Demystifying Local Law 97 Terminology
- kicki43
- Mar 14
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 14
Are you a property manager or building owner overwhelmed by the sheer number of acronyms, abbreviations and unfamiliar vocabulary related to Local Law 97?
We’ve gathered the key terminology related to Local Law 97 (LL97) so that you can feel confident in your understanding of the law, and focus on successfully filing your compliance report.
Article 320: A section of the NYC Building Code that outlines LL97 compliance pathways for covered buildings, excluding some affordable housing and houses of worship. Pathways for buildings eligible for delayed compliance are as follows:
Not covered until 2026: Buildings with 1-35% rent-regulated units
Not covered until 2035: Certain types of affordable housing not subject to Article 321
Article 321: A section of the NYC Building Code that outlines how certain buildings can comply with LL97 by following the Prescriptive Pathway. Eligible buildings include those with more than 35% of rent-regulated units, affordable housing and houses of worship. To comply, buildings must meet one of the following conditions:
The annual building emissions did not exceed the carbon limits for 2030-2034. (Building owners must submit a report certified by a registered design professional by May 1, 2025.)
The building implemented applicable PECMs in 2024. (Building owners must submit a report certified by a retro-commissioning agent by May 1, 2025.)
BBL (Borough, Block, and Lot): A system used to identify properties in New York City. It consists of a borough code, block number, and lot number that uniquely identify each property.
BEAM (Building Energy Analysis Manager): The online platform used to submit LL97 compliance reports. Building owners must link their DOB NOW and ESPM accounts to BEAM, where the DOB will review their reports and documentation to assess whether a building is meeting its emissions limit.
Benchmarking: The process of measuring and tracking a building's energy usage and efficiency, using the EPA's Energy Star Portfolio Manager, to compare performance to similar buildings. Benchmarking is required for buildings covered under LL84.
Beneficial electrification credit: An incentive that rewards building owners who replace fossil fuel systems with highly efficient electric heating, cooling and hot water equipment. Building owners can “bank” any credits generated beyond what’s needed in a given year, saving them to be used in future compliance years to offset emissions or meet regulatory requirements.
BIN (Building Identification Number): A unique identifier assigned to each building by the NYC Department of Buildings, used for building-related records, permits, and compliance purposes.
Carbon offsets: A way for building owners to compensate for their carbon emissions by purchasing credits that support projects aimed at reducing or capturing an equivalent amount of CO2 elsewhere. The only offsets eligible for LL97 compliance are those generated by the NYC Affordable Housing Reinvestment Fund (AHRF) in connection with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Carbon offsets may be purchased to deduct no more than 10% of a building’s yearly emissions.
CBL (Covered Buildings List): A list of buildings in NYC (published by the Department of Buildings) that are subject to LL97. Covered buildings include:
Buildings over 25,000 gross square feet
Two or more buildings on the same lot that exceed 50,000 gross square feet
Two or more condominium buildings that exceed 50,000 gross square feet and are governed by the same board of managers
Compliance periods: Specific timeframes set by LL97 during which buildings must meet emissions reduction targets. The law establishes a series of compliance deadlines for progressively stricter emissions limits in the following compliance periods: 2024-2029; 2030-2034; 2035-2039; 2040-2049; and 2050 onwards.
Decarbonization Plan: An actionable roadmap detailing how a building owner plans to reduce their building’s net carbon emissions. One of the six criteria that count as a “good faith effort.” The key components of a decarbonization plan include:
Energy audits
Equipment inventories
Recommendations for an Operations & Maintenance (O&M) program and capital expenditures
A realistic timeline for the implementation and completion of the plan
DOB: Department of Buildings (NYC).
DOB NOW: A digital platform created by the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) for managing various building-related transactions, including filing permits and compliance with Local Laws like LL97.
EECP (Eligible Energy Conservation Project): A building owner is eligible for mitigated penalties if their building is undergoing an EECP, meaning the building received a commitment for governmental assistance via an agency or instrumentality to implement renovations that would enable compliance with one of the two Article 321 pathways. To show that a building is undergoing an EECP, the owner must submit:
A signed HPD/HDC Loan Commitment Letter or HPD/HDC Regulatory Agreement, dated between November 15, 2019 and May 1, 2025
EECP Form: Includes project information, scope information and brief narrative, signed by Owner
Corresponding documentation detailed in the EECP Narrative Form.
Attestation signed by RDP or RCx Agent
Energy audit: A comprehensive assessment of a building’s energy use to identify opportunities for reducing consumption and improving energy efficiency. Energy audits are only required for buildings submitting a decarbonization plan.
Energy type: The category of energy sources used by a building (e.g., electricity, natural gas, steam, etc.) that can impact the building’s carbon emissions and energy efficiency.
ESPM (Energy Star Portfolio Manager): A free online tool provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that allows building owners to track and manage energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, as required for covered buildings under LL84. ESPM data is linked to BEAM for LL97 energy reporting.
Good faith efforts: Building owners facing compliance challenges may receive discretionary penalty mitigation if they can prove that they made a “good faith effort” to comply with the law. To qualify as making a good faith effort, owners must have filed an emissions report and must establish one of six criteria, including but not limited to:
providing a Decarbonization Plan by May 1, 2025
Demonstrating that work necessary to achieve compliance is currently underway
Demonstrating the building was under emissions limits for the previous reporting year
GHG emissions (Greenhouse Gas Emissions): The gases released into the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, that contribute to global warming. LL97 aims to significantly reduce these emissions from buildings.
PECM (Prescriptive Energy Conservation Measures): Specific requirements that building owners must meet to reduce energy use under Article 321: the prescriptive pathway. These measures include, but are not limited to, installing insulation, repairing leaks and adjusting temperature settings. The penalty for not complying with PECMs is $20,000 per building if no work is submitted, and $10,000 per building if some work is attempted but not completed.
Penalties: Fines (increasing annually) for buildings that exceed their carbon emissions limits. Penalties include:
Carbon emissions: $268 per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) over the limit
Failure to file a report: $0.50 per building square foot, per month
Providing false statements: $500,000
Property type: Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) property types are used to classify buildings for the purposes of LL97. These classifications are then used to determine the emissions limit for covered buildings. Property types include, but are not limited to: food service, hotel, hospital and office buildings.
Qualified energy auditor: A professional certified to conduct energy audits on buildings in New York City, specifically to assess their current energy usage and carbon emissions to determine compliance with the law’s emissions limits. A full list of approved credentials can be found here.
RCxA (Retro-commissioning agent): A professional who conducts retro-commissioning of a building’s systems to ensure they are working as intended and optimally, typically to improve energy performance. A RCxA can only be used to certify a report under the prescriptive pathway (Article 321).
RDP (Registered design professional): An individual who is licensed in New York and authorized to submit plans and documents to the DOB. Only Professional Engineers (PE) and Registered Architects (RA) are RDPs.
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