Some residential managers aren’t waiting for the last minute to make their buildings ready for Local Law 97, which kicks in on the yr’s end and requires extensive changes in heating systems.
As we reported, the law calls for many city buildings to scale back greenhouse gas emissions to certain levels or face huge fines.
Argo Real Estate manages 130 buildings with 13,000 apartments in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. Executive vice-president Gustavo Rusconi said they’ve “been working collaboratively with [co-op and condo] boards since 2019, when the law was passed.”
Today, Rusconi said, “I’m ecstatic to say that only six of our buildings should not yet in compliance.”
He said that while conforming with LL 97 isn’t easy or inexpensive, it’s removed from unimaginable.
No Argo-managed buildings switched to electric heat. “It’s cost-prohibitive,” Rusconi said. But he helped clients find ways to significantly reduce emissions by adapting old boilers to the brand new requirements. The aim was to avoid getting a complete recent boiler which may cost $250,000 for a 100-unit constructing.
In some cases, the trick was to adapt boilers to dual-fuel systems using each oil and gas.
Or, “Where boilers were in good condition, we converted burners from No. 6 oil to No. 2 oil.” Rusconi explained, “No. 6 is a high pollutant, very tar-like. No. 2 is less polluting.”
Gustavo Rusconi said Argo has been working with co-op and condo boards because the law was passed.
Local Law 97 calls for many city buildings to scale back greenhouse gas emissions to certain levels or face huge fines. Getty Images
Argo worked with engineers “to see that boilers are working properly,” necessary to minimizing emissions. One step was to put in sensors which monitor temperatures and to scale back the variety of times a boiler has to activate and off.
Rusconi said that almost all upgrades were paid for through assessments. “But we also worked with heating firms to finance a part of installations and in some cases by refinancing mortgages.”