Just last week, Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn enacted 29 new recommendations of the Green Codes Task Force that will provide the proper foundation for New York to meet the aggressive PlanNYC Goals for 2030. The impact of these new codes is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent; lower the energy costs for lighting by 10 percent; save 30 billion gallons of water through better plumbing regulations; treat 15 million gallons of toxic construction water; recycle 100,000 tons of asphalt; and save $400 million in overall energy costs. The implementation of such codes is the result of the formation of the NYC Green Codes Task Force, an organization led by Urban Green Council, that proposed over 100 recommendations in 2010 to address a wide range of sustainable issues; and, in the two years since that report, the Mayor’s Office and City Council have made 29 of those recommendations law, and are currently working to codify 8 others.
More about the new building codes after the break.
The great success lies in the cooperation between political leaders and industry leaders to support New York in its quest for lowering its environmental impact. Such a collaboration gives the environmental movement strength and will, no doubt, yield the desired lowered levels of emissions. “The code changes help maintain a healthy business environment by lowering energy costs, in addition to saving money and resources for all New Yorkers. They enforce the city’s position as a thought leader and keep it at the forefront of major growth industries: energy efficiency and green building,” said Russell Unger, Executive Director of Urban Green Council.
The city is definitely moving in the right track to become a sustainable city as over 500,000 trees have been planted, several new parks constructed, and awareness and implementation of reducing greenhouse gas emissions have gone into effect. And yet, New York is still reaching for more – as it should! In fact, Bloomberg has set over 132 new initiatives and 400 new milestones to meet by December 31, 2013.
“When we launched PlaNYC five years ago, we put forward a bold vision to make our City more sustainable, and meeting those goals is now a part of how our city develops,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The forward-thinking proposals enacted in the last two years will benefit buildings that make up this City, and the people who inhabit them.”
