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LL84/87 of 2009: Benchmarking & Energy Efficiency Reporting
Required for:
City-owned buildings with at least 10,000 ft2 of floor space.
Private buildings with at least 50,000 ft2 of floor space.
Groups of buildings under the same tax account or condominium ownership, with a total area of at least 100,000 ft2.
LL 133 of 2016: Benchmarking
Required for:
City-owned buildings with at least 10,000 ft2 of floor space.
Private buildings with at least 25,000 ft2 of floor space.
Groups of buildings under the same tax account or condominium ownership, with a total area of at least 100,000 ft2.
LL84 Benchmarking: Is your building required?
Check Covered Buildings list to see if your building is required to be in compliance:
Check your NYC DOB Violations for the “BENCH” violation code. Violation fees are as follows:
*There are currently 25,473 Active Violations for benchmarking according to NYC DOB
LL84 Benchmarking Data: How to Submit
LL87 EER & Retrocommissioning Process:
Local Law 87 (LL87) mandates that buildings over 50,000 gross square feet undergo periodic energy audit and retro-commissioning measures, as part of the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan (GGBP). The intent of this law is to inform building owners of their energy consumption through energy audits, which are surveys and analyses of energy use, and retro-commissioning, the process of ensuring correct equipment installation and performance.
In addition to benchmarking annual energy and water consumption, energy audits and retro-commissioning will give building owners a much more robust understanding of their buildings’ performance, eventually shifting the market towards increasingly efficient, high-performing buildings.
In summary, LL87’s energy audit and retro-commissioning process requires the following:
Determine if a building needs to comply, and what year it is due.Conduct an energy audit and retro-commissioning of base building systems and complete an Energy Efficiency Report (EER) electronically.Submit the EER once every ten years to the City by December 31.
Please review this section to learn more about LL87, which buildings are required to comply, the EER, how to comply, and where to get help.
About LL87 Covered Buildings (Buildings Required to Audit and Retro-commission) Energy Efficiency Report (EER) How to Comply Where to Get Help Outreach and Training
LL87 Submission Dates:
Local Law 87 (LL87) requires large building owners to submit audit and retro-commissioning information in an Energy Efficiency Report (EER) to the City once every ten (10) years. Buildings that are required to undergo audits and retro-commissioning include the same private sector buildings that must benchmark under Local Law 84 (LL84): buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, and two or more buildings on a single lot that are larger than 100,000 square feet.
Typical EER Costs:
50,000 sq ft. = $30,000
100,000 sq ft. = $50,000
LL87 Violations & Fees:
Check your NYC DOB Violations for the “EARCX” violation code
The City is authorized to issue a violation for any listed building that has not filed an EER by December 31 of the year in which the EER is due. Failure to file by December 31 will result in a Class 2 violation and a penalty of $3,000 for the first year. Continued failure to file will result in additional violations on an annual basis of $5,000 for each subsequent year. The City will not accept outstanding EERs until penalties are paid in full. More information is available at NYC LL87 Site
*There are currently 5,427 Active EER Violations according to NYC DOB
Local Law 33 of 2018: Energy Signage
Local Law 33 of 2018 amended the Administrative Code of the City of New York in relation to energy efficiency scores and grades for buildings required to benchmark their energy and water consumption. Energy efficiency scores and grades for these buildings shall be obtained, assigned and disclosed in accordance with the new section §28-309.12 annually, based on benchmarking reporting consistent with Federal energy efficiency standards.
An energy efficiency score is the Energy Star Rating that a building earns using the United States Environmental Protection Agency online benchmarking tool, Energy Star Portfolio Manager, to compare building energy performance to similar buildings in similar climates. Grades based on Energy Star energy efficiency scores will be assigned as follows:
A – score is equal to or greater than 85;
B – score is equal to or greater than 70 but less than 85;
C – score is equal to or greater than 55 but less than 70;
D – score is less than 55;
F – for buildings that didn"t submit required benchmarking information;
N – for buildings exempted from benchmarking or not covered by the Energy Star program.
The energy label will include both a letter grade and the building's energy efficiency score.
LL97 of 2019: Carbon Reduction
Requires “benchmarked” buildings over 25,000 ft2, which account for nearly a 1/3 of all greenhouse gas emissions in the city, to significantly reduce their emissions.
Before 2030, these buildings will need to reduce their carbon emissions by 40%. Before 2050, they will need to reduce carbon emissions by 80%. The worst buildings will need to curb emissions by 2024. Hefty fines will be enforced starting in 2024:
*For example, a 1,587,872 square-foot commercial office building emitting 14,550 metric tons of carbon would be 1,016 metric tons over its 2024-2029 limit and pay a fine of approximately $272,351.
LL97 of 2019: Carbon Reduction Timeline
Who is responsible?
OWNER. The owner of record of a covered building, except that in the case of a net lease of an entire building for a term of 49 years or more, inclusive of renewal options, the term owner shall refer to the net lessee and in the case of a covered building held in cooperative or condominium form of ownership, the term owner shall refer to the board of managers in the case of a condominium and the board of directors in the case of a cooperative apartment corporation.