A New Tool to Help Co-ops and Condos to Cut Carbon Emissions
Boards can breathe a little easier. A new tool is available to help them answer these questions - and it’s free. It’s called The LL97 Carbon Emissions Calculator, and it’s the brainchild of the nonprofit Building Energy Exchange working in tandem with the engineering firmAKF Group. The data that comes back is divided by the compliance periods set out in the law: 2024-2029; 2030-2034; 2035-2039; 2040-2049; 2050 and beyond. The data includes the building’s carbon emissions (based on the type and amount of energy it uses), its carbon emission thresholds, and the estimated penalties if no improvements are made to the building. The calculator takes into account the draft rules on Local Law 97 compliance that were recently released by the city’s Department of Buildings but are still not finalized. DiMaggio points out that many buildings’ “carbon emissions below the threshold” number will decline during each compliance period, even if they make no energy-efficiency retrofits. That’s because the formula for calculating emissions takes into account the promise that the city’s electric grid will become increasingly green in coming years - that is, it will rely less on fossil fuels and more on renewable energy sources for its power.