New York City has committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from privately owned buildings by 80% over the next 35 years, and the City’s Mayor, Bill de Blasio, just released a new plan to speed up that process. The plan aims to reduce the environmental impact of buildings by focusing on efficiency, clean energy, and conservation.
The plan centers on connecting building owners with the resources needed to make their properties more green. It’s hoped that in the next decade, over 1,000 buildings will be retrofitted per year—which would be the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the streets. By implementing the policy, Mayor De Blasio emphasized, "we're ensuring that building owners have the tools they need to go green through the NYC Retrofit Accelerator."
The new policy will work in conjunction with the city’s already bold climate action plan to clean up public buildings. The program will provide benefits across the board in the city. Increased efficiency will decrease electricity bills for residents and building owners. Additionally, the Mayor’s plan has the support of environmental groups, and the real estate industry. Such a broad coalition illustrates how the transition to sustainable solutions is a political, economic and environmental win for communities throughout the US. For more information on getting your city to act, check out the Path to Positive Communities.
De Blasio program aims to cut a million tons of emissions from city buildings
By David Giambusso | Politico New York | September 28, 2015
Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce today a multi-faceted plan to speed progress in the city's efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions in private buildings 80 percent by the year 2050.
The mayor will introduce a "retrofit accelerator" — a free one-stop shop for private landlords to help them refurbish buildings for energy efficiency, clean energy and water conservation. De Blasio's stated goal is to cut building emissions by about one million metric tons through retrofits in roughly 1,000 buildings a year by 2025. If successful, the city says, the reductions will be the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road and will save building owners $350 million a year in utility costs.
"Business as usual simply won't do when our very survival is at stake," de Blasio said in a statement provided to POLITICO New York. "We're ensuring that building owners have the tools they need to go green through the NYC Retrofit Accelerator."
