The City of New York green building laws set sustainable standards mandate by the NYC Green Schools Guide. The following local law and code requirements pertain to sustainability and green buildings. As the SCA embarks on a program of electrification of existing buildings, those local laws marked with an * potentially apply to such projects and are to be investigated. Refer to legislation text and compliance flowcharts below:
Local Law 88/09 and Compliance Flowchart - Building Lighting Energy Code Compliance
Local Law 130/13 and Compliance Flowchart - EV Infrastructure
Local Law 06/16* and Compliance Flowchart - Geothermal Study
Local Law 97/17 - NYC DEP Stormwater Management Requirements
Local Law 33/18 (as amended by Local Law 95 of 2019) and Compliance Flowchart - Disclosure of Energy Efficiency Scores and Grades
Local Law 94/19, Buildings Bulletin 2019-010 and Compliance Flowchart - Sustainable Roofing Zone
Local Law 97/19 (as amended by Local Law 147 of 2019)* - Green House Gas Emission Reductions
Local Law 15/20 and Compliance Flowchart - Bird-friendly Materials
Local Law 41/21 - and Compliance Flowchart - Climate Resiliency Guidelines
Local Law 154/21* - Emission Profile of Buildings
Local Law 32/23* - Phasing Out of No. 4 Oil
Unified Stormwater Rule - Stormwater Management of Combined and MS4 Areas
Local Law 51/23* - Green Building Standards: Update of Local Laws 31/32
Local Law 148/23 - Urban Forest Plan and Tree Canopy
Superseded Local Laws
Local Law 86/05 - Green Schools Guide Compliance and System Replacement Requirements
Local Law 31/16* and Compliance Flowchart - Low Energy Intensity Building Compliance
Local Law 32/16* and Compliance Flowchart - Green Schools Guide Compliance and System Replacement Requirements – Update of LL 86/05
In order to assist the construction team, consisting of the Contractor, Project Officer and Architect, to successfully track and document the construction phase credits for the GSG Rating System, the SCA has developed the following Toolkits.
These Toolkits highlight the sustainability requirements included in the Contract Documents and what credits they are applied to. They should not be considered all inclusive; they are based on the current SCA Standard Specifications and thus the Contract Documents may have different or additional requirements that are to be incorporated in the same manner.
IDP Box Model Information Summary - September 2023
IDP Box Model Instructions (eQuest) - September 2023
IDP Facilitator Guide
IDP Facilitator Guide Interior Fit-Out
IDP Presubmission - Site Shading
SCA LCA Discovery Tool *Please check your browser security settings or use a different browser to download this file in case of any download issues.
IDP Discovery 1 Summary - September 2023
IDP Energy Summary Interior Fit-Out
IDP Active Design
The New York City Geothermal Screening Tool can help identify areas where ground source, or geothermal heat pump systems, may be an option for building heating and cooling systems. The tool allows building owners to conduct a feasibility study before installing them and verifies geothermal system applicability per LL06/16.
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/ddc/geothermal/index.html
For projects that indicate geothermal system feasibility, utilize the SCA Geothermal Feasibility Tool. Utilize the feasibility tool, sample report, template report and user guide below accordingly. This tool provides more detail and will be used as the report to the Mayor's Office of Sustainability to justify proceeding or not proceeding with a geothermal design.
SCA Geothermal Feasibility Tool
SCA Geothermal System Design Team Sample Report
SCA Geothermal System Design Team Template Report
SCA Geothermal System Feasibility Tool User Guide
SCA Geothermal System Feasibility Process Flow Diagram
The Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines assists in integrating historic and predicted climate change data into the project planning process. The guidelines help project teams assess risks and determine design strategies useful for the integrative design process. Designers are required as part of their submission to indicate the impact to the design based on the guidelines for determination of implementation by the SCA
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/sustainability/downloads/pdf/publications/CRDG-4-1-May-2022.pdf
Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines-Design Strategies Checklist
Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines-Exposure Screening Tool
LL31/16 compliant capital projects were required to consider the feasibility of designing and constructing such projects to incorporate green infrastructure per Local Law 97/17. To reduce combined sewer overflows (CSO) due to storm events, the DEP implemented the Unified Stormwater Rule (USWR) effective February 15, 2022, that applies to projects in both MS4 and combined sewer areas. Detailed information with links can be found on the DEP's Unified Stormwater Rule webpage. The USWR requires implementation rather than just considering the feasibility of Green Infrastructure for such projects, following the hierarchy outlined in its NYC Stormwater Manual. Additionally, the USWR requires Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP) for all projects with a soil disturbance over 20,000 SF or new impervious areas over 5,000 SF (Covered Projects).
DEP has prepared a USWR Case Study to provide designers with guidance in preparing their submission to DEP. The SCA has also created an SCA Green Infrastructure Design Guideline based on the DEP manual that indicates the possible candidates for Green Infrastructure and those that are not feasible for schools, as well as sample calculations.
Net Zero Energy Building Feasibility
Onsite Energy Generating Building Feasibility
The following are examples for each design submission phase of a submission that is fairly complete and uses the appropriate Green Schools Guide forms.
The content of all the samples may or may not have been accepted by the GSG Committee reviewing the submission, but is intended to provide guidance as to a format that will expedite the review process and reduce the need for multiple resubmissions. Each phase submission is to be resubmitted separately until it is deemed complete. Click on the link for the appropriate sample submission for the appropriate Rating System.
To view the Green Schools Rating Sample Submissions, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, follow the link below to install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader Please note that provided sample submissions serve only as references and are project-specific.
Green Schools Guide Submission Formatting Guidelines
2019 Rating System Sample Submission
2016 Rating System Sample Submission
2009 Rating System Sample Submission
As a further guide to completing the GSG Submission, click on the links to presentations Below.
Energy modeling is required for all Green School Guide projects. While there are several modeling software platforms with varying degrees of strengths and weaknesses permitted by the energy code, SCA has determined that eQuest is the platform to be used on its projects. Previously the significance of modeling was to create a comparison of the percentage of energy savings against a baseline case for both GSG and LL86 of 2005 compliance. However, the Local Law 31 of 2016 mandate of an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) target has led the SCA to select one program so that variations in the modeling software algorithms and assumptions will not lead to schools meeting or not meeting the required targets.
The SCA has developed templates for use in project-specific energy modeling based on its prototypical design case and different size buildings for use with eQuest. The original set of templates based on ASHRAE 90.1-2013 was intended to meet the required 20% energy savings over ASHRAE 90.1-2013 as required by LL86 of 2005. However, the templates now need to be used to create a consistent means of determining the building's EUI using ASHRAE 90.1-2013. There is also a set of templates based on ASHRAE 90.1-2010 for Green Schools Guide Compliance. Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) to meet LL31 of 2016 requirements need to be modeled by the design teams. For projects that required energy modeling but are based on earlier versions of ASHRAE 90.1, the templates can be revised to incorporate the provisions of the earlier ASHRAE 90.1 versions.
The intent of providing these templates is to give designers a guide to creating their own project-specific models so that the models are repeatable and use consistent information. A major item that is often guesswork by the designers is the occupancy schedule. The templates provide the information that is to be used. Using a uniform format and providing the information in the same manner as these templates will allow the Green Schools Guide Review Committee to more easily review the energy models presented with the green submissions. Designers are to provide their own modeling reports using the Sample Report below. When using the templates, if the designer notices a parameter at odds with the SCA design requirements or other issue they believe is not captured or captured incorrectly, please notify the GSG Review Committee through NYCGSG-Submissions@nycsca.org
The eQuest How-to Guide for SCA Energy Models explains how to format the modeling report and is used in conjunction with the eQuest Input Summary for Energy Models, which provides the schedules and other data to be used in the model. As indicated, the data is applicable to the SCA's prototypical model and the designer will need to input project-specific parameters if something other than the prototype values are used. Energy modelers will need to update the building geometry to reflect the actual design and will need to verify all baseline fan power and efficiency calculations based on allowances and equipment sizes. Each of the zip folders contain the .inp, .pd2, and .pdl file for each size school. The main difference between the "Large_School" and "Medium_School" files are the schedules, for which High Schools have extended hours. Again, these templates are a starting point to improve consistency among models.
The eQuest Pool Modeling Guide for SCA Energy Models is used in conjunction with the SCA eQuest How to Guide for SCA Energy Models and the eQuest Input Summary for Energy Models. This document provides modeling requirements for SCA capacity projects with pools or can be used and modified as necessary for CIP projects with pools that require modeling, either because prescriptive requirements cannot demonstrate compliance with the energy code or the project is part of a deep energy retrofit.
Energy modeling for existing building electrification is found under the ‘Existing Buildings Sustainability’ tab.
Template and Sample Report
In order to provide a consistent format for relaying information from an energy model for review by the Green Schools Guide Committee, an energy model report template and energy model report sample is provided. The Energy Model Report Template (EN-1), which is in MS Excel, is patterned after the Department of Buildings EN-1 document and contains both SCA GSG review tabs, which are in teal and include a review checklist, and the DOB’s EN-1 tabs, which are in orange that designers may use for their own reference in creating the EN drawings for filing. The teal tabs are to be printed and included with the modeling output reports to be submitted in GSG submissions or other similar energy model submissions such as for deep energy retrofits. The modeler is to ensure the information provided in the tables, at a minimum, is included in their own EN-1 report that they must provide on the drawings if they do not want to use the orange EN-1 tabs from the template.
The eQuest Results Checklist Report annotated example shows locations of where the information in the Output Checklist, as provided in the template, is listed in the report, using reference numbers.
In addition to the teal tabs from the Energy Model Report Template (EN-1), the GSG submission is to include the following eQuest energy modeling reports:
Report - BEPS: Building Energy Performance
Report - BEPU: Building end use breakdown by fuel type
Report - ES-D: Utility costs
Report - LV-B: Summary of Spaces
Report - LV-D: Details of Exterior Surfaces
Report - LV-H: Details of windows
Report - LV-I: Details of Constructions
Report - SV-A: System Design Parameters for HVAC (1 for each system)
Report - PV-A: Plant Design Parameters
Report - PS-E: Energy End-Use Summary for All Meters (one report for electricity, one for fuel)
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The following Green Schools Ratings System Forms are an editable format of those provided in the 2009/2016/2019 Green Schools guides and are for the designer's use in making submittals to the SCA. These forms may differ slightly from those provided in the guides as they are updated when needed to correct errors that are found. Designers will be notified by A&E of the GSG Rating System applicable to their assigned project.
To view the Green Schools Rating System Forms, you will need Microsoft Word and/or Microsoft Excel installed.
The NYC Green Schools Guide and Rating System was developed to guide the sustainable design, construction and operation of new schools, modernization projects and school renovations, and to achieve compliance with Local Law 86 of 2005 (New York City's Green Building Law). Local Law 86/2005 established a set of demanding sustainable standards for public design and construction projects in general, and makes NYC one of the first and largest school districts in the nation to have sustainable guidelines required by law.
On March 13, 2007, the Mayor's Office of Environmental Coordination determined that the NYC Green Schools Rating System is no less stringent than LEED for New Construction, version 2.2, for the achievement of a LEED Certified rating (the minimum required by Local Law 86/2005 for school projects). Copies of the independent review of the 2007 GSG, undertaken by OEC on behalf of the Mayor, and the Mayoral Findings can be downloaded from the Mayor's Office of Sustainability website at nyc.gov/oec
Designing and building sustainable schools by following the NYC Green Schools Guide uses standards best suited to school buildings in New York City, and allows "building green" to be integrated with the SCA's other core mandates of designing and building high quality projects within aggressive timeframes and as cost effectively as possible.
The NYC Green Schools Guide 2007 was valid for applicable projects whose design started after January 1, 2007, but before June 26, 2009. The 2007 guide was last revised on May 1, 2009, and all projects utilizing the guide have been completed. For projects that started design on or after that date, applicable projects were required to follow the "NYC Green Schools Guide 2009", which was based on LEED 2009. An update to the 2009 guide, the "NYC Green Schools Guide 2016," applied to projects that started design after May 31, 2016. Changes from the original 2009 guide were highlighted in yellow and revisions effective 10/31/2018 were highlighted in pink. Projects in the Authority's current Capital Plan (FY 2020-2024) must comply with the "NYC Green Schools Guide 2019" which is based on LEED v4 and LEED v4.1. The NYC Green Schools Guide 2019 has been updated and revisions to the 2019 guide effective 12/31/2024, from the 6/1/21 revision, are highlighted in yellow. Designers will be notified by A&E if the GSG 2019 is applicable to their assigned project. Click on the links below to view each of the guides. (Please note that for optimal viewing in hardcopy, as well as to conserve paper, the Green Schools Guide is designed to be printed double-sided).
NYC Green Schools Guide submissions are sent electronically to NYCGSG-Submissions@nycsca.org. One hard copy of all GSG design phase documentation approved by the GSG Review Committee is required at the end of Design Certification.
If any errors are found in the Green Schools Guide or Forms, please email NYCGSG-Submissions@nycsca.org. If any errors are found on the website, please email the CADD Unit.. The forms are regularly updated and should be taken from the website at the beginning of each phase of the project.