By Haley Tong
BACKGROUND TO LOCAL LAW 33/95
By now most, if not all, New York City building owners are aware of New York City Local Law 33/95 that requires buildings on the Covered Building List to conspicuously post their Energy Grade Label near each public entrance annually by October 31st . For more information on LL 33/95, please see our blog post linked here. October 2020 was the first annual deadline and that, in conjunction with distractions from the COVID-19 pandemic, led to mass DOB violations. As we enter the second year of LL33/95, building owners’ attention is turning to these public proclamations of energy efficiency (or lack thereof) and questions of ‘What next?’
LAST YEAR’S VIOLATIONS & HOW TO RESOLVE THEM WITH THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS
The NYC DOB has recently been handing down violations for not posting the 2020 Energy Grade Label by October 31st, 2020. The labels that show the buildings’ ENERGY STAR Score and corresponding Letter Grade were made available for download starting on October 1st, 2020 and building owners were required to post them within the month. Buildings that did not post by the deadline were notified of their violation and fined $1,250 per violation.
There are two options to clear the violation:
(1) Pay the $1,250 fine and post the Energy Grade Label in accordance with LL33/95.
- Access your Energy Grade Label through the DOB now website
- Scroll to the bottom and click on: “Get your Building Energy Efficiency Rating.” You will be prompted to input the property Block & Lot numbers (Can be found on DOB’s Building information lookup)
- For more information refer to pages 5-17 of the DOB FAQ here
(2) Challenge the violation within 30 days of the date postmarked on the violation and, if accepted, avoid the fine.
- Access your Energy Grade Label through the DOB now website
- Scroll to the bottom and click on: “Get your Building Energy Efficiency Rating.” You will be prompted to input the property Block & Lot numbers (Can be found on DOB’s Building information lookup)
- Print your Energy Grade Label(s) and post it clearly by each public entrance
- Submit an online challenge request within 30 days of the postmark on the violation at nyc.gov/dobnow. (Step-by step challenge instructions here on pages 20-31)
- Select “Label Posted (Violation Incorrect)” as the challenge reason, upload photo documentation of the posted labels, and provide written descriptions of the locations
- Track the status of the challenge request in the “Energy Grade Violation Challenge Requests” tab of the portal
- If your challenge request is accepted, the violation will be dismissed, and the $1,250 fine will be voided.
Please let us know if you are still having trouble finding the Energy Grade Label.
HOW TO GET IT RIGHT THIS YEAR
The above process must be done annually, each October, with the updated Energy Efficiency Scores from the prior year. Avoid this violation by logging into the DOB Now website after October 1st, downloading the Energy Grade Label for your building, and posting it next to each public entrance before October 31st. If you are not satisfied with your building’s ENERGY STAR Score and Letter Grade, contact CodeGreen to discuss measures for improving energy efficiency that can lead to higher energy grades. And remember, if you’re building has to comply with this Letter Grade Law it also has to comply the New York City’s carbon emissions law, Local Law 97. See our LL97 Blog for more info.
INTERESTED IN IMPROVING YOUR LETTER GRADE?
CodeGreen is New York City’s leading benchmarking provider for commercial property.
We benchmark over 150 million square feet of property in New York City and have been awarded the ENERGY STAR PARTNER of the YEAR for the last 4 years.
Contact CodeGreen to discuss how to improve the energy efficiency of your building (and your tenants) to raise your ENERGY STAR Score, Letter Grade and prepare for the LL97 carbon emissions limits.
info@codegreensolutions.com
(347) 562-6222
