NEW YORK: New York’s skyline is getting a green makeover under a bill that imposes massive cuts to the planet-warming greenhouse gases the city’s high rises and other large buildings emit.
If signed into law by the mayor of the United States’ largest city, the measure will mandate that buildings over 2,300 square metres cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, relative to 2005 levels.
Buildings are New York’s top emitter of greenhouse gases, according to a 2016 mayoral report, accounting for more than 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming. Transportation came second.
Most emissions from buildings in the United States come from the burning of fossil fuels like oil and gas for heating, cooling and the powering of other equipment, according to the US Green Building Council.
The bill is the first of its kind worldwide to require buildings cut and maintain their emissions below certain levels, said Adam Roberts, director of policy with the American Institute of Architects New York, an architecture group.
Some 50,000 buildings out of 1 million would be affected, or about two thirds of the city’s building area, said the Urban Green Council, a nonprofit encouraging sustainability in New York buildings.
Violators would be fined $268 for each ton of emissions exceeding permitted limits, the bill’s text said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he would sign the legislation.
Redoing a building’s facade, installing insulated windows, insulating pipes or installing thermostats are among ways to keep a building’s energy consumption and associated emissions low.
Certain buildings will be exempt, including places of worship and rent-regulated housing, the bill said. — Reuters
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