Apartment buildings in New York City. (Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)
New York City’s Climate Mobilization Act (the Act) was signed into law on April 22, 2019 (Earth Day). It will have long-term and wide-ranging fiscal and operational impacts for building owners, buyers, sellers, lenders and tenants.
The Act targets reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from the City’s building stock of 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. These reductions will be achieved through increasingly stringent building emissions limitations, effective in 2024, 2030 and 2035. In order to achieve the emissions reductions, the Act will require owners of “covered buildings” to implement energy efficiency retrofits to bring down overall energy usage and/or utilize available alternate compliance measures. The Act will impact approximately 50,000 NYC buildings, representing nearly 60% of the City’s building area. Early estimates are that $4 billion of capital will be spent to comply with the Act’s initial reduction targets.
