Urban Green Council - Decarbonizing Buildings in New York

Our mission is to decarbonize buildings for healthy and resilient communities.

2024 Conference

Urban Green Conference: NYC Next

To reduce carbon emissions to net zero, New York City must continue to undergo major changes. But what will these changes be? And what trends will shape the city of 2050?

Local Law 97

Local Law 97

NYC’s groundbreaking climate legislation sets carbon emissions caps for large buildings starting in 2024.

Explore our NYC building data hub

Learn more about NYC's buildings and their energy use in this interactive data hub.

We educate building professionals

We train people who design, construct and operate buildings locally and nationally.

Building Tomorrow: Conversations with Climate Solvers

Building Tomorrow demystifies complex ideas about buildings, and introduces you to the people doing the work!

Upcoming events

Crushing the Code NYS: Energy Code 101 [FULL]

May 2, 2024

In this 2-hour, online training, students learn what the 2020 ECCCNYS is, why it was developed, where it’s headed and the different ways to comply.

Crushing the Code NYS: Residential Building Systems [FULL]

May 7, 2024

This 2-hour, online training prepares building and design professionals in NYS to comply with the residential mechanical, hot water, and lighting requirements in the 2020 ECCCNYS.

Recent publications

Heat pump water heater

LL97’s new game-changing electrification credit

A little electrification now goes a long way! And buildings that act soon stand to benefit the most.

LL97 in Focus: Jumpstarting multifamily building upgrades

Local Law 97 is set to drive 25,000 retrofit projects in 5,500 prewar low-rise buildings by 2030.

LL97 in Focus: Multifamily pathways to 2030

How close are NYC's multifamily buildings to complying with Local Law 97, and how can they get there?

Decoding New York State’s all-electric new buildings law

New York will become the first state in the country to require new buildings to be all-electric. Here's what to know.

Explore the resource library

Videos and podcasts

Unearthing geothermal energy

April 10, 2024

In this episode of Building Tomorrow, Brightcore's Jonathan Hernandez joins Urban Green's Ellen Honigstock to discuss geothermal energy.

The green economy action plan (w/ Nse Esema)

March 27, 2024

Nse Esema joined Urban Green Live to discuss NYC's Green Economy Action Plan.

Commissioning, you complete me!

February 14, 2024

Building systems are designed and installed separately, but they need to work together for a building to function as intended. Kelly Westby and Ellen Honigstock discuss how it happens.

All videos and podcasts