Chart of City Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Image Source: One City, Built to Last, Technical Working Group Report

Mayor Bill de Blasio calls for emissions reductions by mandating improvements to existing buildings. On June 2, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed Executive Order No. 26, Climate Action Executive Order, to commit New York City to the principles and goals of the Paris Agreement. On September 14, 2017, the Office of the Mayor announced new mandates on building upgrades to implement the executive order. According to the Mayor’s press release, these mandates will be enacted by legislation sponsored by Council Member Costa Constantinides, chair of the Council’s Environmental Protection Committee.

Buildings, specifically fossil fuels used for heat and hot water, are the City’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. The Mayor’s press release included statistics of buildings emissions ranging from 42% to 80% of total emissions in New York. The current mandates will facilitate energy improvements to existing buildings by 2030. These mandates are the “most dramatic reductions into the coming decade,” and this is the “most ambitious program of its kind in the nation.” (read more…)