CODES & STANDARDS
National / International
ASHRAE / American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers
ASHRAE is an international membership organization serving the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) industry. It functions as a source of technical standards, guidelines, courses, seminars, and industry publications, and promotes R&D in energy efficient technologies.
A joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), ENERGY STAR is an international standard for energy performance in appliances, electronics, and building equipment. The EPA recognizes also top performing buildings with the ENERGY STAR label, which is then used by businesses to communicate superior performance to tenants, customers, and employees. More than 130,000 buildings across the U.S. have used the ENERGY STAR rating system to produce savings for their bottom line and for the environment.
The LEED building rating system, like ENERGY STAR, is used by owners to recognize economic and environmental performance and demonstrate corporate social responsibility to stakeholders. LEED provides certifications based on metrics related to whole-building sustainability, including the areas of site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. Certifications are available for new construction, existing buildings operation and maintenance, commercial interiors, core and shell, schools, retail, healthcare, homes, and neighborhood development.
New York State
New York State is among the 40 States that utilize the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) as the State Energy Code. The NY State Department of State website provides information, updates and assistance regarding building energy code and compliance issues.
NYSERDA is a public benefit corporation created to help New York reduce consumption and promote renewable energy through incentive programs, research and development initiatives, environmental disclosure activities, and market transformation efforts such as training and education. NYSERDA offers a range of programs for commercial and residential buildings, including cash incentives for undertaking energy efficiency studies and capital projects.
See Incentives for links to further information on NYSERDA subsidies and rebates.
New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn called on the Urban Green Council to convene a task force to identify changes to the municipal codes that would reduce NYC’s carbon footprint and improve public and environmental health. The task force assembled more than 200 leading thinkers in green building. The report, released on February 1, 2010, provides a comprehensive analysis of building codes and offers 111 recommendations for code changes, including analysis of implementation costs and savings. The proposals largely concern new construction and renovations, and would impact building, zoning, health, consumer affairs, and environmental protection codes.
PlaNYC / Greener, Greater Buildings Plan
As part of PlaNYC, New York City’s comprehensive plan to reduce energy and water use and bring greenhouse gas emissions down 30% by 2030, the City passed four pieces of legislation that will ultimately save New Yorkers $700 million in annual energy costs, create more than 17,000 jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 5%.
See Greener Greater Buildings Plan Summary for further information
