Greening your building is required of most NoHo property owners, as part of Local Law 97 (LL97) and the NYC Climate Mobilization Act (CMA). While you might be familiar with building energy efficiency scores, this is just one small component of what will ultimately be required of building owners in the future. We know that making updates and improvement to your building can take years, so it is critically important to start bringing your building into compliance now so you avoid multi-million dollar fines. That said, free help from New York City government is available through NYC Accelerator.
This program is designed to free advice from building efficiency specialists to help address challenges specific to your building. If you’re unsure exactly what you need to do to comply with laws, facing financial constraints, or just want to know more, we strongly recommend this service. Their advice will help you get ahead of these new rules and avoid expensive, last minute changes down the line. However, one of the nice aspects of this program is that their recommendations are not mandatory, though they are quite helpful in navigating the changes you’ll need to complete.
Costs associated with greening buildings, especially in a historic district like NoHo, can be high, and the experts at NYC Accelerator can also assist in finding financing, tax incentives, and other programs to bring costs down for you. They even offer low-cost, long-term financing for owners unable to fully bring their building into compliance alone.
We strongly recommend reaching out to their experts, which you can do so here. They also offer a number of free one-off trainings on specific topics you might be interested in. See a list of trainings here.
If you need a primer on what LL97 and CMA entail for your, the Urban Green Council has put together a great summary that can be read here. GreenTech Media also has a nice overview of the requirements of the law. The important thing to remember is that while the law doesn’t go into effect 2024, the time to begin making changes is now. Fines will be extremely high for noncompliant buildings, and ensuring work is done to bring your buildings into compliance now is key.
NYC Accelerator also works closely with BE-Ex, the Building Energy Exchange, an NYC-based nonprofit that works to make our City’s buildings greener and more environmentally friendly. They host many workshops, industry talks, and so much more that property owners might find useful. Learn more about BE-Ex here.
