New York City Benchmarking Law (Local Laws 84 and 133) Requires Owners to Submit Energy and Water Usage Annually

Owners of buildings that are subject to NYC Benchmarking Law are required to post energy efficiency letter grades issued by the city per Local Law 33 of 2018 as amended by Local Law 95 of 2019. 

Based on the benchmarking data submitted, buildings will be assigned energy efficiency scores. The scores will then be rated from A to F as follows:

• A - score is equal to or greater than 85;

• B - score is equal to or greater than 70 but less than 85;

• C - score is equal to or greater than 55 but less than 70;

• D - score is less than 55;

• F - for buildings that didn't submit required benchmarking information;

• N - for buildings exempted from benchmarking or not covered by the Energy Star program.

Why Benchmark?

Required Usage Data

• By May 1* every year, building owners are required to submit their usage for the following utilities:

  • Electricity

  • Gas

  • Fuel oil or steam

  • Water

  The law does not require that the usage for individual dwelling units be submitted into the online tool, but rather the building's aggregate energy use, which includes total residential, commercial, and common area usage.

• Our approach

Our first step would be to review and analyze your building’s energy bills to establish the current energy use and emissions. Next, our team would conduct an energy audit to determine feasible energy reduction or sustainability measures and create a roadmap to reach the targeted emissions reductions. The audit would include recommendations on the type of energy conservation measures that would be appropriate for the building, preliminary budget projections on the expected cost of the installation(s) as well as any other alterations deemed necessary, and a preliminary timeline for implementation.

Local Law 33/energy grades

Most New Yorkers have seen large signs in building lobbies touting energy efficiency grades. these ratings are based on usage statistics of similiar New York City buildings, as well as nationally applied EPA criteria. But guess what? Getting an A or B does not ensure Local Law 97 compliance, since these grages are relative to similar buidlings’ total energy usage. Local Law 97 addresses carbon emissions only - and has set its own carbon emissions standards.

NYC Benchmarking Law Compliance Deadlines

May 1 - Energy and water usage due date in EPA's Portfolio Manager

Aug 1 - Second quarterly deadline (if May 1 deadline is missed)

Oct 1 - Download energy efficiency letter grade via DOB NOW Public Portal

Oct 31 - Post energy efficiency letter grade on-site

Nov 1 - Third quarterly deadline (if May and Aug deadlines missed)

Feb 1 - Fourth quarterly deadline (final chance to file for the previous calendar year)