We’re encouraged by New York City’s commitment to its own Green New Deal and specifically the passage last week of its Climate Mobilization Act, putting New York City on track to reduce carbon emissions from buildings by a total of 40 percent by 2030 (from a 2005 baseline).
The most significant measure requires buildings of more than 25,000 square feet to conduct retrofits, including window retrofits, to make the buildings significantly more energy efficient. As in Philadelphia, the leadership of New York City has decided to tackle the challenges we face as a result of climate change and to see the challenges as an opportunity to do what’s right and create economic growth at the same time.
As noted on NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s website, “the laws and investments of New York City’s Green New Deal will directly confront income inequality, generating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs retrofitting buildings and expanding renewable energy.”
A comprehensive approach to creating energy efficient buildings including those with all-glass facades
At Graboyes Commercial, our focus is providing integrative and comprehensive glazing, window replacement, and building performance solutions that assist owners, designers, and builders with approaches that ensure the highest levels of sustainability for existing and new buildings. Our analysis of the international energy conservation code performance pathway (IECC 2018) shows that an integrative approach inclusive of ongoing commissioning and measurement & verification will allow buildings with all-glass facades to perform as well as or better than levels achievable by following the core, prescriptive energy code pathway.
The cost of meeting new building code requirements in retrofits, renovations, and new construction
While building owners may be concerned that new energy code and carbon emission regulations will increase the cost of retrofits and new construction, we have found this not necessarily to be the case. As an example, when constructing a new building, a higher percentage of glass façade reduces the requirement for lighting, which in turn reduces the required size of the HVAC system. This is one type of factor among many that, when taken from a comprehensive perspective, contributes to the careful management of the total cost of construction and operation.
The Graboyes companies (Graboyes Commercial Window Company, Graboyes Smart Buildings, and Graboyes Efficiency Tenant) are positioned for just this purpose — to collaborate with the design and construction community creating new buildings that meet or exceed carbon emission reduction goals as well as improving the performance of existing buildings with window retrofits, energy performance consulting, and deep energy retrofit financing tools including the metered energy efficiency transaction structure (MEETS).