Decarbonizing NY Buildings through Improved Data and Controls

The briefing highlights the role of Energy Management Information Systems (EMIS) in decarbonizing New York City's large buildings. It notes that while many buildings have basic monitoring, they lack the analytics to optimize energy use, particularly in tenant spaces. The document asserts that EMIS can lead to a median energy consumption reduction of 8% and is essential for meeting the requirements of Local Law 97, which mandates significant greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2050.

• Energy Management Information Systems (EMIS) provide real-time monitoring and analytics that can be added to existing building management systems, resulting in a reliable median energy consumption reduction of 8% based on Berkeley Lab and NYSERDA's Real Time Energy Management (RTEM) program analysis.
• In New York City's large buildings, significant energy is consumed by space heating, plug loads, and domestic hot water. In office buildings specifically, 22% of energy is used by 'other' (unknown or highly specialized) loads, 18% by plug loads, and 13% by lighting.
• A lack of granular control and visibility into tenant spaces limits energy reductions; for example, the Empire State Building's energy use only dropped by 28% despite being nearly 100% unoccupied during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Local Law 97 requires New York City's largest 50,000 buildings to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 2005 levels by 2050, and it is expected that over 75% of the city's buildings will need to invest in improvements by 2030 to avoid fines.
• Advanced EMIS can reduce peak demand, which can account for up to 60% of a building owner's total electricity costs, and co-optimizing battery usage based on cost and carbon signals can reduce emissions by 32%.

APA

RMI (2020). Decarbonizing NY Buildings through Improved Data and Controls. https://rmi.org/resources/decarbonizing-ny-buildings-through-improved-data-and-controls/

Chicago

RMI. Decarbonizing NY Buildings through Improved Data and Controls. 2020. https://rmi.org/resources/decarbonizing-ny-buildings-through-improved-data-and-controls/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Decarbonizing NY Buildings through Improved Data and Controls |date=22 July 2020 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/decarbonizing-ny-buildings-through-improved-data-and-controls/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2020decarbonizing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Decarbonizing NY Buildings through Improved Data and Controls}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/decarbonizing-ny-buildings-through-improved-data-and-controls/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }