Cutting Emissions Without Breaking The Bank: Discussing Local Law 97 At Bisnow’s New York Event

Thousands of New York City buildings risk facing hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for noncompliance with the city’s new Local Law 97 emissions cap.

While this is just one law, it signals the future of sustainability mandates around the globe, said Sam Molyneux, co-founder and co-CEO of Poppy, which creates technology to monitor and manage energy use. But complying doesn’t have to be as costly as it might sound, he said.

“Using technology available today, reducing energy use can be efficient and affordable,” he said. “By taking a low-cost, scalable approach to optimizing  HVAC systems, the real estate industry can reduce unnecessary consumption, cut emissions and boost occupants’ health. If we’re serious about reaching net-zero, it has to start here.”

Molyneux will speak at Bisnow’s New York City State of the Market event on Nov. 19. Click here to register. 

Ahead of the event, Bisnow spoke to Molyneux about how Poppy can help real estate owners and investors quantify their energy use and act quickly on the results. 

Bisnow: How prepared are real estate owners for Local Law 97?

Molyneux: With big decarbonization requirements hitting thousands of buildings in the next six months, many real estate owners in New York face challenges in meeting Local Law 97 compliance deadlines for their 2024 to 2029 targets. Although there is a growing awareness about these mandates, the industry’s preparedness varies widely. Many building managers are still uncertain about how best to meet these targets. 

Real estate operators must file decarbonization plans for penalty mitigation by 2025, and most are still exploring viable, cost-effective solutions to mitigate their carbon emissions. Owners are obviously looking for ways they can sidestep extensive retrofits and meet their caps. 

We’re hosting a webinar on this with NYC Accelerator on Nov. 21 for building operators to learn more. 

Bisnow: If a building owner makes operational improvements, will this help their asset qualify for Local Law 97 penalty mitigation?

Molyneux: Yes. Under Local Law 97 guidelines, low-cost operational improvements can qualify as “good-faith efforts,” helping owners avoid penalties for noncompliance. We recently confirmed with the New York Department of Buildings that operational and maintenance optimizations, including retrocommissioning efforts like those offered in Poppy’s DecarbNY program, are valid as part of compliance strategies. 

For example, by adjusting outdoor air and filtration settings according to ASHRAE standards, building owners can take a proactive approach to energy efficiency using ventilation optimization. These efforts are seen as credible alternatives to large-scale retrofits and, when properly documented in decarbonization plans, can result in up to two years of penalty mitigation. 

Bisnow: How does your approach help CRE address the challenge of climate change?

Molyneux: We created Poppy in 2019 to solve the need for more precise and actionable air quality data. We envisioned a world where every building operates efficiently, safely and sustainably. We believe that buildings can be optimized to provide healthier environments while also reducing energy waste. 

Today, clients all over the world use our first-of-its-kind, patented air tracer technology to measure ventilation effectiveness in real time for pennies per square foot. 

Bisnow: Why did Poppy decide to focus on air quality measurement rather than energy use? 

Molyneux: For the past few years, we’ve been pioneering new methods for indoor air measurement that enable optimization that had not been possible. Since mechanical systems consume about 50% of a building’s energy use, this can have a huge impact. 

In 2023, we introduced real-time aerosol tracing technology that measures equivalent clean airflow. It lets building managers assess how much air they’re ventilating, filtering and diluting so they can adjust systems based on occupancy and health risks rather than overventilating, which uses excessive energy. 

In September 2024, we published the largest-ever survey of overventilation in offices across 25 cities. The results demonstrated that the vast majority could reduce energy while complying with air quality standards, such as ASHRAE 241 and ASHRAE 62.1, to protect occupants’ health. 

Our goal is to empower real estate stakeholders to meet decarbonization targets, including New York’s Local Law 97, which requires owners of buildings larger than 25K SF to meet new emissions limits.

Bisnow: What is the DecarbNY initiative?

Molyneux: DecarbNY is an initiative by a consortium of allied experts and service providers aimed at supporting New York City’s real estate sector in meeting Local Law 97 energy standards. 

When Poppy launched the program, we provided a structured framework for building owners to assess and enhance HVAC performance through retrocommissioning and operational adjustments. This includes initial eligibility assessments, desktop energy calculations and tailored airflow testing that aligns with ASHRAE’s standards. 

The whole point is to enable buildings to meet compliance targets affordably. It’s well known that only about 5% of existing buildings have ever been commissioned or retrocommissioned to make sure they operate in line with design requirements. This suggests there is substantial potential to achieve compliance through operational optimizations. 

Because of this, DecarbNY also links to incentives such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Flexible Technical Assistance Program credits, which can cover 50% to 100% of retrocommissioning costs. 

Bisnow: Do you think the industry needs to embrace technology more quickly to get closer to net-zero?

Molyneux: It is important if the real estate industry hopes to meet ambitious net-zero and decarbonization goals while minimizing economic impacts. Every day, technology companies are uncovering pockets of operational inefficiency that can be reduced by adopting new approaches to usage prediction, data and system monitoring. 

Some of these are widely known, such as HVAC oversizing, and others are being recognized for the first time only now because the technologies to find them didn’t previously exist outside of academia. This is exciting because it says that for common space types such as office and retail, we may in some cases be able to just use our existing systems better to reach net-zero, or get a long way towards reaching that goal.

This article was produced in collaboration between Poppy and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.