New York City has gotten serious about climate change, and this will have a huge impact on architectural practice. A new law (Local Law 97), which will be enforced with stringent fines, sets caps on carbon emissions from large existing buildings. Another (Local Law 95) requires large buildings to post energy efficiency grades near public entrances. Moreover, the city’s latest energy code is about 20% stronger than the last one. Since building owners rely on the expertise of architects to comply with codes, avoid fines, and get good efficiency grades, it is essential for architects to master these new requirements.
“Later or Now!” is the last of five classes in the “RetrofitNow! Biweekly Series.” The full series provides a comprehensive overview of New York City’s regulatory environment and options for how architects and owners can make significant energy and carbon reductions in buildings.
“Later or Now!” presents two different approaches to achieving low-carbon retrofits: many modest interventions vs a comprehensive retrofit.
The class begins by exploring the impact of a large suite of modest interventions. It presents a list of the “top ten” relatively modest strategies a building can undertake and explores how far they would take an average multifamily building toward achieving the LL 97 caps as they become more stringent over time. It then uses a specific example to explore what was done and the carbon reductions that were achieved.
The class then explores the impact of comprehensive strategies, focusing on a Dutch retrofit model, Energiesprong, and its New York State version, RetrofitNY. A RetrofitNY pilot project is presented in detail, along with the impressive carbon emissions reductions it is expected to achieve.
Instructor: Paul Reale, MEME, LEED AP, Director, Building Operations Research and Training, CUNY Building Performance Lab
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