Turning Data into Action

The one million buildings in New York City (NYC) contribute roughly 70% of our city’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and must play a pivotal role in our fight against climate change. Large multifamily buildings, while representing only about 9% of the total number of buildings in NYC, emit nearly 30% of our building sector’s GHG. Upgrading this essential part of NYC’s fabric will not only lower utility bills and harmful emissions, but will also dramatically improve the indoor health, comfort, and well-being of all New Yorkers.

The road to “80 x 50” – NYC’s ambitious commitment to reduce GHG 80% below 2005 levels by 2050 – requires tapping the huge, but often elusive energy savings potential embedded in multifamily buildings. Our second look into the wealth of multifamily building data being collected under the landmark laws of NYC’s 2009 Greener Greater Buildings Plan seeks to turn this potential into action. Examining an additional year of energy audit data has confirmed many of the initial findings of Retrofitting Affordability, this report’s predecessor. Now, with Turning Data into Action, we have taken the additional step of organizing energy auditor evaluations of building efficiency upgrade opportunities into complementary “packages” of energy conservation measures (ECMs), that are matched to key touchpoints in a building’s financial lifecycle.

By organizing the massive dataset of NYC multifamily building energy use and auditor recommendations into digestible packages, we hope to enable building decision-makers to better understand their retrofit options at critical milestones. Read Turning Data into Action.