New York City’s Green New Deal will have significant impact on the construction and development industry as it sets out new building standards and what Mayor de Blasio says will generate “tens of thousands of good-paying jobs retrofitting buildings and expanding renewable energy.”
City council passed a package of six bills implementing the initiative on April 18.
The statement from the mayor’s office says the “bold and audacious plan to attack global warming on all fronts” is comprised of $14 billion in new and committed investments, legislation and concrete action at the city level that will ensure a nearly 30 percent additional reduction in emissions by 2030.
You can read the full report here.
“Every day we wait is a day our planet gets closer to the point of no-return. New York City’s Green New Deal meets that reality head on,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We are confronting the same interests that created the climate crisis and deepened inequality. There’s no time to waste. We’re taking action now, before it’s too late.”
The city is going after the largest source of emissions in New York by mandating that all large existing buildings cut their emissions – a global first. In addition, the administration will implement a plan to ban inefficient all-glass buildings that waste energy and reduce vehicle emissions.
The rule changes anticipate reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a 2005 baseline by 10 per cent by “mandating that all large, existing buildings implement retrofits to be more efficient and lower emissions – a global first.”
Coupled with other actions, the city proposes measures which it says will account for an overall 23 percent emissions reductions.
“With the passage of the building mandates law, New York City is the first city in the world to require all large existing buildings of 25,000 square feet or more, of which there are 50,000 citywide, to make efficiency upgrades that lower their energy usage and emissions – or face steep penalties,” the city statement said.
“The city will no longer allow all-glass facades in new construction unless they meet strict performance guidelines, making inefficient glass-heavy building designs a thing of the past.”
