In an on-going effort to gather data on how energy is being consumed by NYC buildings, the NYC government launched Local Laws 84 (LL84) and 87 (LL87). LL84, also referred to as the Benchmarking Law, requires building owners to submit yearly data on energy and water consumption. The benchmarking deadline is usually on May 1st, however, this year the deadline has been extended to May 31st. LL87 requires building owners to perform energy audits and retro-commissioning and provide an energy efficiency report (EER) every ten years. Under these audits the NYC government aims to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.
LL84 and LL87 impact all buildings that are larger than 25,000 ft2, city-owned buildings with at least 10,000 ft2, private buildings with at least 50,000 ft2, and groups of buildings in a single lot with a gross area larger than 100,000 ft2. Covered buildings that have an Automatic meter reader installed are required to submit water consumption reports in addition to energy consumption reports. Owners that are unsure if their buildings are covered by these laws, local laws compliance, and other general information regarding the laws can find a comprehensive covered buildings list at the Green Buildings & Energy Efficiency section.
Building owners that fail to comply with LL84, incur a $500 fee per missed quarter, with a maximum out of pocket expense of $2000 in fines. Owners that fail to comply with LL87 are subject to fines of $3000 and an additional $2000 per missed quarter.
Some buildings can be exempt from the energy audits covered by LL87 and are not required to perform energy audits. For instance, approval from a Design Professional (PE and RA) that the building energy performance is 25 points above an average building of its type. Additionally, LEED certification and ENERGY STAR labels exempt buildings from energy audits. Buildings can only be exempt from retro-commissioning if it received a LEED certification for existing buildings and earned the following LEED credits: Commissioning investigation and analysis, Commissioning implementation.
Compliance with LL84 and LL87 can often be a complex topic, and if you’re a building owner, you probably want to know how you should navigate the Local Laws of NYC most effectively. If you are a building owner that has any compliance questions and needs help, please direct all inquiries to zaid@epengineering.com