New York City Local Law 84 was enacted in 2009 and amended by Local Law 134 in 2016. It requires large commercial buildings to report their energy and water use annually through benchmarking in Energy Star Portfolio Manager® (ESPM).

Benchmarking requires an entire calendar year of energy and water consumption data. While the deadline for reporting is May 1, building owners are submitting the entire previous calendar year’s data.

Local Law 84 requires buildings that are 25,000 square feet or larger to report their annual energy and water use. It also applies to properties with two or more buildings on the same tax lot that exceed a combined 100,000 square feet, including condominiums, and any city-owned building.

Any building owner whose property is required to comply with New York City’s Local Law 84 is required to submit their energy and water reports by May 1 of every year.

Failure to comply with Local Law 84 can result in a civil penalty of $500 for each quarter the report is late, up to a maximum of $2,000 per year.

New York City Local Law 33 was enacted in 2018 and amended by Local Law 95 in 2019. It requires large commercial buildings to post their energy efficiency scores and grades in accordance with §28-309.12 of the NYC Administrative Code.

The energy grade, which is based on their energy benchmarking data when reporting for Local Law 84, must be posted near the entrance of the building.

Local Law 33 covers the same buildings that need to comply with Local Law 84 – buildings 25,000 square feet or larger.

Buildings that may be exempt from Local Law 33 include:

1. Properties not eligible for an ENERGY STAR score will receive an “N” grade and are exempt from benchmarking and disclosure requirements.
2. Properties with New Built or Demolition permits and no Temporary Certificate of occupancy in a reporting year,
3. Properties with the ownership change in a reporting year may be eligible for a temporary exemption by request only.

Covered properties must display their energy efficiency grades by October 31, annually.

Failure to display your Local Law 33 energy efficiency score by October 31 each year will result in a $1,250 fine.

New York City Local Law 87 was enacted in 2009. It requires large commercial buildings to submit energy efficiency reports (EER) which include and ASHRAE Levell II energy audit and retro-commissioning measures, sometimes abbreviated as A/RCx.

An energy audit is a standardized method of assessing a building’s systems and analyzing their performance. Energy audits will provide the building owner with recommended improvements to the buildings systems.

Retro-commissioning is the process of improving energy efficiency to the building’s existing systems to ensure they are performing to the best of their ability.

Local Law 87 applies to buildings that are 50,000 square feet or larger and buildings on the same tax lot that exceed a combined 100,000 square feet, including condominium buildings.

Local Law 87 requires energy efficiency reports (EER) to be submitted once every ten years. Reporting years are determined by the last digit of the building’s tax block number. The last digit of the building’s block number correlates with the year.

For example, buildings whose tax block number ends in 6 are required to comply by December 31, 2026 and buildings whose tax block number ends in 7 are required to comply by December 31, 2027.

Building owners who miss the Local Law 87 deadline are subject to $3,000 fines for initial violations, and $5,000 for non-submittal each year thereafter.

New York City Local Law 97 was enacted in 2019. It requires large commercial buildings to met greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limits

These emission requirements begin in 2024 and become more stringent in 2030, ultimately leading buildings to reach net zero by 2050.

Local Law 97 applies to buildings that are 25,000 square feet or larger and buildings on the same tax lot that exceed a combined 100,000 square feet, including condominium buildings.

There are two subsets of covered buildings under LL 97. Article 320 applies to most covered buildings and Article 321 classifies covered buildings that are specifically used for worship or certain types of affordable housing. Buildings that fall under Article 321 are offered flexible, prescriptive pathways to compliance.

Covered buildings must demonstrate compliance by May 1, annually via their Local Law 84 benchmarking reports. The emissions caps are set over a period of years, where the covered building must remain below the GHG emissions cap for the duration of that period. In each compliance period below, the GHG emissions limits become increasingly more stringent:

• 2024–2029
• 2030–2034
• 2035–2049
• 2050: Net-zero emissions goal for all covered properties.

The penalties for Article 320 covered buildings are $0.50 per square foot per month for non-submittal and (Actual Emissions – Emissions Limit) x $268) per year for buildings that exceed their GHG emissions limit.

Non-compliance penalties for Article 321 buildings are a flat fine of $10,000.

CONTACT US HERE to learn more and get started with compliance.

New York City’s Sustainability Local Laws compliance can be confusing and hard to navigate. Bringing on a consultant like VCA Green streamlines the entire process while ensuring accurate reporting. We also offer free consultations with our benchmarking clients to review the reports and identify inefficiencies to improve.

Ordinances such as NYC Local Laws are already in effect across the country, and deadlines are rapidly approaching. Retrieving historical building data will take time, especially when coordinating with property managers and utilities.

Waiting until the last minute risks missing compliance windows resulting in fines and enforcement penalties. VCA Green takes every measure to ensure complete and accurate data collection. The sooner you reach out, the sooner you will reach compliance.