In case you missed it, and there’s a good chance you did, the New York City Council passed two laws last year (LL 92 and LL 94) that may surprise you if you are building a new building in New York City or even replacing or expanding an existing roof. But if you did miss it, the New York City Department of Buildings (NYC DOB) put out a bulletin reminding us of the new rules that went into effect in the middle of November. Here’s the gist of it: If you are building or expanding a roof in NYC, there’s every possibility that you will need to include either a green roof or solar photovoltaic (PV) system in the design for the building in order to be in compliance with the new rules. You can find the entire bulletin here, but the NYC DOB’s flow chart neatly sums up the process:
In case flow charts aren’t your thing, here’s another way of looking at it–essentially you have a few choices if you are building or expanding a new roof in NYC.
Either you can install a solar PV system larger than 4kW on it, include a green roof as part of your plans, or both. There are exemptions of course, for things like water towers, antennas or other rooftop structures, but generally speaking, unless you can get either an electrician or NABCEP certified contractor to provide documents showing why solar won’t work due to shading or space restrictions, the requirement applies.
So, if you are building a new roof in NYC in 2020, Silver Lining Solar can help you comply with the new laws and save you money in the process. Let us show you how.