Upper Green Side

Yesterday, the City Council passed the Greener, Greater Buildings plan (albeit a water-downed version) “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing government, commercial, and residential buildings.” Though the package of bills contains weaker requirements than what was originally intended, the laws represent the biggest step yet to achieving the vision of a greener, healthier, more sustainable future. The legislation will reduce New York City’s carbon emissions by almost 5%, create more than 17,000 jobs, and save New Yorkers $700 million dollars a year in energy costs.

According to the Daily News, one bill “requires large commercial buildings (over 50,000 square feet) to upgrade their lighting and sub-meter tenant spaces over 10,000 square feet,” while another “requires large buildings owners to make an annual benchmark analysis of energy consumption so that owners, tenants, and potential tenants can compare buildings’ energy consumption.”

It certainly isn’t perfect, but at least its a start. The City has a while to go to reach Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. Maybe Mayor Mike will be able to glean some good advice from President Obama when he makes a visit to the Copenhagen Climate Talks next week.

Upper Green Side continues to advocate for increased building efficiency in our neighborhoods, whether it be through large emission-reducing projects like replacing a building’s boiler, or with smaller-scale, easily approachable projects such as changing to more efficient light bulbs or painting your building’s roof white. Upper Green Side is looking forward to tackling the subjects of building efficiency, greener buildings, and sustainable development head-on with some fun and innovative projects in early 2010 so be sure to stay tuned!