High-rises to cut gas emissions by 40%

New York will require high-rise buildings like the Empire State Building and Trump Tower, the president's city residence, to sharply reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Legislation passed on Thursday by the City Council puts caps on carbon emissions for buildings over 25,000 square feet (2,323 square meters), requiring a 40 percent reduction in their emissions by 2030. By 2050, the aim is to cut the buildings' emissions by 80 percent.

An inventory of greenhouse gas emissions published in 2017 found that buildings accounted for 67 percent of the city's emissions.

The mandate will apply to 50,000 buildings－from those with a few dozen apartments to Trump Tower, the president's Fifth Avenue skyscraper which advocates have targeted as a major polluter.

The law goes into effect in 2024 and puts caps on how many tons of carbon a building may produce per square foot. Buildings that violate the caps will face fines of $268 a year for every excess ton of carbon they put out, which could add up to millions of dollars for the worst offenders.

"It will be the largest emissions reduction policy ever, in any city," said City Councilman Costa Constantinides, who spearheaded the legislation as part of a package of bills known as the Climate Mobilization Act.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he will sign the legislation, which also requires new buildings to install green roofs or rooftop solar panels.

Real estate owners said they support reducing emissions but the passed legislation will make it too expensive to meet the new requirements and the law has too many exceptions.

John Banks, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said in a statement to China Daily that the law "will have a negative impact on our ability to attract and retain a broad range of industries that provide opportunity and continued economic growth that is so important for our city".

Buildings exempted from the law include rent-stabilized apartments, churches and mosques and the city's public housing system.

Banks said the exceptions unfairly leave "mostly market-rate housing and commercial buildings to shoulder the entire burden of what is undeniably a shared societal problem".

Zhang Ruinan contributed to this story.