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Methodology | Energy screening, Phase 1

How the energy screen works

Screening estimate, not an energy audit.

The Energy tab on the desk gives an early read of a building's energy use, utility cost, carbon, NYC Local Law 97 exposure and retrofit paybacks, from public benchmarks and nothing else. It is for acquisitions screening. It is not an ASHRAE energy audit, a design or a measured baseline, and every figure is a range.

Method

  1. Site EUI starts at the ENERGY STAR US median for the type, then is multiplied for vintage and ASHRAE climate zone. Low and high are 0.70x and 1.40x of that.
  2. Energy is split by end use. Heating and water heating run on the heating fuel (gas, steam or oil); the rest is electric. An all electric building carries its heat as electricity.
  3. Cost is electricity at the EIA state commercial rate plus the heating fuel at its price. You can enter your own rates.
  4. Carbon is energy by fuel times the LL97 coefficient for each period. The fine is the excess over the limit times $268 per tCO2e, for NYC buildings of 25,000 SF or more.
  5. Each retrofit saves a percent of its end use, switches heating fuel to a heat pump, or generates solar power. Payback is capex over the annual utility cost saving. Two or more measures stack at 0.8.
  6. "Add as energy scenario" adds a separate scenario in the scenario bar. The base case changes only when you select it.

Median site EUI by type

  • Office52.9 kBtu/SF (Office)
  • Retail51.4 kBtu/SF (Retail Store)
  • Multifamily59.6 kBtu/SF (Multifamily Housing)
  • Industrial / warehouse22.7 kBtu/SF (Non-Refrigerated Warehouse)
  • Hotel63 kBtu/SF (Hotel)
  • Mixed use40.1 kBtu/SF (Mixed Use Property)
  • Medical office97.7 kBtu/SF (Medical Office)

Retrofit measures

  • LED lighting with controls. Fixture or tube replacement with occupancy and daylight controls.
  • Controls and BAS tuning. Schedules, setpoints, economizers and resets retuned. Low capital, needs upkeep.
  • Heat pump rooftop units. Replaces gas fired RTUs at end of life. Shifts heating to electricity, so carbon falls even where cost rises.
  • Envelope air sealing. Sealing at roof edges, penetrations, shafts and doors.
  • Heat pump water heating. Central or unitary heat pump water heaters replacing gas fired heaters.
  • Rooftop solar. Sized to half the roof (gross area over stories). Output capped at the building's own electricity use.

Sources

LL97: NYC Admin. Code 28-320 as amended through Local Law 117 of 2020; DOB rule 1 RCNY 103-14 as amended 2023. Last checked 2026-10-20.

Limits

  • Screening estimate, not an energy audit. It is not an ASHRAE audit, a design, or a measured baseline.
  • Benchmark EUI for one building is typically within 30 to 50 percent of actual use. That is why every figure is a low to high range. Utility bills narrow it; bill upload comes in Phase 2.
  • No hourly simulation. Plug loads, occupancy and operating hours follow the building type.
  • The low and high band (0.70x and 1.40x the median), the vintage and climate multipliers, and the end use shares are Underwrite screening assumptions shaped on CBECS 2018, not published percentiles.
  • Rates are state averages from EIA, not the building's tariff. District steam and fuel oil prices are screening assumptions you can change.
  • LL97 rules change. The fine is an estimate from the occupancy group or property type limit times gross area, not a DOB penalty. Not legal advice. Only NYC is covered in Phase 1.
  • Retrofit costs and savings are screening ranges. When two or more measures are stacked, combined savings are multiplied by 0.8 for interaction.
  • The energy scenario is separate. It lowers the deal's utilities line by the typical saving (never below zero, and never by more than the line itself) and adds typical retrofit cost as equity at close. The LL97 fine avoided is shown apart and is not added to NOI.

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