NYC adopts building emissions software developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Across the nation, communities of all sizes are setting emissions reduction targets to minimize their carbon footprints and prioritize clean energy. In these efforts, data serves as a foundational requirement. Between staffing shortages and inflation-driven cost increases, obtaining the required data isn’t always feasible—especially in buildings. Municipalities don’t have the resources to conduct energy audits on thousands of buildings.

In this, automation and technology can greatly assist. But even when the data is collected, a lack of industry-standard data collection formatting requirements prohibits administrators from using it to its full capacity. A software tool developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) aims to bridge that gap for building owners and local governments by acting as a conduit to connect data collected via disparate digital platforms.

“BuildingSync helps owners make smart renovation investments,” said Lauren Adams, a data science researcher at NREL’s Building Technologies and Science Center. “It allows data to be more easily aggregated, compared, and exchanged between different databases and software tools—streamlining the energy audit process.”

BuildingSync’s creation was funded by the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office. Until now, the program’s usage was outside the public administration sphere. New York City recently became the first municipality to adopt its usage as a tool to accelerate its drive toward net zero decarbonization by 2050.

“New York City is the first municipality to adopt the BuildingSync platform to identify, prioritize, and reduce emissions across its nearly billion-square-feet assortment of buildings,” said Ben Levine, program manager at buildee, a software platform used by utilities, municipalities, property owners, and energy services that incorporated BuildingSync. “With this BuildingSync integration, building owners across the city now can access a centralized energy management platform to track climate action goals, map actions to those goals, and comply with local laws, all while reducing their utility costs and adding value to their buildings.”

Notably, New York City’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services and Department of Energy Management contributed to the development of BuildingSync. A statement notess it streamlines compliance and reporting for NYC Local Law 87, which mandates ASHRAE Standard 211 Level II energy audits for commercial buildings in the city.

Building data management involves a range of information, including HVAC systems, windows, architecture, insulation, and even regional climate, the statement continues. By creating a standardized language to easily aggregate, compare, and exchange energy data between vendors, BuildingSync can help cities make progress toward benchmarking goals, auditing compliance, evaluating program performance, and analyzing trends.

“Every building is unique,” said NREL Senior Research Engineer Nicholas Long. “The only way to address energy and decarbonization compliance is through data management tools that help people continuously track building performance and to look at the bigger picture.”

Visit BuildingSync’s website for more information. The BuildingSync schema can also be downloaded on its own.