The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has released a new standard to advance the development of resilient and energy-efficient buildings.

The NYStretch Energy Code – 2020 standard will help municipalities interested in voluntarily adopting higher efficiency standards for new and renovated building construction projects.

NYSERDA is confident the new standard will help consumers to accelerate energy cost savings, reduce emissions from buildings, improve resiliency from power disruptions, and lower utility bills.

NYStretch is expected to provide savings of roughly 11% in energy costs over the model energy codes that will be the basis for the 2020 Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State (2020 ECCC-NYS), with simple paybacks typically in the range of six to 12 years.

The new standard supports the state governor’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050 and the state’s Green New Deal clean energy plan.

To date, 30% of carbon emissions in New York comes from on-site fuel combustion in buildings and 15% from energy generation.

The release of the new standard is expected to broaden the adoption of energy efficiency measures by increasing awareness of and helping to set minimum energy performance requirements for designing, constructing and renovating buildings.

The standard has been developed with guidance from a 25-member advisory group comprising private and public stakeholders.

Alicia Barton, CEO of NYSERDA said: “As New York moves forward in pursuit of Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading clean energy goals to combat climate change, we continue identifying new ways to partner with communities in an effort to drive statewide greenhouse gas reductions. The release of the 2020 NYStretch and the supporting toolkit creates an opportunity for communities to lead at the local level by adopting higher efficiency standards for buildings that result in carbon emission reductions and cleaner, healthier communities across the state.” In addition to the toolkit, NYSERDA will provide direct, hands-on support to municipalities throughout the adoption and implementation process to help them make NYStretch a success.

New York Secretary of State Rossana Rosado said, "The NYSERDA Stretch Code is a great tool for local governments to adopt a more restrictive local energy code in order to increase their efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. This is a first step in meeting the state’s aggressive clean energy goals of reducing 85% emissions by 2050. Thanks to the Governor’s initiative most buildings in the state will use renewable energy resources in another step to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, combat climate change, and ensure a cleaner and greener environment for future generations."