Green Buildings

Better Buildings NY is working to strengthen communities by addressing the single most important factor impacting our sustainability – our buildings.

As a nation, if we were to simply make the energy efficiency improvements in buildings that save money then we would reduce the energy consumption of our buildings by 23%. This would save us $1.2 trillion by the year 2020 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.1 gigatons annually. This is the equivalent of taking every single car and light truck off our roads!

Buildings in the United States consume more energy (39%) and generate more greenhouse gas pollution (38%) than any other sector of the economy, including transportation or industry. In New York City this problem is especially pronounced, with buildings responsible for 66% of total energy use and 75% of city greenhouse gas emissions. In New York City alone we spend $13.4 billion every year on energy for our buildings.

Clearly, the transition to a low carbon economy will be led by energy efficiency improvements in buildings, and we must make sure that New York City leads the way.

Goals

We are advocating for the fast adoption of energy efficiency upgrades in New York City’s buildings, with an emphasis placed on improvements which pay for themselves in less than five years. Upgrades like energy efficient lighting, motion sensors, air-sealing, insulation, and boiler tuning can all have pay for themselves in less than five years. Better Buildings NY will also help educate individuals on programs and incentives they can participate in to help reduce energy use.	We are supporting public policy which creates incentives for new and existing buildings to become LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system from the United States Green Building Council. It is a verification system which shows that a building was designed and built using strategies aimed at reducing environmental impacts.	We are fighting for upgrades to the New York City building code which encourage sustainability. On February 1, 2010, a task force of more than 100 architects, engineers, and other building professionals recommended 111 changes to New York City’s building code. The adoption of these changes will support green practices in buildings and remove antiquated laws which prevent common-sense energy efficiency improvements from occurring. >> Green Codes Task Force