NYC Local Law 84—What Does it Mean for Your Building and Should You Comply?

Energy Star Portfolio Manager graphic

History
In December 2009, the NYC Mayor signed legislation requiring New York City buildings to submit annual energy and water consumption data to the city. This law, known as NYC Local Law 84 is a part of the Greener, Greater Building Plan. The plan was created to track energy and water usage throughout New York City in order to give building owners and potential buyers a better understanding of a building’s energy and water consumption—in an effort to shift the market towards increasingly efficient, high-performing buildings (PlaNYC).

The Fine Print of Local Law 84
Unlike the other three laws associated with the Greener, Greater Building Plan, Local Law 84 is the only law that requires building owners or operators to submit annual energy and water consumption data, also known as benchmarking. The types of buildings that must comply with Local Law 84 are as follows:

  • Private sector buildings that are larger than 50,000 square feet, and
  • Two or more private sector buildings on a single lot that are larger than 100,000 square feet. (PlaNYC)

The Benchmarking Process and Due Date
After energy and water data is collected, all of this information must be submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) online ENERGYSTAR Portfolio Manager® by May 1, 2017.

Failure to Submit Data
If your building, company or organization fails to comply, you will be fined up to $2,000 per building. Yikes!

UtiliSave Can Help
There is good news. The May 1st deadline is fast approaching and we understand you are busy and might need some assistance. UtiliSave’s experts will acquire, prepare and submit all necessary information to comply with Local Law 84. This means almost no work for you and no fines! For our existing auditing clients, benchmarking is FREE. If you are not an UtiliSave auditing client, you can sign up today or simply pay for benchmarking.

Non-New York City Buildings—What’s in it for You?
Even if your building is not located in New York City, benchmarking is a smart tool to help better manage building operations. In addition to handling all aspects of your benchmarking, UtiliSave can assist and train you on how to use our additional value-added services to make benchmarking data even more financially beneficial and provide you with the insight to continually improve your efficiency and firmly establish your commitment to being a resource-sensitive operation.

If you would like to utilize our free benchmarking service, sign up today and become one of the many companies that have saved money on their utility bills through our Bill Audit™ service. Contact a member of the team at (718) 382-4500 x207 or ritz@utilisave.com. Simple savings starts with a forensic utility audit.

Still not sure if your building is required to benchmark? Visit PlaNYC’s Covered Buildings List to find out now.

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