Despite US President Donald Trumps’s refutation of the Paris Climate Agreement and doubts on climate change, Mayor Bill de Blasio drives New York City to lead the fight against this global crisis. “We’re not waiting on President Trump and his cabinet of deniers to address this crisis. It is a sad statement that the actions of the president of the United States are putting his own hometown at risk,” Mayor de Blasio exclaimed.
In accordance with this vision, the Democratic Mayor announced its plan to have the city’s largest buildings have their boilers, heaters, roofs, and windows upgraded such that their energy efficiencies will improve and hit the new fossil fuel caps by 2030. This plan would cover more than 14,000 buildings and each building would require a budget of more or less $1 million. In addition, New York City is targeting to reduce its 2005 emissions levels by 80 percent by 2050.
However, the real estate industry may not completely agree with the Mayor’s strategy, arguing that the city’s measurement of energy efficiency is not fair – it considers the size of the buildings only, and not the number of people using energy in that building. “The city’s goals could inadvertently promote buildings that use less overall energy without regard to how the energy is used. A trading floor with many terminals and employees might not meet targets, but an empty windowless building used for storage would meet the target,” John Banks, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, explains.
