simple and a home run, if you have on site solar.

Mark Balsam

Might that be a viable package moving forward that, you know, in future applications, you know, you actually might want to do the solar in tandem with this?

Nathan Winkler

Absolutely. They did not do solar in the past because they had no place to use the electricity. So this gives them the load to justify the solar investment and the solar developer will finance the entire deal. So, that's really a win for everybody. They go to one bank, so to speak, the folks that are putting in the solar panels, and those guys are more than happy to finance this as well because this is what's justifying the whole solar project. So, packaged together, it makes the whole thing work. And they said they would not have done the solar project if it wasn't for what we're bringing to the table. They're installing everything at the same time.

Mark Balsam

Interesting.

Nathan Winkler

So I would say the only difference with a typical building is if, you know, we could perhaps drop the carbon emissions by half as opposed to eliminate them entirely, if the building's not as efficiently operated, so it's still worth it to do the boring stuff, like I said.

Mark Balsam

Right. Wow! That's something! And then you get, you mentioned, you get the Biden Inflation Reduction Act, tax credits. Well, you get the tax credit on the solar side, which my understanding is back to being, you can actually redeem cash for it?

Nathan Winkler

Yes, it's a credit. It's -

Mark Balsam

You don't need a tax appetite in order to -

Nathan Winkler

Mark Balsam

Right

Nathan Winkler

It's money in your pocket. I don't think many people appreciate yet how much money is on the table with the Inflation Reduction Act Right In so many different areas. So, in our case, we're talking about our hydrogen production aspect. That's where the subsidies or the tax credits are through the roof. But in so many other areas as well, energy efficiency measures, carbon capture, you name it, they literally have opened the floodgates to an enormous amount of money,

Mark Balsam

Right

Nathan Winkler

that is going to really change the landscape.

Mark Balsam

Well, now what's the other one I wanted - so you have the - assuming you were to do solar and Standard Carbon, so you have the solar investment tax credit, but there's also, as you were mentioning, the hydrogen production credit? Is that the other thing that you would be -

Nathan Winkler

Correct! You'll get the hydrogen the Clean Hydrogen Production tax credit, the solar tax credit , potentially the Carbon Capture tax credit in our case, as well. So as I said, it's just a fantastic amount of money from Uncle Sam. I always joke when I speak to folks about this in Europe, and they criticize the United States, when it comes to climate issues. I say, "Yeah, perhaps the US is slow. But when we do do things, we do it on a scale, like the likes of which the world can't imagine and has never seen." And that's definitely the case. The Inflation Reduction Act is so much money, it's literally caused the European Union now to pass legislation to match the rebates because all of their manufacturers are saying there's no point in us doing business in France, because we just want to sell in Texas because of this new law. It's a huge opportunity.

Mark Balsam

Very cool. And so if someone wanted to, someone listening to this said, Hey, I've got a multifamily, let's say in in New York City, what would be the next steps that they would take? What would be the next steps on your part?

Nathan Winkler

I would tell them, if they have the ability to install solar in the building or they already have solar in the building, then it's a home run and we should do something. If they don't, then it's a more complicated analysis. Still worth exploring, especially if they are looking at very large Local Law 97 penalties.

Mark Balsam

Sure. Oh, and finally, how big is this thing?

Nathan Winkler

About the size of the boiler itself? So smaller boiler, our equipments gonna be smaller. Larger, more boilers will take up more space, but it more or less matches one to one in terms of space.

Mark Balsam

Very interesting. Very cool. Well, thank you. Thanks for walking me through it.

The Truth About Local Law 97

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 18:14:28 GMT

Enough with the Local Law 97 fear mongering.

Do a Google search for LL97 and you’ll find consultants offering to help you avoid HUGE penalties and fines by helping you comply with Local Law 97.

Update your building with energy, renewables and retrofits because the energy savings pencil out. But don’t incorporate phantom LL97 fines into your underwriting.

We’re still two years away from this law coming into effect, which in City government terms is more like two dog years. DOB and DEP have yet to write a single rule as to how the law will be implemented. Without rules, there is no game, so consultants telling you they know how to play are disingenuous, at best.

There are no forms, websites, portals or any other mechanism for actually “complying.” 80% of NYC buildings are ALREADY below the emissions threshold – which means no penalties . This will change in 2030 when the emissions thresholds are tightened, but now we’re talking at least EIGHT years away.

Add to this, the City is already showing signs of softening on the law in response to considerable political opposition. And Cuomo (granted he doesn’t have a lot of political capital right now) is pushing a system that would allow buildings to avert emissions penalties by purchasing renewable energy from upstate.

The following advice probably hurts my business, but then again I’m in the business of giving the best possible advice to NYC buildings, so who knows.

At this time, I would advise NYC buildings to NOT SPEND too much effort on the upcoming Local Law 97 carbon emissions law AKA the “Climate Mobilization Act.”

To be clear, I’m NOT suggesting that buildings completely ignore this. Some planning should take place. Your LL84/L133 consultant should provide you with a snapshot of your emissions. ReDocs does.

I’m also not suggesting that climate change is unimportant. Quite the opposite. It is the issue of our time. But I don’t want buildings to waste time, money, or effort on something so distant and nebulous.

Can I Self Certify Mold Violations?

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Fri, 29 May 2020 20:54:39 GMT

When Can I and When Can't I Self Certify an HPD Mold Violation

An HPD mold violation cannot be self addressed or self certified if both of the following conditions exist:

Class B or Class C Violation(Class B is mold > 10 sf and Class C is mold > 30 sf)
Building is ten (10) units or more.

In this scenario, the building needs to involve a NY State Licensed Mold Assessor AND a SEPARATE NY State Licensed Mold Remediation Contractor. You can read more about this here.

If, on the other hand, the violation does not meet one aforementioned conditions, than the building may self address and self certify.

Lead Paint Apartment Turnover Requirements

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Fri, 29 May 2020 17:20:11 GMT

Required Lead Paint Turnover Records

1. You need to show documentation that the unit was inspected upon vacancy and that the following conditions were assessed.

Are friction surfaces(window frames, doors, door frames) painted?
Are there any underlying defects and/or hazards?(chipping/flaking paint, teeth marks on chewable surfaces, damage to painted surfaces)
Are there window wells,, window sills, and/or floors that are NOT smooth and cleanable?

2. If any of the above conditions existed during inspection, than you need to to show documentation that you followed all of the work practices discussed here.

3. If none the above conditions existed during inspection, that documentation showing that the unit was inspected for these conditions will suffice.

NYC Buildings will be Graded on Energy Usage

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Tue, 26 May 2020 17:32:54 GMT

NYC Buildings will be Graded on Energy Usage

You've seen letter grades in restaurant windows and soon you'll see them posted in your building's windows.

Starting in 2020, under Local Law 33 of 2018, NYC buildings over 25,000 square feet will need to post an energy efficiency letter grade, A-F, in a "conspicuous" location.

A building's grade will be based upon the information reported in its annual Local Law 84/133 benchmarking report to the City. The website through which the benchmarking information is reported, EPA's Portfolio Manager, will calculate an EnergyStar score 1-100 based on the energy usage and building data reported. The higher the EnergyStar score, the higher the letter grade. And vice versa.

In speaking with a lot of my clients, there's a mix of different feelings about these letter grades. Some people care. Some don't. Some think the grade will make a building more or less attractive to potential tenants or buyers. Some think it doesn't make a difference.

What is clear is that the LL84/133 energy benchmarking data which many buildings have been submitting for nearly a decade is no longer going into a black hole. It is being used to make a judgement on your building, one which could potentially have an effect on its value.

No matter how you do your annual benchmarking filings(with us, with another company, or by yourself), it is worth taking the time to understand how your buildings annual benchmarking reporting informs your EnergyStar score which in turn informs your letter grade. Whoever does your benchmarking should understand and be able to articulate to you how the algorithm works, how your grade is determined, and what you can do about it.

Please don't hesitate to call me at 212-650-1591 x 112 to discuss further. We handle NYC energy and environmental compliance for nearly 3000 buildings.