Organizations should act now on Local Law 87

Local Law 87 is about to impact New York City's built environment in a big way as the law requires buildings to undertake energy audits and retro-commissioning—leading to energy efficiency retrofits and hopefully major cost savings and energy savings.

By Mike Eardley July 22, 2013

Local Law 87 is about to impact New York City’s built environment in a big way as the law requires buildings to undertake energy audits and retro-commissioning—leading to energy efficiency retrofits and hopefully major cost savings and energy savings. The law mandates that buildings undergo this energy analysis every 10 years with initial compliance dates based on the last digit of the tax block number. For example, buildings with the last digit of "3" are required to file in 2013 while those with a last digit of "7" in 2017, and so on.

This is an important time for firms like Cannon Design as we can help organizations maximize their results from this analysis. We’ve long been focused on commissioning, retro-commissioning, facility assessments, energy audits and a number of other services focused on creating and maintaining high performance buildings.

Organizations in New York City would be wise to act now. There are incentives for early compliance with Local Law 87 including the extension of a second filing date by up to 18 years. For example, buildings due to comply in 2017 can elect to comply in 2013 and will not need to comply again until 2027. Additionally, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is funding a 50% cost share for the completion of the required audit and retro-commissioning work.

More importantly, energy audits and retro-commissioning conserve energy and reduce operational costs—there’s no reason for clients to wait another minute to start realizing this value.

The implementation of Local Law 87 is a positive step for New York City in its overall sustainability efforts. It’s vital that organizations embrace the changing legislation and work with firms like Cannon Design to maximize value and results.