Local Law

Buildings account for approximately two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions in New York City. Mayor de Blasio has pledged to address these emissions as part of his plan to make the city carbon neutral by 2050.

Local Law 97 is one of the most ambitious plans for reducing emissions in the nation. It was included in the Climate Mobilization Act, passed by the City Council in April 2019 as part of the Mayor’s New York City Green New Deal.

Under this groundbreaking law, most buildings lager than 25,000 square feet will be required to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits by 2024, with stricter limits coming into effect in 2030. The goal is to reduce the emissions produced by the city’s largest buildings by 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. The law also established the Local Law 97 Advisory Board and Climate Working Groups to advise the city on how best to meet these aggressive sustainability goals.

Local Law 97 generally covers, with some exceptions:

• Buildings that exceed 25,000 gross square feet;
• Two or more buildings on the same tax lot that together exceed 50,000 square feet;
• Two or more buildings owned by a condo association that are governed by the same board of managers and that together exceed 50,000 square feet.

Further details regarding emissions limits, as well as information on buildings that are exempt from Local Law 97 requirements, can be found on the Department of Buildings (DOB) Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting website. Local Law 97 of 2019 was amended by Local Law 147 of 2019, and additional amendments have followed. The amended version of Local Law 97 of 2019 can be reviewed in §28-320 and §28-321 of the Administrative Code.

Please visit their website regularly for updated information. For additional information on the Department of Buildings’ sustainability efforts, visit the Department of Buildings Sustainability page.

For more on Local Law 97:

The City of Philadelphia is raising the bar for better environmental and energy efficiency standards in all newly constructed and renovated City buildings. In an bill introduced by Councilmember (At-Large) Katherine Gilmore Richardson and passed unanimously on Dec. 9, the City will require that municipal construction and renovation projects that begin the design process after July 1, 2023 (fiscal year 2024) meet the requirements of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification, improving on the previous requirement that projects can achieve LEED Silver certification. The LEED rating system, developed by the U. S. Green Building Council, is a world recognized high-performing building certification. The ordinance also replaces the Philadelphia City Planning Commission with the Office of Sustainability as the regulatory authority.