New York City Hall intends to be at the forefront of the fight against climate change and has just proven it this Thursday, September 14, 2017. It has indeed unveiled a plan requiring the owners of thousands of buildings to they greatly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The new rules, which will be submitted to city council, will force homeowners to meet emission ceilings by 2030. Ceilings which should oblige the owners of some 14,500 buildings with a surface area of more than 2,300 m2 to modernize boilers, water heaters, roofs and windows, explained the town hall in a press release.
And to force the owners to carry out this work, the city announces that those who do not do it will be exposed to fines which will increase with the extent of the exceeding of the ceiling and the size of the buildings. For example, a skyscraper of nearly 100,000 m2 (the Chrysler building is approximately 110,000 m2) could thus pay up to $ 2 million per year if the ceiling is substantially exceeded.
The 14,500 buildings responsible for 24% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions
“We need to reduce the dependence of our buildings on fossil fuels here and now. To achieve this, we are making the modernization of our buildings mandatory to improve their energy efficiency, and help meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.“said Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, quoted in the press release. The town hall emphasizes that the 14,500 buildings targeted, the worst in terms of energy efficiency, are alone responsible for 24% of gas emissions in greenhouse effect of the city. Buildings subject to the rental regulation regime will not be able to use this work as a pretext for expelling their tenants or raising rents. But their emission ceilings will not be fixed until 2020, and they will have until 2035 to meet them.
Since it was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, New York City has been a model of adaptation to the upheavals induced by climate change, accused of increasing these natural disasters. It is one of many large American cities that have said they are determined to continue their efforts despite the decision announced in June by the climate-skeptical Trump administration to exit the Paris agreement. The combustion of fossil fuels via boilers and water heaters is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the city, representing 42% of the total, according to the town hall. The new measures are expected to reduce total emissions by 7% by 2035 and create 17,000 jobs, she added.
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