Metered New York Takes Mystery Out Of CRE Energy Bills

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

Is my building using less energy than my neighbor? Is it a good candidate to save money with a retrofit? The Urban Green Council has launched Metered New York, an online tool that makes it simple to answer these questions. At metered.nyc, building owners and occupants can view their building’s energy and water use, see how it stacks up against others, and find out how to improve efficiency.Featured properties Metered New York.

The launch comes only months after Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council called for ambitious commitments to reduce New York City’s carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.

“Cutting New York City’s greenhouse emissions must begin with our buildings, which account for 75% of our carbon pollution,” said Russell Unger, Executive Director of Urban Green Council. “Metered New York lets New Yorkers know how their buildings are doing. It helps them understand whether their office building is contributing to—or combatting—the effects of climate change.”

Four years ago, the city began requiring buildings 50,000 square feet or larger to report their annual energy and water consumption, or “benchmark.” Metered New York turns this data into a user-friendly resource to see how a building or a set of buildings performs. At metered.nyc, users can:

  • Look up an office building to see how it stacks up in terms of energy and water efficiency;
  • Compare buildings by type, age, and location across New York City;
  • Learn about ways to improve performance, including applicable incentives from Con Edison.

Metered.nyc includes data on over 2,400 city-owned properties, such as schools, and 12,000-plus private sector properties over 50,000 square feet. While that’s just two percent of the city’s building stock, they account for more than half of New York City’s square footage and use a disproportionately high percentage of city resources—almost 48% of New York City’s energy.