In October, the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) released its long-awaited draft rules on how building owners can cut their buildings’ carbon emissions to bring themselves in compliance with Local Law 97. Along with the release of the draft rules, DOB has also published the first Local Law 97 Covered Buildings List, which includes all buildings in the city that will be subject to the 2025 compliance deadline.

One level deeper: Covered buildings that include rent-regulated housing are not exempt, but are treated differently under the law. If a covered building has more than 35 percent of units subject to rent regulation, the building, by 2024, must demonstrate that emissions are below the applicable 2030 limits or show that applicable “prescriptive energy conservation measures” have been fully implemented. These buildings will file a one-time report by May 2025. You can find a list of prescriptive energy conservation measures in the most recent issue of the Insider.

Worthy of your time: To help you understand the draft rules, the nonprofit Urban Green Council hosted a webinar with DOB personnel to help building owners understand both the rules themselves and how they can voice their comments before a public hearing on Nov. 14.

Speakers included Laura Popa (Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability, DOB); Gina Bocra, RA, LEED AP BD+C/ID+C (Chief Sustainability Officer, DOB); Ian Graham (Deputy Director, Building Emissions, DOB); and Ross MacWhinney (Senior Advisor, NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice).

You can view the recorded webinar presentation, “LL97: Unpacking the Proposed Rules,” here and copies of the slides used in the presentation can be found here. The city plans to finalize the draft rules by the end of the year so they can be put to a vote by the City Council.