NYC Energy Reporting Blog

Rent Stabilized Properties and LL97 Emissions Law

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 14:03:46 GMT

At first glance, NYC’s Local Law 97 emissions law seems to offer rent stabilized properties an olive branch.

Unlike their counterparts, rent-regulated buildings (defined as buildings with >35% rent regulated units) are provided with two “alternative compliance pathways” in which they can file a “one and done report” and be free of LL97’s requirements and emissions limits in perpetuity.

Here's why the alternative pathways are great on paper but not so great in reality:

One pathway is to demonstrate by May 1, 2025 that the property is already under the 2030 emissions limits, an unlikely scenario given that 80% of all NYC buildings already exceed that threshold.

The second is to implement (again by May 1, 2025) a list of thirteen prescriptive measures , a seemingly benign checklist that, upon closer inspection, reveals itself to be quite onerous and expensive.

While the prescriptive measures are “low hanging fruit” and beneficial, the price tag is likely to give pause to rent regulated property owners already reeling from the 2019 HSTPA, rising interest rates, and tougher credit conditions.

Replacing steam traps or installing TRVs or “smart radiator covers” are definitely advisable, but multiply them by all the radiators in a building and add some master venting on the steam risers and mains, pipe insulation on all water lines, etc and we find that that the low hanging fruit may not be so reachable after all.

And herein lies the problem...

The alternative pathways dangle the relief of a one-time report, but the trade-off is having to meet the stringent 2030 emission standards five years ahead of other buildings OR having to implement a potentially six figure list of prescriptive measures RIGHT NOW.

Rent stabilized buildings may want to play for TIME right now which is something the alternative pathways lack.

More time would allow...

for buildings to wait until 2027 when it is expected that they will be able to purchase “Renewable Energy Credits” to offset some of their emissions.

for buildings to wait for rules on purchasing “Carbon Offsets” and “Off-Site Solar” which could further offset emissions.

for buildings to wait for rules on obtaining extensions.

for buildings to wait for a potential change in the political winds. Currently there is legislation to extend the compliance deadlines for seven years.

for newer and better financing options for upgrades than what exist today.

for more rules on the process of which there are precious few right now. Do buildings really need to do the prescriptive measure in every unit? How does DOB propose getting access to units?

So what's the best move for Rent Stabilized properties here?

If you haven't read my initial opinion on Local Law 97, you can read it here .

We’re offering an affordable program built specifically for rent-stabilized buildings. Call us at 212.650.1591 or email us at Sales@Redocs.com .

Local Law 97 Q & A - ReDocs Roundtable - Ep 02

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 13:45:02 GMT

President of ReDocs, Mark Balsam, sits down with Marketing Director Kate Hoffer to discuss questions that customers and building owners alike are asking about Local Law 97.

Quick Summary:

It's hard to determine what LL97 is going to cost each building. It's unique to the building's needs.
Financing for energy efficiency is growing and it's availability is increasing.
Buildings with rent stabilized units will have to comply with a set of prescriptive measures.
Energy letter grades may help push building owners to improve on their score, depending on the building type.

Don't feel like reading the transcript? Click here to watch the Round Table.

Full Transcript

Mark Balsam

Okay. All right. Kate, you've been here with ReDocs now for about eight months. And I understand you have some questions about Local Law 97. What it is, what it means for buildings in the city.. So, fire away!

Kate Hoffer

Yeah, sure. So, amongst my research and seeing what our customers are asking, I gathered some questions for us to discuss Local Law 97 that I think would be really insightful for us to get your opinion and your position on some of these questions.

Mark Balsam

Sure.

Kate Hoffer

Will the buildings be able to afford the upgrades? Or do you think that they're gonna have to just get stuck with the fines and where do you think that they're gonna get this money from?

Mark Balsam

Right. It's a good question. Well, first of all, let's just take a quick step back and you know, just to bring everybody up to the same level. Local Law 97, which has now been in the books for a few years but hasn't actually come into effect just yet. Basically puts emissions caps on buildings in New York City over 25,000 square feet.

So the idea is that through some sort of reporting mechanism, buildings will have to report what their emissions are each year and they have to be below preset caps. Otherwise they'll be subject to fines which can, in some cases be quite substantial.

So to answer your question, Kate, you asked me about the expense of it. And you know what, in other words, what happens if a building is above their cap? What can they do about it and is it expensive? Was that the question?

Kate Hoffer

Yes.

Mark Balsam

Yeah. Well, it's a good question, I think, to a large extent, because as I said, the law is in effect, yet. They haven't even written all the rules yet of how it's going to work. We don't even know what the forms look like or the web portal for how you're going to disclose to the city what your emissions are. But, you know, it could be expensive, depending on how far over the cap you are. You know, the the fines themselves can get quite substantial. You know, it may come down to replacing systems doing a major retrofit of the building, or it may be something simpler. You know. The other thing we don't know yet is that there seems to be some plans for provisions which will allow buildings to buy credits to offset some of their use their emissions as opposed to actually doing work. However, we don't know exactly what that's going to look like yet.

We do know that the plan is to only allow buildings to apply the credits to grid purchased electricity. In other words, they couldn't apply the credits to emissions resulting from oil or natural gas or something like that. So it's really hard to say what the costs are going to be.

Assuming that for some buildings, it is a large cost. The financing world for energy efficiency has come a long way. Right now there's something called PACE financing, which is it's something that's authorized by individual municipalities and now it's been authorized by the City. And that basically allows lenders certain lenders who have signed up for the program to lend to buildings on energy and emissions reduction, upgrades and then the payments are secured through an on bill mechanism, an on tax bill mechanism, whereby the the billing to the the building owner or Co Op or condo what have you is done through their tax bill. And so the idea is that lenders are more comfortable with the risk because, you know, it's being paid as part of that their loan is being paid back as part of the tax bill.

So more mainstream lenders are starting to get more interested in, you know, at what lending might look like, even, you know, banks that land on acquisitions of buildings are more interested now. And, well, maybe there's a benefit to us for the building to also be energy efficient. So there's a lot of interesting things brewing but again, it's kind of early in the game. And that's a long answer for you.

Kate Hoffer

No, that's good I'm wondering along the same lines of building owners being able to afford these these upgrades and you're talking about different lending opportunities.

What about - I was reading in the New York Daily News recently that somebody had suggested a program called the E 51 program, which will allow for partial property tax abatements. For those that use energy conservation measures, and I don't think that's defined, what do you think about that? Have you have you read up on this?

Mark Balsam

It's funny, I hadn't heard that term before. You asked me about it just before we got on, but I kind of knew with and then I did take a look at the article you're referencing and I kind of knew already, what it was. Basically it was a suggestion made, which may or may not be a good one that maybe the City implement something similar to what many building owners would know as the J 51 program. Where you know, in the J 51 program, building owners would do capital improvements to the building to upgrade the building and would get tax abatements in return. So the idea with this E 51 thing. And by the way, this is just it looks like it's just one person suggestion. I don't think there's anything real about it. But the idea behind the E 51 abatement would be that you would spend money on energy upgrades and get a property tax abatement on the building. I would be even if that were to come into effect. I would be very, very skeptical of it.

Building owners have been through quite a number of problems with the J 51 program which we don't have to get into but I would be worried that the same problems would exist with an e 51. Program. Interesting thing, you know, the E 51 idea, though. Yeah.

Kate Hoffer

Do you think that it's fair that building owners are going to have to comply with this if they don't have the resources, the financial resources to be able to keep up with the upgrades that in time for their due dates?

Mark Balsam

Yeah! I mean, look, there are a couple of things. So one is the law already has a carve out for buildings with rent stabilized units. I believe if a building has 35% of its units are rent stabilized, meaning that there's a pretty good chance it's, it's in somewhat of a, you know, an affordable or it it's providing some level of affordability.

In those cases, the building won't be subject to the emissions requirements, they will have to take a certain set of what are called prescriptive measures. Unclear if they'll have to do it yearly, or if they'll have to do it once and show it, but there's basically a laundry list of, maybe 12 or so low hanging fruit, pipe insulation, things like that, which these building owners will have to do.

But they don't have to worry necessarily about being over the cap and getting fines or having to do some sort of major retrofit to get there. So there's that.

There's also, as I mentioned, there's going to be some level of credits involved in this where a building owner can buy credits to offset some of their emissions, which presumably would be less expensive than doing some sort of energy upgrade.

And then, you know, you have some good faith provisions where if you can show good faith that you're trying and you haven't gotten there, although we don't really know anything about how that's going to work, but it allegedly, there will be some mechanism for showing that you have tried or that you have some sort of hardship, which is impeding your ability to reach the emissions goals. So there are some things and it looks like there are more and more as we get closer to the law being rolled out where the City is taking some steps to try to alleviate some of the pain which might result from this.

Kate Hoffer

Right. Right. Interesting. I think that's a little more comfortable to hear for building owners that there'll be practical steps that you can take rather than

Mark Balsam

Yeah, yeah, well, if you've heard me say it, it's why I don't have a a firm piece of advice for buildings as a whole. It's really building my building. I think that there are certain cases where it might make sense for a building to just take a wait and see attitude on this law. For a variety of reasons.

One, as we said, there are going to be energy credits. We don't know how it's going to work, how much it'll be helpful. That has to play out. We're still about a year away from 2024. When this actually comes into effect, a lot can happen in the rulemaking process and in the law.

There's certainly an argument to be made for some people to like, slow down. Let's see how this progresses. But then there's also an argument to be made. I've heard some people say that look, contractors are going to be scarce when you're going to need them the most. If you wait, you know, I don't know if I buy that. But that's that's one argument.

Some buildings have the funds, you know, they have the vision, the forward thinking. They want to be at the forefront of this. And for those buildings, it may might make sense to you know, start dealing with this now. You know, what I can tell you in our own business is that you know, we've been consulting on this with our clients a lot more in the last year and you know, it's become more being a New York City energy consultant has become more than just doing the benchmarking and just doing the Local Law 87 energy audits. I mean, that's important.

But, you know, I think it's reasonable for a client to expect that they that for the price of doing the benchmarking and for the price of doing the Local Law 87 and energy audits that they should get some sophisticated consultation on Local Law 97, on the energy letter grades, which I know you had a question for me about as as well.

And so yeah, I think that's reasonable to expect, you know, and we certainly do that with our clients. I mean, we're providing, you know, a no additional cost, Local Law 97 penalty analyses we're doing letter grade analyses, I mean, basically, where we're helping in all, all areas associated with, you know, the benchmarking and the and the audit and just New York City Energy compliance.

Kate Hoffer

Right, right. So that leads me to my next question perfectly about the energy efficiency grade analyses. So, my question was going to be do you think that the energy efficiency grades are going to be a motivation factor or more of a nuisance, but if you could explain, it sounds like you break down the whole entire grade per building with your customers, if you could tell me how you feel that benefits them? That would be really interesting.

Mark Balsam

Yeah. So it's important to note, first of all, I think people are understanding this more than they were a year ago. But the energy letter grades are different from the Local Law 97 emissions requirements.

The energy letter grades are basically each year you do your Local Law 84/133 Energy Benchmarking, which has been on the books now for many years. And based upon that data, and how efficient or not efficient your building is, you are basically given a letter grade, which you then have to post somewhere conspicuously at your building. So, and that is truly about energy. It's based on total energy usage, not on emissions, then the Local Law 97.

While of course, there's a lot of overlap between energy efficiency and emissions. It is different in that it's a law first and foremost, to reduce emissions. It's separate from the letter grade. The cap and the letter grade don't have anything actually to do with with each other in practical terms, but is it a motivation? It's interesting, I thought, when they first when the City first rolled out the letter grades that nobody would care. And I was mistaken! I think it's, what it has done is - Yeah, sure. It is a nuisance. Every regulation is a nuisance on buildings and I do get that.

But it's also, what I think it's done is it's stirred the conversation. It's brought more awareness and more of a spotlight to the conversation around energy efficiency. It's kind of like you know, if you saw it, it's like the restaurant letter grades for you know, cleanliness, it's something that's hard to ignore. And yes, there are a bunch of buildings that really, you know, they don't want a D or a C or anything less than an A on their building.

And, you know, it really, it's again, it's building by building but I do think it has stirred the pot in a certain way to different extents for different buildings.

Kate Hoffer

Yeah. So instead of thinking that somebody gets their letter grade on their building, you thought that everybody would brush it under the rug. It's just a thing, a requirement that we have to post up now.

Now, you've seen that it's generated all this conversation and that people actually do care and that they are interested in improving that number. And do you think that people want to improve that number because of the tenants that are in their building? Or what is their motivating factor?

Mark Balsam

Great, great question, I mean, I again, it's a building by building thing. So you have buildings, certainly office buildings, we know more and more companies. have made a commitment to, you know, environmentally friendly practices. ESG. And so certainly for office buildings, I think it's becoming more and more important to the tenants.

I think, you know, definitely a co op or condo where the residents own their units. it's becoming more and more important to, you know, first of all feel like they're living in an efficient building. And also there's also a cost element to it, too. You have to pay your portion of the maintenance or the common charges.

And so to know that your building is operating efficiently, is a good feeling from a financial standpoint, too. Then there are areas in buildings where I don't think tenants care that much, you know, it's more of you know, it's more of a consideration over rent, what's reasonable, what's not just like always, so.

Kate Hoffer

Right. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. From a tenant's perspective. Yeah. Mark, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Mark Balsam

Yeah. Thank you.

Standard Carbon - ReDocs Round Table - Ep 01

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 16:04:08 GMT

What is Standard Carbon and how can NYC building owners benefit from it? And most importantly, does it make sense financially? Also, find out how you can decarbonize a 100-year-old NYC building with their existing boiler system. Mark Balsam sits down with Nathan Winkler to discuss Standard Carbon in ReDocs' very first roundtable.

Quick Summary:

Standard Carbon changes the carbon dioxide coming out of the chimney into natural gas.
It can be utilized in industrial and commercial facilities, as well as residential, such as NYC apartment buildings.
Use in tandem with solar panels and off-peak hours, it can be well worth the investment.
Installing this system can qualify for a number of tax credits.

Don't feel like reading the transcript? Click here to watch the Round Table.

Full Transcript:

Mark Balsam

So Nathan, you have a I don't even know what to call it a product? A system? You're one of the founders of something called Standard Carbon?

Nathan Winkler

It's a product at this point, yeah.

Mark Balsam

Can you tell me what it is? And, what it does?

Nathan Winkler

Yeah. Standard Carbon takes what's coming out of the chimney of your boiler and it removes the carbon dioxide from that exhaust going out the chimney and turns that carbon dioxide into natural gas. And it does that using electricity. Which ideally will come from a renewable source.

Mark Balsam

Got it. And I actually saw one of your videos - I forgot if it was on your website or if you posted it on LinkedIn - but you actually had, you are connected to a car's exhaust ..

Nathan Winkler

My car!

Mark Balsam

.. and then on the other end, you lit a cigar! I'm assuming it's the same process. You're capturing the exhaust and then creating natural gas which then is a, you know..

Nathan Winkler

Correct! When we tested the system we hooked it up to my car, put a brick on the gas pedal. Of course it's a lease, so whatever damage you do the engine, it's on the leasing company, not me. And then the natural gas reproduced at the other end. We wanted to create a visual so in the efforts of being politically correct, we thought Cuban cigars would be the most appropriate way to show off natural gas that we produced from the carbon dioxide emissions coming out the tailpipe of the car.

Mark Balsam

Right. And is there an application for New York City buildings? I know that just in separate conversations, you said that the ideal candidate is some sort of industrial or commercial facility. But, you know, does it work for a New York City apartment building?

Nathan Winkler

Absolutely. The best application is like you said probably larger scale but actually the origins of the idea was my work in New York City. The issue with New York City buildings is that they're 100 years old, oftentimes, and it's really difficult to keep them other than with the existing boiler steam system and everything you have in place. And so, if you can keep that boiler and steam system exactly as is and then just remove the carbon dioxide from it and do something useful with that carbon dioxide. You can essentially decarbonize the heating system of your building without demolishing what's already there, and that's a huge advantage. And that's where what we're doing is applicable because we can install our product right next to the existing boiler, capture the exhaust from the boiler, convert the CO2 in the exhaust into natural gas, feed that natural gas back to the boiler, and run the whole thing off off-peak electricity or from solar panels on the roof. Electricity from another source.

Mark Balsam

But that's a good point. My understanding is that in order to recycle the exhaust gases back into into natural gas, you're using a process called "electrolysis," is that right? Is that the term for it?

Nathan Winkler

So, diving into the technical aspects, there are three main processes inside the Standard Carbon box. There's carbon capture to separate CO2 from everything else in the exhaust gas, and isolate it, so you have pure CO2 that we can work with. There's electrolysis, which is the using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. So we have hydrogen. And then there's a third part, methanation, where we combine hydrogen and carbon dioxide together to produce methane. And methane is the primary constituent of natural gas.

Mark Balsam

Sure, so there is a considerable amount of electricity that this product consumes in order to - provide - to turn it back into methane.

Nathan Winkler

Absolutely. It continues -

Mark Balsam

Is that a deal breaker for a lot of buildings. Is it going to pencil out?

Nathan Winkler

So, assuming that you can get electricity from the grid at off peak times, or that you can install solar panels then it's a home run. So, I was shocked. I looked at the locational-based mean pricing from Manhattan. And -- more than 20% of the time the price drops below two cents a kilowatt hour in Manhattan. So it's possible to get off-peak, really cheap electricity. Also, if you're generating electricity on site with solar, that solves the whole issue as well.

Mark Balsam

And you're doing or you're discussing a project currently in a New York City apartment building where solar is a component of it? I understand.

Nathan Winkler

So, the project that we have the informal 'go ahead' is a multifamily building in Brooklyn. And actually, it's a complete home run because they're going to install our system with solar panels. So, all the electricity that's needed is going to be generated on site. They're gonna get the full value of the solar if they didn't have us then they'd have to export to the grid and get paid pennies on the dollar relative to the value of the electricity they're producing. And because it's coming from solar, they're gonna get the full Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. So we're looking at a simple payback of less than two years for the whole system to decarbonize the building. So, the building is going to be carbon neutral, and they're gonna make a fortune in the process.

Mark Balsam

And presumably, that plays into Local Law 97 as well and has some benefits there and that the emissions are averted.

Nathan Winkler

We're not even taking into account the fact that we eliminate their Local Law 97 penalties in our analysis because the value of essentially producing free natural gas for the boiler from solar panels on the roof, plus the tax credits is so enormous that we didn't need to even discuss Local Law 97 penalties kicking in in 2030 to justify the investment.

Mark Balsam

And I understand that this building that you're in discussions with they are also they've optimized their steam heating system. And so that was one thing that allowed this to work for basically their solar installation to provide enough to cover the load, essentially.

Nathan Winkler

Yeah, these owners have done everything possible to take a building built in the 1930s and make it as efficient as possible, so their annual gas bill of about $30,000 a year, that includes domestic hot water, and heating for a 50-unit multifamily building. That's about half of what we typically see for a building that size in New York City. And the reason why it's so low is because of the work they've done to make it as efficient as possible. If they had not reduced their load to that extent then we wouldn't be able to make the building carbon neutral. It's really because they've done the hard work of doing all the boring stuff already over the years, now we can come in with something really exciting, and push them to 100%.

Mark Balsam

Right. Now I'm curious, let's say they were more typical. And they hadn't reduced their fuel usage as much. Understanding that they couldn't become carbon neutral, does it still work? The numbers.

Nathan Winkler

So, the financials would still work.

Mark Balsam

Right

Nathan Winkler

What makes it work financially is the fact that the electricity is coming from on site solar panels.

Mark Balsam

Right.

Nathan Winkler

The wild card with a building, which doesn't have rooftop solar, is we don't know if we're getting electricity from the grid, what that means as far as tax credits. We also then have a more complicated task of getting off-peak electricity pricing. So, it's really simple and a home run, if you have on site solar.

Mark Balsam

Might that be a viable package moving forward that, you know, in future applications, you know, you actually might want to do the solar in tandem with this?

Nathan Winkler

Absolutely. They did not do solar in the past because they had no place to use the electricity. So this gives them the load to justify the solar investment and the solar developer will finance the entire deal. So, that's really a win for everybody. They go to one bank, so to speak, the folks that are putting in the solar panels, and those guys are more than happy to finance this as well because this is what's justifying the whole solar project. So, packaged together, it makes the whole thing work. And they said they would not have done the solar project if it wasn't for what we're bringing to the table. They're installing everything at the same time.

Mark Balsam

Interesting.

Nathan Winkler

So I would say the only difference with a typical building is if, you know, we could perhaps drop the carbon emissions by half as opposed to eliminate them entirely, if the building's not as efficiently operated, so it's still worth it to do the boring stuff, like I said.

Mark Balsam

Right. Wow! That's something! And then you get, you mentioned, you get the Biden Inflation Reduction Act, tax credits. Well, you get the tax credit on the solar side, which my understanding is back to being, you can actually redeem cash for it?

Nathan Winkler

Yes, it's a credit. It's -

Mark Balsam

You don't need a tax appetite in order to -

Nathan Winkler

Mark Balsam

Right

Nathan Winkler

It's money in your pocket. I don't think many people appreciate yet how much money is on the table with the Inflation Reduction Act Right In so many different areas. So, in our case, we're talking about our hydrogen production aspect. That's where the subsidies or the tax credits are through the roof. But in so many other areas as well, energy efficiency measures, carbon capture, you name it, they literally have opened the floodgates to an enormous amount of money,

Mark Balsam

Right

Nathan Winkler

that is going to really change the landscape.

Mark Balsam

Well, now what's the other one I wanted - so you have the - assuming you were to do solar and Standard Carbon, so you have the solar investment tax credit, but there's also, as you were mentioning, the hydrogen production credit? Is that the other thing that you would be -

Nathan Winkler

Correct! You'll get the hydrogen the Clean Hydrogen Production tax credit, the solar tax credit , potentially the Carbon Capture tax credit in our case, as well. So as I said, it's just a fantastic amount of money from Uncle Sam. I always joke when I speak to folks about this in Europe, and they criticize the United States, when it comes to climate issues. I say, "Yeah, perhaps the US is slow. But when we do do things, we do it on a scale, like the likes of which the world can't imagine and has never seen." And that's definitely the case. The Inflation Reduction Act is so much money, it's literally caused the European Union now to pass legislation to match the rebates because all of their manufacturers are saying there's no point in us doing business in France, because we just want to sell in Texas because of this new law. It's a huge opportunity.

Mark Balsam

Very cool. And so if someone wanted to, someone listening to this said, Hey, I've got a multifamily, let's say in in New York City, what would be the next steps that they would take? What would be the next steps on your part?

Nathan Winkler

I would tell them, if they have the ability to install solar in the building or they already have solar in the building, then it's a home run and we should do something. If they don't, then it's a more complicated analysis. Still worth exploring, especially if they are looking at very large Local Law 97 penalties.

Mark Balsam

Sure. Oh, and finally, how big is this thing?

Nathan Winkler

About the size of the boiler itself? So smaller boiler, our equipments gonna be smaller. Larger, more boilers will take up more space, but it more or less matches one to one in terms of space.

Mark Balsam

Very interesting. Very cool. Well, thank you. Thanks for walking me through it.

The Truth About Local Law 97

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 18:14:28 GMT

Enough with the Local Law 97 fear mongering.

Do a Google search for LL97 and you’ll find consultants offering to help you avoid HUGE penalties and fines by helping you comply with Local Law 97.

Update your building with energy, renewables and retrofits because the energy savings pencil out. But don’t incorporate phantom LL97 fines into your underwriting.

We’re still two years away from this law coming into effect, which in City government terms is more like two dog years. DOB and DEP have yet to write a single rule as to how the law will be implemented. Without rules, there is no game, so consultants telling you they know how to play are disingenuous, at best.

There are no forms, websites, portals or any other mechanism for actually “complying.” 80% of NYC buildings are ALREADY below the emissions threshold – which means no penalties . This will change in 2030 when the emissions thresholds are tightened, but now we’re talking at least EIGHT years away.

Add to this, the City is already showing signs of softening on the law in response to considerable political opposition. And Cuomo (granted he doesn’t have a lot of political capital right now) is pushing a system that would allow buildings to avert emissions penalties by purchasing renewable energy from upstate.

The following advice probably hurts my business, but...

...then again I’m in the business of giving the best possible advice to NYC buildings, so who knows.

At this time, I would advise NYC buildings to NOT SPEND too much effort on the upcoming Local Law 97 carbon emissions law AKA the “Climate Mobilization Act.”

To be clear, I’m NOT suggesting that buildings completely ignore this. Some planning should take place. Your LL84/L133 consultant should provide you with a snapshot of your emissions. ReDocs does.

I’m also not suggesting that climate change is unimportant. Quite the opposite. It is the issue of our time. But I don’t want buildings to waste time, money, or effort on something so distant and nebulous.

Can I Self Certify Mold Violations?

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Fri, 29 May 2020 20:54:39 GMT

When Can I and When Can't I Self Certify an HPD Mold Violation

An HPD mold violation cannot be self addressed or self certified if both of the following conditions exist:

Class B or Class C Violation(Class B is mold > 10 sf and Class C is mold > 30 sf)
Building is ten (10) units or more.

In this scenario, the building needs to involve a NY State Licensed Mold Assessor AND a SEPARATE NY State Licensed Mold Remediation Contractor. You can read more about this here.

If, on the other hand, the violation does not meet one aforementioned conditions, than the building may self address and self certify.

Lead Paint Apartment Turnover Requirements

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Fri, 29 May 2020 17:20:11 GMT

Required Lead Paint Turnover Records

1. You need to show documentation that the unit was inspected upon vacancy and that the following conditions were assessed.

Are friction surfaces(window frames, doors, door frames) painted?
Are there any underlying defects and/or hazards?(chipping/flaking paint, teeth marks on chewable surfaces, damage to painted surfaces)
Are there window wells,, window sills, and/or floors that are NOT smooth and cleanable?

2. If any of the above conditions existed during inspection, than you need to to show documentation that you followed all of the work practices discussed here.

3. If none the above conditions existed during inspection, that documentation showing that the unit was inspected for these conditions will suffice.

NYC Buildings will be Graded on Energy Usage

Mark@Redocs.com (Mark Balsam) — Tue, 26 May 2020 17:32:54 GMT

NYC Buildings will be Graded on Energy Usage

You've seen letter grades in restaurant windows and soon you'll see them posted in your building's windows.

Starting in 2020, under Local Law 33 of 2018, NYC buildings over 25,000 square feet will need to post an energy efficiency letter grade, A-F, in a "conspicuous" location.

A building's grade will be based upon the information reported in its annual Local Law 84/133 benchmarking report to the City. The website through which the benchmarking information is reported, EPA's Portfolio Manager, will calculate an EnergyStar score 1-100 based on the energy usage and building data reported. The higher the EnergyStar score, the higher the letter grade. And vice versa.

In speaking with a lot of my clients, there's a mix of different feelings about these letter grades. Some people care. Some don't. Some think the grade will make a building more or less attractive to potential tenants or buyers. Some think it doesn't make a difference.

What is clear is that the LL84/133 energy benchmarking data which many buildings have been submitting for nearly a decade is no longer going into a black hole. It is being used to make a judgement on your building, one which could potentially have an effect on its value.

No matter how you do your annual benchmarking filings(with us, with another company, or by yourself), it is worth taking the time to understand how your buildings annual benchmarking reporting informs your EnergyStar score which in turn informs your letter grade. Whoever does your benchmarking should understand and be able to articulate to you how the algorithm works, how your grade is determined, and what you can do about it.

Please don't hesitate to call me at 212-650-1591 x 112 to discuss further. We handle NYC energy and environmental compliance for nearly 3000 buildings.