LL97 fines active since January 2024 $268 per excess tCO2e 50,000+ NYC buildings affected Period 2 caps tighten in 2030 No extension. No exception. LL97 fines active since January 2024 $268 per excess tCO2e 50,000+ NYC buildings affected Period 2 caps tighten in 2030 No extension. No exception.
NYC Local Law 97 Advisory

The Boiler
Room.

We go down to the boiler room so you don't have to. LL97 carbon fine exposure quantified. Retrofit economics modeled. Compliance path mapped. For the buildings, owners, and advisors who can't afford to guess.

$268
Fine per tCO2e over cap
50K+
Buildings subject to LL97
35,000+
Buildings already benchmarked
2030
Period 2 caps — significantly tighter

NYC didn't wait for
you to get ready.

Local Law 97 went live in January 2024. It applies to buildings over 25,000 square feet — about 50,000 properties in New York City. The law sets annual carbon emissions caps by building type, and fines owners $268 for every metric ton of CO2e they run over.

The caps get significantly stricter in 2030. A building that's borderline today may be deeply non-compliant in six years. Owners who haven't modeled their Period 2 exposure are flying blind.

Most engineering firms will sell you a compliance plan. Most attorneys will bill you to read the DOB rules. Very few people will sit down with you and say: here is your exact fine, here is where it's coming from, and here is the cheapest path to zero. That's what we do.

$268
Per metric ton of CO2e over your annual cap — multiplied by every ton, every year. A 200,000 sf office building that's 500 tCO2e over cap owes $134,000 per year, before legal costs.
Scenario Annual Fine Period
100K sf oil-heated multifamily, 200 tCO2e over $53,600 2024–29
200K sf commercial office, 500 tCO2e over $134,000 2024–29
500K sf mixed-use tower, 2,000 tCO2e over $536,000 2024–29
Same 500K sf tower, Period 2 tighter cap $804,000+ 2030–34
NYCHA campus, 12,000 tCO2e over (actual) $3,216,000 Ongoing

// Calculated from LL84 benchmarking data + NYC DOB caps. Actual fine = $268 × annual tCO2e overage.

Three things. Done right.

We're not a general-purpose MEP firm. We specialize in one problem: figuring out exactly what LL97 will cost you, and what to do about it.

01
📊

Portfolio Carbon Screen

We pull your buildings' LL84 benchmarking data and run every property against the LL97 cap tables — Period 1 and Period 2. You get a ranked list of exposure, fuel type, energy grade, and owner contact data in one sheet.

  • Fine exposure by building, P1 and P2
  • Primary fuel source and substitution candidates
  • ENERGY STAR score and LL33 posted grade
  • Owner classification and HPD contacts
  • BBL-level PLUTO data overlay
02
📈

Retrofit Economics Model

For buildings where the fine is material, we model the economics of the compliance path — heat pump conversion, fuel switching, LED + envelope — using current EIA fuel prices and real NYC contractor benchmarks.

  • Annual fuel cost vs. fine cost comparison
  • Heat-pump conversion ROI at current EIA prices
  • Estimated retrofit cost per sq ft by building type
  • Simple payback: CapEx ÷ (fine avoided + fuel saved)
  • Period 2 sensitivity — does the math change in 2030?
03
📄

Compliance Strategy Brief

A written memo — not a 200-page engineering study — that tells your asset manager or lender exactly where you stand, what the options are, and what a PE-stamped plan will cost to execute. Good for board decks, loan packages, and refi due diligence.

  • LL97 compliance status: Period 1 and Period 2
  • Three compliance pathways with cost ranges
  • C-PACE financing applicability assessment
  • IDA/NY Green Bank incentive screening
  • Summary suitable for lenders and investors

From BBL to brief
in under two weeks.

01

You give us your portfolio

A list of addresses, BBLs, or a PLUTO export. We'll clean it. Takes you ten minutes.

02

We run the numbers

We cross-reference your buildings against LL84, LL33, PLUTO, ACRIS, HPD, and live EIA fuel prices. Automated where possible, verified by hand.

03

We rank and flag

You get a ranked exposure report. Every building scored. Hot ones flagged. We tell you which three need immediate attention and why.

04

We write the path

For priority buildings: a written compliance strategy with options, cost ranges, and financing guidance. Lender-ready, plain English.

We know where the
numbers live.

Every data source we use is public. The advantage isn't access — it's knowing which datasets to combine, how to clean the joins, and what the numbers actually mean for your building.

building_screen.json — sample output
// 630-650 W 168th Street, Manhattan
"bbl": "1021400001",
"gfa_sf": 2110044,
"ghg_actual": 24312.4 tCO2e,
"cap_p1": 4987.2 tCO2e,
"overage_p1": 19325.2 tCO2e,
"fine_p1_annual": $5,179,154,
"fine_p2_annual": $9,890,441,
"primary_fuel": "Natural Gas",
"energy_grade": "D",
"fuel_cost_annual": $37,037,222,
"est_payback_yrs": 0.9,
"owner_type": "Institutional",
"prospect_tier": "T1 — Hot"
  • NYC LL84 Benchmarking
    5zyy-y8am · GHG, fuel use, ENERGY STAR · 35K+ buildings
    Live
  • NYC PLUTO
    64uk-42ks · Owner names, assessed value, year built, floors
    Live
  • NYC LL33 Official Grade
    355w-xvp2 · DOB-posted energy grades, 21K buildings
    Live
  • ACRIS Recent Sales
    bnx9-e6tj · Deed transfers 2022+, sale prices
    Live
  • HPD Registrations & Violations
    tesw-yqqr / wvxf-dwi5 · Agent contacts, open Class C violations
    Live
  • EIA NY Fuel Prices
    API v2 · Commercial gas, electricity, heating oil #2
    Live
  • NYC Affordable Housing Register
    hg8x-zxpr · Extended affordability flags by BBL
    Live

The people who own
or advise on the buildings.

Asset Managers

Family offices & private owners

You own 3 to 30 buildings, probably through a mix of LLCs. Nobody on your team has read LL97 in full. You need to know which two are about to cost you real money and what it takes to fix them.

CRE Advisors

Brokers, attorneys, lenders

Your clients ask about LL97 exposure during transactions. You need a fast, credible screen that you can put in front of a buyer or an underwriter without starting a three-month engineering study.

Operators

Property managers with large portfolios

You manage 50+ buildings for multiple owners. You need a way to triage the portfolio — rank by fine exposure, flag the critical ones, and give each owner a clear picture before the DOB starts sending notices.

Flat fees. No hourly
billing surprises.

We charge for the work, not the clock. Every engagement is scoped upfront.

Portfolio Screen
$1,500/ portfolio

Carbon exposure report

Full LL97 fine screen for up to 25 buildings. Delivered as a ranked spreadsheet with data sources cited.

  • P1 and P2 fine by building
  • Fuel type and energy grade
  • Owner and HPD contact data
  • Delivered in 5 business days
  • +$50/building over 25
Compliance Brief
$6,500/ building

Lender-ready strategy memo

Full economics model plus a written compliance strategy brief — three pathways, costs, timeline, financing options. Designed for loan packages and board presentations.

  • Everything in Retrofit Economics
  • Three compliance pathway options
  • NYC Green Bank / IDA screening
  • Written memo, 8–12 pages
  • One revision included
  • Suitable for lender due diligence

Don't guess at your exposure.

A 30-minute call is free. We'll tell you upfront if the screen is worth doing.

Schedule a call

Let's look at
your buildings.

The fastest way to start is an email. Tell us the portfolio size, what you already know about LL97 exposure, and what decision you're trying to make. We'll scope it from there.

If you already have a BBL list or a PLUTO export, email it over and we'll do a free preliminary screen before we even talk.

Emailmike@stepsventures.com
LocationNew York, NY

The Boiler Room is a business line of Steps Ventures LLC. We are not a licensed engineering firm. Our analysis is for strategic and financial decision support. PE-stamped compliance plans require a licensed MEP engineer.