New York City wants to make its buildings more energy efficient, city officials said this evening, issuing a more than 400 page report on how to "green" the city.
The report came after over a year of volunteer work lead by the NYC Green Codes Taskforce, which included input from hundreds of architects, engineers, lawyers and other stakeholders and suggests more than 100 revisions to the city buildings code and laws that will help make new and renovated buildings more environmentally friendly. The taskforce was created at the request of the mayor and City Council.
“We recognize that New York City in many ways already serves as a model for the nation when it comes to green buildings, but there’s so much more that we can do,” said Russell Unger, who served as chairman of the task force. “Everybody benefits from green buildings, from the owners who are helping the environment to the tenants who pay lower energy bills. Building codes are a minimum standard and we’d love to see people go above and beyond the recommendations.”
One such building is the Empire State Building, located at East 34 Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The building was recently retrofitted with solar panels and weather resistant windows installed, which has led to significant reductions in energy costs for tenants. Unger said it serves as a model for what environmentally friendly buildings across the city can do.
The first of its kind report recommends that the taskforce reconvene annually as codes change and new technologies come about. Unger called greening New York City “a necessary and ongoing process.”
The City Council, Buildings Department and mayor will now review the report and likely begin implementing many of the recommendations in the near future.
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