March 2015
Prepared by Cadmus for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
This report presents the results of an energy code compliance study for commercial alterations in New York State (NYS). As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) legislation, NYS is committed to ensuring that new and renovated residential and commercial buildings exceed the 90% compliance threshold with the Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State – 2010 (ECCCNYS-2010) by 2017. To assess the code compliance in NYS, this research examined 78 permitted commercial building alterations projects including projects including 15 non-New York City projects and 63 New York City Projects. The research determined the degree of compliance based on energy performance of the project by conducting energy modeling and engineering calculations to estimate the energy consumption and savings. The results of the research show that code compliance and energy efficiency of alterations exceeded the minimum level required by code overall for all Climate Zones in NYS. The overall compliance with the energy code for alterations is relatively high; however, this study recommends establishing a statewide, consistently formatted database of permit information to enhance the code enforcement and compliance processes for commercial building alterations in NYS. The study also recommends that trainings on requirements of the energy code, especially for controls for mechanical systems and lighting, and requiring building facility staff to maintain code compliance information on site would also contribute to the code enforcement and compliance processes.