New York, NY — The New York City Department of Buildings, in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), announced today the launch of a pilot study for new building projects planned in New York City. Participants in the Performance Pilot Project Study will be able to use newly developed online compliance tools to test their building designs in support of development of a future performance-based version of the NYC Energy Conservation Code (NYCECC). These newly developed online compliance tools, which are similar to energy modeling, will allow building owners to better understand how their entire building, and building systems, are performing in terms of energy efficiency. Adopting these performance-based energy code compliance paths for new building projects could ensure that new development in New York City is designed as efficiently as possible, a critical change for achieving the city’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. 

 

“As New York continues to lead the nation in the fight against climate change, we’re proud to partner with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to explore how we can streamline the development process while still holding developers to stringent sustainability requirements,” said Buildings Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca. “We look forward to learning from the results of this study and continuing to be a model of sustainability for major US cities.”

 

Determining compliance with the NYCECC through a performance-based approach has, to date, required design professionals to conduct whole building performance analyses using complicated, costly and time-consuming energy modeling and simulation software. As part of the pilot study, PNNL has developed a new system performance trade-off path.

 

The study will help determine whether these energy-efficiency analysis tools can simplify the energy-modeling process and be used as a feasible compliance option for more projects going forward. The findings from the study will also inform the Department of Buildings on compliance metrics and metric targets for the development of NYCECC performance-based code in 2025.