New York readies tighter building code for green push

New York has continued its drive to establish the city as the world's leading green metropolis, unveiling a new six-point plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its buildings.

The Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, to be implemented as part of its two-year-old PlaNYC initiative, was unveiled last week on Earth Day.

It aims to cut the city's building-based greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent - roughly the same as all carbon emissions from Oakland, California.

To help meet the target, the city will introduce a new Energy Code Bill to eliminate a loophole that lets property owners dodge energy standards unless they are undertaking huge renovations.

It will also create a Benchmarking Bill, which will require all city buildings to be measured against an energy efficiency baseline - a move officials say will allow potential buyers better assess the energy efficiency of buildings.

Similarly, an Audit and Retrofit Bill will require owners of buildings boasting more than 50,000sq ft of floor space to audit their buildings' energy efficiency performance every 10 years, and conduct necessary renovations if they fail to meet basic standards.

However, in a possible loophole that could limit spending on some microgeneration technologies, the legislation only requires building owners to spend money on improvements that will pay for themselves in under five years.

A Lighting Upgrades Bill will also be introduced, affecting buildings of the same size, that requires lighting systems to be upgraded to meet the city's Energy Conservation Code.

The two non-legislative components of the plan involve development training for a green building workforce, and financing schemes for environmentally friendly building developments.

The mayor's office says that the four pieces of legislation alone will create 19,000 construction jobs. It adds that the city will also use $16m (£11m) provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to finance green building developments in the form of loans to building owners.

The announcement came on the same day as the New York Power Authority (NYPA) announced a public-private partnership that could herald the first US freshwater offshore wind farms in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

The Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project would produce a minimum of 120MW of energy if it went ahead. The NYPA has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest from the wind power industry, which will lead to a feasibility study.