A Heated Debate: Banning Heating Oil in New York City
Speeding up Local Law 97 Compliance
On June 10th, 2022, the City Council's Committee on Environmental Protection met to discuss a newly introduced bill that would ban heating oil No. 4 by 2025. Initially passed in 2010, Local Law 43 as it currently stands bans oil No. 4 by 2030. This controversial issue has led to a “heated” debate amongst New York City officials. Some believe that this is a necessary measure in order to protect the environment and public health, while others argue that it will be too costly and disruptive for building owners.
As part of the Climate Mobilization Act, or Local Law 97 of 2019, New York City's goal is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Local Law 97 will start fining buildings that do not meet their greenhouse gas emission goals by reducing the use of fossil fuels to heat their buildings. As it stands now, 20% of buildings are expected to face fines if their carbon output has not been reduced by 2024. This goes to 80% of buildings in 2030, at which time the annual fines are astronomical.
To add insult to injury, the mayor passed a ban to phase out natural gas for new construction. This is after 30 years of touting that coop and condo boards need to convert to natural gas as it is cleaner energy. Does this mean that the time is ticking for coop and condo boards that heat their buildings with oil No. 4, or even oil No. 2? Will existing buildings be allowed to convert to gas? Is it even worth converting to gas?
Two things that coop and condo boards need to think about when planning an oil-to-gas conversion are:
How much does ConEd charge for bringing the gas line to your building?
Will a natural gas conversion guarantee that the Local Law 97 fines can be avoided?
We have seen buildings that heat their space and water with natural gas that are expected to get hefty Local Law 97 fines. We have seen buildings that converted to master meters and cogeneration that run on natural gas and still face Local Law 97 fines.
The other alternative is to electrify the building and install heat pumps. This is a huge and costly undertaking as the building's heating plant needs to be completely reconfigured. The entire steam pipe system would be disbanded. New piping throughout the building and inside the apartments needs to go in to connect the new system. The roof or parapets might need to be repaired or replaced to hold the load.
This has put coop and condo boards in a tough situation. They can't ignore Local Law 97, as some property managers recommend. Is an oil No. 4 building better off converting to oil No. 2, to natural gas, or suck it up and electrify their building?
Do you think that the city should shorten the deadline to ban heating oil No. 4?
The Folson Group are energy efficiency consultants who optimize ways to reduce the amount of energy the building is using, making your building greener and more sustainable. From planning to execution and completion, their customers have reduced the cost of energy by up to 40% on the cost of their projects. Email us at info@thefolsongroup.com or call us at (917) 648-8151 to find out more.