Section 28-309.1
§ 28-309.1 General. The energy and water use of city buildings and
covered buildings shall be benchmarked in accordance with this article.
Section 28-309.10
§ 28-309.10 Rules. The department, the department of finance and the
office of long-term planning and sustainability may promulgate such
rules as deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this article.
Section 28-309.2
§ 28-309.2 Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
BENCHMARK. To input and submit to the benchmarking tool the total use
of energy and water for a building for the previous calendar year and
other descriptive information for such building as required by the
benchmarking tool.
BENCHMARKING TOOL. The internet-based database system developed by the
United States environmental protection agency, and any complementary
interface designated by the office of long-term planning and
sustainability, to track and assess the energy and water use of certain
buildings relative to similar buildings.
CITY BUILDING. A building that is more than 10,000 gross square feet,
as it appears in the records of the department of finance, that is owned
by the city or for which the city regularly pays all or part of the
annual energy bills, provided that two or more buildings on the same tax
lot shall be deemed to be one building.
Exception: The term "city building" shall not include:
1. Any building not owned by the city in which the city is a tenant
and for which the city does not pay all the energy bills;
2. Any building owned by the city that participates in the tenant
interim lease apartment purchase program; or
3. Any building owned by the city that (i) is 50,000 gross square feet
or less, as it appears in the records of the department of finance, and
(ii) participates in a program administered by the department of housing
preservation and development.
COVERED BUILDING. As it appears in the records of the department of
finance: (i) a building that exceeds 50,000 gross square feet, (ii) two
or more buildings on the same tax lot that together exceed 100,000 gross
square feet, or (iii) two or more buildings held in the condominium form
of ownership that are governed by the same board of managers and that
together exceed 100,000 gross square feet.
Exception: The term "covered building" shall not include:
1. Any building that is a city building.
2. Any building that is owned by the city.
3. Real property classified as class one pursuant to subdivision one
of section 1802 of the real property tax law.
DATA CENTER. A room or rooms used primarily to house high density
computing equipment, such as server racks, used for data storage and
processing.
DWELLING UNIT. A single unit consisting of one or more habitable
rooms, occupied or arranged to be occupied as a unit separate from all
other units within a building, and used primarily for residential
purposes and not primarily for professional or commercial purposes.
ENERGY. Electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and steam.
OWNER. The owner of record, provided that "owner" shall be deemed to
include: (i) the net lessee in the case of a building subject to a net
lease with a term of at least forty-nine years, inclusive of all renewal
options, (ii) the board of managers in the case of a condominium, and
(iii) the board of directors in the case of a cooperative apartment
corporation.
TENANT. Any tenant, tenant-stockholder of a cooperative apartment
corporation, condominium unit or owner or other occupant.
Section 28-309.3
§ 28-309.3 Benchmarking required for city buildings. No later than May
1, 2010, and no later than every May first thereafter, any city building
shall be benchmarked by the agency or entity primarily responsible for
the management of such building, in coordination with the department of
citywide administrative services with respect to energy use, and with
the department of environmental protection with respect to water use.
Benchmarking of water use shall not be required unless the building was
equipped with automatic meter reading equipment by the department of
environmental protection for the entirety of the previous calendar year.
The city shall maintain such documents as the department determines are
necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this
article.
Section 28-309.4
§ 28-309.4 Benchmarking required for covered buildings. The owner of a
covered building shall annually benchmark such covered building no later
than May 1, 2011, and no later than every May first thereafter.
Benchmarking of water use shall not be required unless the building was
equipped with automatic meter reading equipment by the department of
environmental protection for the entirety of the previous calendar year.
The owner or the owner's representative performing the benchmarking
shall consult with the operating staff of the building, as appropriate.
Section 28-309.4.1
§ 28-309.4.1 Obligation to request and to report information. Where a
unit or other space in a covered building, other than a dwelling unit,
is occupied by a tenant and such unit or space is separately metered by
a utility company, the owner of such building shall request from such
tenant information relating to such tenant's separately metered energy
use for the previous calendar year and such tenant shall report such
information to such owner.
Section 28-309.4.1.1
§ 28-309.4.1.1 Owner solicitation of tenant information. Such owner
shall request information relating to such tenant's separately metered
energy use for the previous calendar year no earlier than January first
and no later than January thirty-first of any year in which the owner is
required to benchmark such building. The office of long-term planning
and sustainability may require that such owner provide such tenant with
a form designated by the office of long-term planning and sustainability
to report such information.
Section 28-309.4.1.2
§ 28-309.4.1.2 Tenant reporting of information. Such tenant shall
report information relating to such tenant's separately metered energy
use for the previous calendar year no later than February fifteenth of
any year in which the owner is required to benchmark such building. Such
information shall be reported in a form and manner determined by the
office of long-term planning and sustainability.
Section 28-309.4.1.3
§ 28-309.4.1.3 Provision of information prior to vacating a unit or
other space. Where such owner receives notice that such tenant intends
to vacate such unit or other space before reporting information in
accordance with sections 28-309.4.1 and 28-309.4.1.2, such owner shall
request information relating to such tenant's energy use for any period
of occupancy relevant to such owner's obligation to benchmark. Any such
tenant shall report such information to the owner of such building prior
to vacating such unit or other space or, if such information is not
available prior to vacating such unit or other space, as soon as
practicable thereafter, regardless of whether such owner has requested
information pursuant to this section. Such information shall be reported
in a form and manner determined by the office of long-term planning and
sustainability.
Section 28-309.4.1.4
§ 28-309.4.1.4 Continuing obligation to benchmark. The failure of any
or all tenants to report the information required by sections
28-309.4.1, 28-309.4.1.2, and 28-309.4.1.3 to the owner shall not
relieve such owner of the obligation to benchmark pursuant to this
article, provided that such owner shall not be required to benchmark
such information not reported by a tenant unless otherwise available to
such owner.
Section 28-309.4.2
§ 28-309.4.2 Preservation of documents, inspection, and audit. Owners
of covered buildings shall maintain such records as the department
determines are necessary for carrying out the purposes of this article,
including but not limited to energy and water bills and reports or forms
received from tenants. Such records shall be preserved for a period of
three years, provided that the commissioner may consent to their
destruction within that period or may require that such records be
preserved longer than such period. At the request of the department,
such records shall be made available for inspection and audit by the
department at the place of business of the owner or at the offices of
the department during normal business hours.
Section 28-309.4.3
§ 28-309.4.3 Violations. It shall be unlawful for the owner of a
covered building to fail to benchmark pursuant to section 28-309.4. The
commissioner shall classify such violation as a lesser violation.
Section 28-309.5
§ 28-309.5 Direct upload. Information shall be directly uploaded to
the benchmarking tool in accordance with the following:
Section 28-309.5.1
§ 28-309.5.1 Direct upload by a utility company or other source. The
office of long-term planning and sustainability shall encourage and
facilitate any utility company or any other source authorized by the
office of long-term planning and sustainability to upload directly to
the benchmarking tool, as soon as practicable, information necessary to
benchmark a building. Where information is uploaded directly to the
benchmarking tool by a utility company or other authorized source,
owners and tenants shall not be obligated to request and report such
information pursuant to section 28-309.4.1.
Section 28-309.5.2
§ 28-309.5.2 Direct upload by the department of environmental
protection. The department of environmental protection shall upload
directly to the benchmarking tool information on water use at all
buildings that were equipped with automatic meter reading equipment by
the department of environmental protection for the entirety of the
previous calendar year and that are subject to the benchmarking
requirements of this article.
Section 28-309.7
§ 28-309.7 Notification and transmission of information. The
department of finance shall:
1. Annually notify owners of covered buildings of their obligation to
benchmark pursuant to section 28-309.4, provided that the failure of the
department of finance to notify any such owner shall not affect the
obligation of such owner to benchmark pursuant to such section.
2. Notify owners of covered buildings of any suspension or lifting of
a suspension pursuant to section 28-309.6.
3. Make available to the department information regarding owners of
covered buildings for which no benchmarking information was generated by
the benchmarking tool.
Section 28-309.8
§ 28-309.8 Disclosure. The department of finance shall make
information generated by the benchmarking tool available to the public
on the internet no later than September 1, 2011, and no later than every
September first thereafter for city buildings, no later than September
1, 2012, and no later than every September first thereafter for covered
buildings whose primary use is not residential, as determined by the
department of finance, and no later than September 1, 2013, and no later
than every September first thereafter for covered buildings whose
primary use is residential, as determined by the department of finance.
Such information shall include, but need not be limited to: (i) the
energy utilization index, (ii) the water use per gross square foot,
(iii) where available, a rating that compares the energy and water use
of the building to that of similar buildings, and (iv) a comparison of
data across calendar years for any years such building was benchmarked.
Information generated by the benchmarking tool for the 2009 calendar
year for city buildings, for the 2010 calendar year for covered
buildings, and for the 2011 calendar year for covered buildings whose
primary use is residential, as determined by the department of finance,
shall not be disclosed.
Exception: Ratings generated by the benchmarking tool for a covered
building that contains a data center, television studio, and/or trading
floor that together exceed ten percent of the gross square footage of
any such building shall not be disclosed until the office of long-term
planning and sustainability determines that the benchmarking tool can
make adequate adjustments for such facilities. When the office of
long-term planning and sustainability determines that the benchmarking
tool can make such adjustments, it shall report such determination to
the mayor and the speaker of the city council. Until such determination
is made, the office of long-term planning and sustainability shall
report biennially to the mayor and the speaker of the city council that
the benchmarking tool is unable to make such adjustments.
Section 28-309.9
§ 28-309.9 Report. No later than December 31 of 2011, 2012 and 2013,
respectively, the office of long-term planning and sustainability shall
prepare, submit to the mayor and the speaker of the city council, and
post on the internet a report reviewing and evaluating the
administration and enforcement of this article and analyzing data
obtained from the benchmarking tool. Such report shall contain
information regarding: (i) the energy and water efficiency of buildings
in the city, (ii) the accuracy of benchmarked data and whether there is
a need to train and/or certify individuals who benchmark, (iii)
compliance with the requirements of this article, (iv) any
administrative and legislative recommendations for strengthening the
administration and enforcement of this article, (v) the effectiveness of
the benchmarking tool in accounting for New York city conditions,
including, but not limited to, high density occupancies, use of steam,
large building size, and specific high-energy uses such as data centers,
television studios, and trading floors, and (vi) such other information
and analyses as the office of long-term planning and sustainability
deems appropriate.
Section 28.309.6
§ 28.309.6 Suspension. The director of the office of long-term
planning and sustainability may suspend all or part of the requirement
to benchmark pursuant to this article upon a written finding that a
technological deficiency in the benchmarking tool precludes compliance
with this article. The director of the office of long-term planning and
sustainability may lift all or part of any such suspension upon a
written finding that such deficiency has been corrected. The office of
long-term planning and sustainability shall notify the speaker of the
city council, the department, the department of citywide administrative
services, the department of environmental protection and the department
of finance promptly upon issuing a suspension or lifting a suspension
pursuant to this section.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
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