ENERGY BENCHMARKING
NYC Local Law 84 of 2009 requires buildings in NYC measuring more than 50,000 square feet, or groups of buildings on a single lot larger than 100,000 square feet, to annually measure, track, and report their energy and water consumption. This process is referred to as benchmarking. Building owners need to submit the data on a government provided energy management tool called ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
The Cotocon Group can manage all NYC Local Law 84 of 2009 requirements and will save you money on building operations and making your building more competitive in leasing market. Meanwhile, a building’s reported ENERGY STAR Benchmarking score is made available to the public to encourage and generate energy efficiency and a greener usage of resource as per NYC Local Law 95.
As NYC Local Law 97 will be effective in 2025, it’s urgent to check your building’s Greenhouse Gas emissions now and prepare for the compliance. A benchmarking report provides you that information and we can help you check if your emissions are over the pre-determined emission limit. It’s important to get an accurate result, because you will pay large fines for the exceeded amount.
Local Law 84 exempts owners of “garden apartments” from being required to benchmark. As of October 31, 2016, the list of buildings required to benchmark excludes all residential properties that consist of three stories or less, for which ownership and maintenance responsibility of the HVAC and hot water heating systems are held by each individual dwelling unit owner. In simpler terms, if there is no HVAC system or hot water heating system in the series of dwellings that serve more than two units, the properties are exempt from benchmarking.
Facts about Benchmarking Your Building
- All buildings over 50,000 Sq Ft must have an annual Benchmarking.
- Building owners are required to report all building energy usage (Electric, Natural Gas, Oil) including tenant aggregate.
- A building energy model is created using a tool from the US Department of Energy (DOE) called Portfolio Manager.
- The model requires building information, such as occupancy, building size, and heating and air conditioning.
- Based on the information provided, a building is then benchmarked and scored
- Comparisons are made using a matrix to similar sized buildings
- Greenhouse Gas emissions in metric tons of CO2 is calculated
- Output is used in determining a building’s Energy Letter Grade as per NYC Local Law 95
- Failure to submit benchmarking report will be subject to fines of $500 per quarter