New York City’s Local Law 33/95 will require building owners to post their Energy Efficiency Rating Label in the next 90 days. In December 2017, the New York City Council passed Local Law 33/95, requiring building owners to post this label in a conspicuous location near each public entrance. This is required for all buildings over 25,000 square feet that are listed on the 2020 Covered Buildings List for benchmarking compliance. The intent of this law is to provide transparency into a building’s energy usage and efficiency.

It has been estimated that the energy consumed from New York City’s buildings accounts for two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. Building owners who are proactive and take steps to reduce energy usage and increase their building’s energy efficiency will be rewarded with higher grades.

Buildings will be assigned a letter grade based on the annual energy benchmark that is submitted to the Department of Buildings to comply with Local Law 84. Letter grades will be assigned as shown in Table 1. These ENERGY STAR® scores are based on a building’s occupancy type and measured against the energy performance scores of similar buildings.

Table 1: ENERGY STAR® scores, from nyc.gov

An example of the label that each building must display is shown below in Figure 1. Labels will be available beginning October 1, 2020 and must be downloaded from the Department of Building’s public portal. Building owners will have 30 days to download and post their Energy Efficiency Rating Label. Owners that are not in compliance with Local Law 33/95 and do not post their Energy Efficiency Rating by November 1, 2020 will be subject to fines from the city. According to the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, some of the objectives behind Local Law 33/95 are outlined below.

• Incentivize capital improvements to lower operating costs, improve tenant comfort, and save energy
• Strengthen opportunities for building owners to increase marketability, improve brand reputation, and demonstrate commitment to tenants.
• Empower tenants, co-op and condo owners, and other stakeholders to choose buildings that align with their environmental values.

It is important to note that compliance with Local Law 33/95 has little to do with compliance with New York City’s Local Law 97 and the Climate Mobilization Act (CMA). The Building Energy Efficiency Ratings associated with Local Law 33/95 are mostly based on a building's energy efficiency and performance. Local Law 97 is the focal point of 11 pieces of legislation that make up the CMA and it is primarily focused on reducing a building’s carbon emissions. Local Law 33/95, Local Law 84, and Local Law 97 are intended to work in concert to track a building's progress with emissions reductions and make existing buildings more energy efficient.

Figure 1: Building Energy Efficiency Rating, from nyc.gov

Please reach out to your account manager or energy advisor for assistance with Local Law compliance.