Purpose of this article
This article explains how Local Law 97 (LL97) is represented in Scaler, including which buildings are considered in scope, how emissions performance is evaluated, and how LL97 analytics can be used to support compliance monitoring and decision-making.
Overview
Building Performance Standards (BPS) are regulations that require large buildings to meet progressively stricter energy or carbon emissions limits over time.
Local Law 97 (LL97) is New York City's Building Performance Standard. It mandates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions for large buildings and penalizes owners that exceed defined emissions thresholds.
Scaler supports LL97 by calculating emissions intensity, assigning applicable thresholds based on property type, and visualizing compliance status for eligible assets.
Which buildings does LL97 apply to?
Local Law 97 applies to buildings that meet one of the following criteria:
- A single building exceeding 25,000 gross square feet
- Two or more buildings on the same tax lot that together exceed 50,000 gross square feet
- Two or more buildings owned by a condominium association governed by the same board that together exceed 50,000 gross square feet
Scaler's current scope
Scaler currently evaluates LL97 applicability only for single buildings exceeding 25,000 gross square feet. Tax lot aggregation and condominium ownership structures are not automatically evaluated at this time.
How Scaler determines LL97 applicability
Scaler evaluates whether an asset is subject to LL97 using location, size, and property type criteria.
Location requirements
An asset is considered subject to LL97 if:
Country= United States, and
Postal codecorresponds to New York City:- Manhattan: 10001–10292
- Staten Island: 10301–10314
- Bronx: 10451–10475
- Brooklyn: 11201–11256
- Queens: 11354–11697
If Postal code is unavailable, Scaler attempts to infer location from the City field (e.g., "New York", "Brooklyn", "Bronx").
Size requirements
LL97 applies only if the asset's Gross floor area exceeds 25,000 square feet.
Building Unit requirements
Why Building Units are required
LL97 emissions intensity thresholds vary by property type. A single building can contain multiple property types—for example, retail on the ground floor and residential on upper floors. Each property type has a different LL97 threshold.
Building Units allow Scaler to:
- Assign property-type-specific thresholds to different portions of a building
- Calculate weighted thresholds for mixed-use buildings based on the floor area of each use
Coverage requirement
Building Units must collectively cover 100% of the asset's GFA – Tenant area. Without complete coverage, Scaler cannot calculate LL97 compliance.
Each Building Unit requires:
Property typethat is ESPM-aligned (determines applicable LL97 threshold)
Unit floor area(used for weighted calculations in mixed-use buildings)
To verify which property types are ESPM-aligned, see Property-type mapping (GRESB, CRREM, ULI, ESPM).
How LL97 compliance is calculated
Single-use buildings
For assets with a single property type, Scaler applies the LL97 emissions intensity threshold corresponding to that property type.
Mixed-use buildings
For assets with multiple property types, Scaler calculates a weighted emissions intensity threshold based on each Building Unit's floor area and property type.
WEIGHTED_TARGET = Σ(UNIT_AREA × LL97_THRESHOLD_FOR_UNIT_TYPE) ÷ Σ(UNIT_AREA)
This ensures mixed-use buildings are evaluated proportionally across their constituent uses.
Compliance determination
Scaler compares the asset's actual emissions intensity to its applicable LL97 threshold:
- Actual performance:
ghg_emissions_intensity_kgco2e_m2_yr
- Target limit: LL97 emissions intensity threshold (single or weighted)
Result categories:
- Compliant — Actual emissions are below the threshold
- Non-compliant — Actual emissions exceed the threshold
- Missing data — Required data is missing or incomplete
Setting up LL97 tracking
Required data
To calculate LL97 compliance, the following fields must be populated:
Asset-level fields:
Country
City
Postal code
Gross floor area
Building Unit fields:
Property type(must be ESPM-aligned)
Unit floor area
Recommended:
- Clear Building Unit names for easier identification
- Confirmation that Building Unit totals equal
GFA – Tenant area
Configuring Building Units
Navigate to: Data Collection Portal → Asset → Building Units
For each Building Unit:
- Enter
Property type(must be ESPM-aligned to determine LL97 threshold)
- Enter
Unit floor area(used for weighted threshold calculations)
- Ensure all Building Units collectively cover 100% of
GFA – Tenant area
To verify which property types are ESPM-aligned, see Property-type mapping (GRESB, CRREM, ULI, ESPM).
For more detail on filling in Building Unit fields, see Building units: Setting up & entering data.
Viewing LL97 compliance status
Asset List view
Navigate to: Analytics Portal → Portfolio → Asset List
The BPS: LL97 column displays compliance status for all applicable assets in your portfolio.
Custom pathway analysis
If your organization has configured custom LL97 pathways, you can view asset performance against those pathways:
Navigate to: Analytics Portal → Portfolio/Asset → Roadmap Analysis → GHG Emissions
To learn how to set up custom pathways, see Setting and viewing targets, pathways & benchmarks.
Troubleshooting & common issues
If LL97 compliance does not appear for an asset, it is typically due to one or more of the following:
Incomplete Building Unit coverage
Building Units do not collectively cover 100% of GFA – Tenant area. LL97 thresholds cannot be assigned without full coverage.
Missing or invalid location data
One or more of the following fields is missing or inconsistent: Country, City, or Postal code. If Postal code is unavailable, verify the City field includes recognizable NYC borough names.
Asset does not meet size threshold
The asset's Gross floor area is less than 25,000 square feet, or qualifies only under tax-lot aggregation or condominium ownership criteria (not currently evaluated by Scaler).
Building Unit property types not ESPM-aligned
Building Units must use property types that are ESPM-aligned and can be mapped to LL97 thresholds. To verify which property types are ESPM-aligned, see Property-type mapping (GRESB, CRREM, ULI, ESPM).
Missing emissions intensity data
ghg_emissions_intensity_kgco2e_m2_yr cannot be calculated due to incomplete energy or emissions data. Verify that consumption and emissions data have been entered for the asset.
Asset marked inactive for analytics
Assets marked as inactive in analytics are excluded from LL97 calculations and visualizations. Verify the asset's active status in the Data Collection Portal.