New York City Council Passes Landmark Legislation to Create a Greener, Greater Big Apple

Last week, the New York City Council overwhelmingly adopted a landmark package of green buildings legislation that will greatly increase the energy efficiency of existing buildings.  In addition to creating a New York City Energy Conservation Code, the suite of bills (part of the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan announced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn on Earth Day), requires annual benchmarking of buildings’ energy use, energy audits and retro-commissioning of building systems, lighting upgrades, energy efficiency retrofits in City buildings, and submetering of commercial tenant spaces. 

This package represents a victory for New York City’s energy consumers, economy and environment, as it will put money back in our pockets through increased energy savings, create thousands of much-needed jobs, and is the single biggest step yet taken to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions – expected to reduce such emissions by nearly 5%.  Through their strong leadership on this issue, Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn, and the City Council have shown the world what cities can do in the fight against climate change.