Sneak Peek at LL97

“Maximizing Energy Incentives During Covid19” continued from page 4

an academic building. Unfortunately, energy rebates were not available during those recent renovations which resulted in minor lighting upgrades for the library and no lighting system upgrades in the academic building. Once energy incentives became available, the university directed Kohler Ronan to evaluate the condition of each building and provide recommendations. With the assistance of the local utility company, United Illuminating Co. (UI), Kohler Ronan identified both buildings as candidates for the high-performance energy rebate. Furthermore, past experience with the corporate garage project (detailed above) helped identify existing field constraints, construction issues, and alternative solutions. Since the design of this project occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, the design engineers understood that certain coordination items must be reviewed during design rather than waiting until construction. For example, the project engaged a local electrician during the design phase to review existing field conditions and outline steps to optimize construction. Additionally, the electrician reviewed the specified equipment and confirmed its availability in the construction phase. This level of coordination allowed for appropriate equipment and labor to be specified accurately on contract documents. Subsequently, the bid was awarded to that same electrician whose knowledge of the project would certainly assist in ensuring a smooth renovation of each building. While each building experienced minor shipment issues, both are scheduled to be completed within the designated time frame. The energy incentive allocated for this project is 45% percent of the total construction cost of the project.

Figure 1: Compliance path for sustainable roofing zone pursuant to LL92 and LL94 of 2019

New Building Roof or Existing Building Roof replacing entire roof deck or roof assembly

Contiguous roof area greater or equal to 200 square feet (or greater or equal to 100 square feet for Group R buildings under five stories)? Y or N YES Low-Slope Roof (roof slope < 2:12)? Y or N

NO

YES

Provide solar photovoltaic systems or green roof system, or a combination. Provide solar photovoltaic system if 4kW capacity can be achieved.

Provide green roof system if 4kW cannot be achieved. NO

High-Slope Roof (roof slope > @:12) accommodates 4kW? Y or N

YES NO

Provide solar photovoltaic systems

Roof exempted from solar photovoltaic and green roof requirements of LL 92 and LL 94 OF 2019

Lookout for Kohler Ronan’s Upcoming Guide to “LL97 Compliance”

In May of 2019, New York City enacted the Climate Mobilization Act in order to mitigate the substantial effects of greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. Climate change and its negative effects on the world’s oceans and atmosphere is primarily driven by greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing emissions from all existing and future buildings, therefore, is the most significant action NYC can take as buildings contribute nearly three quarters of all citywide emissions. Local laws have been implemented by government officials to amend the administrative code of the City of New York in order to achieve certain reductions in building emissions by 2050.

Local Law 97 (LL97) establishes and enforces stringent carbon emissions limits for both new and existing buildings. This law utilizes the Office of Building Energy and Emissions to perform a variety of duties that include, but are not limited to: overseeing implementation of building energy and emissions performance laws and policies, establishing or administering protocols for assessing annual energy use, receiving and validating annual building emissions assessments, and determining recommended penalties for buildings that are noncompliant with applicable emissions limits. (More to come.)