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Green is Good, But is it Legal?

The Mayor’s office, in the PlaNYC program to make the City more energy efficient and a model for the rest of the country, has been adopting new standards to ‘greenify’ the City.

Some of the initiatives seem to be taking root – the street tree planting program, for example, will bring thousands of new trees to our streets every year. The recently launched NYC Energy Code (which may be bringing some grief to developers and contractors) should ultimately reduce our carbon footprint.

One newly announced initiative highlights a push to bring solar power to buildings through installation of roof-top solar panels. While this sounds fabulous in theory, the Zoning Resolution seems to have a different take on it.

According to the Zoning Resolution (ZR 23-62 and ZR 33-42) solar panels and similar devices are actually not permitted obstructions to the height of a building. And in the case of most developers (actually, all developers) if given the choice between rentable square footage or solar panels, I think I know the ways the scales will tip.

If the Mayor’s Office is serious about PlaNYC and greenification, they may want to consider offering a different incentive to developers to encourage the upfront financial outlay and sacrifice to make this all happen. And also make it legal.

Posted By Phil Jackier

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