NYC Policy Update – February 2011

Cleaner Heating Oil Coming to NYC? Mayor Bloomberg and DEP Commissioner Halloway have proposed new requirements on heating oil for New York City’s buildings.  About 10,000 buildings in New York use No. 6 heating oil – the cheapest but most polluting.  Under the rules, with some exceptions, boilers using No. 6 oil would have to convert to No. 4 (slightly less polluting) by 2015, and new boilers would be required to use the even cleaner No. 2 fuel or an equivalent low-emission fuel.  By 2030, all boilers would have to be modified to meet the No. 2 standard.  The public comment period on this legislation is open though February 28 – comments can be submitted through the NYC Rules site. New Green Building/ Clean Tech Incubator Yes, this information also comes from a press release from the Mayor’s Office, but the City has opened the NYC Urban Technology Innovation Center – a collaboration between Columbia University, the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and CUNY to foster clean technology innovation, promote best practices sharing between building management stakeholders, and attract and support clean technology entrepreneurs to NYC.  It’s a great idea.  Read more here.