Two of every three Local Law 97 buildings are apartments, not offices
About two of every three buildings in New York City's energy-benchmarking dataset are multifamily housing, not the office towers usually linked to the city's climate law. NYC OpenData's Building Energy and Water Data Disclosure records 103,259 filings under Local Law 84; 68,575 of them, about 66 percent, are apartment buildings. Office buildings account for 7,578. The figures reframe who bears the weight of Local Law 97, the emissions-cap rule that draws on the same benchmarking data.
What NYC's benchmarking data covers
Local Law 84 requires owners of large buildings to file their annual energy and water use. The resulting dataset, published as Building Energy and Water Data Disclosure on NYC OpenData (dataset 5zyy-y8am), held 103,259 filings when queried in July 2026.
The filings span three report years: 30,485 for 2022, 33,684 for 2023, and 39,090 for 2024. Benchmarking - the practice of measuring a building's energy use so it can be compared over time - is the data backbone the city uses to administer Local Law 97, its building-emissions cap.
Apartment buildings outnumber offices about nine to one
Multifamily housing - residential buildings with multiple units - accounts for 68,575 filings, about 66 percent of the dataset. Office buildings, the property type most often associated with the law, account for 7,578, roughly nine times fewer.
The rest of the list drops off quickly: K-12 schools (5,739), hotels (1,996), warehouses (1,429), colleges and universities (1,313), manufacturing sites (1,250), and retail (1,017). By count, Local Law 97 is largely a law about where New Yorkers live.
Coverage has grown as thresholds phased in
Annual filings rose about 28 percent from report year 2022 (30,485) to 2024 (39,090). The increase reflects the benchmarking mandate reaching more buildings as size thresholds were lowered over time.
More buildings in the dataset means more owners potentially facing Local Law 97's emissions caps, which the city phases in over time. The benchmarking count is not itself the compliance list, but it is the pool the city draws from.
What the numbers do not show
The dataset covers only buildings above the roughly 25,000-square-foot benchmarking threshold, so smaller buildings are absent. Each row represents one building for one report year, which means 103,259 is a count of building-years, not unique buildings - a single building filing in all three years appears three times.
The energy-score fields contain "Not Available" placeholders in many records, so no average energy score is reported here. Readers should treat the property-type counts as a picture of what is filed, not a full census of the city's building stock.
How to check a specific building
Whether an individual building falls under Local Law 97 depends on its size, use, and other factors that a citywide tally cannot resolve. RegWatch offers a Local Law 97 compliance check that estimates whether a building is covered and what its emissions-cap exposure might be.
That estimate is a starting point, not a ruling. Verify a specific building or case against the official city agencies - the Department of Buildings (DOB), Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and the enforcement bodies ECB and OATH - and treat this article as general information, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
How many buildings are in NYC's benchmarking dataset?
NYC OpenData's Building Energy and Water Data Disclosure held 103,259 filings when queried in July 2026, split across report years 2022 (30,485), 2023 (33,684), and 2024 (39,090). Because each row is one building per year, that total counts building-years, not unique buildings.
What share of Local Law 97 buildings are apartments?
Multifamily housing makes up 68,575 filings, about 66 percent of the dataset - roughly two of every three. Office buildings account for 7,578, about nine times fewer.
Which property types come after multifamily and office?
By filing count: K-12 schools (5,739), hotels (1,996), warehouses (1,429), colleges and universities (1,313), manufacturing (1,250), and retail (1,017).
Why doesn't the article report an average energy score?
The dataset's energy-score fields contain "Not Available" placeholders in many records, so no reliable average can be drawn from them. The counts here describe property types, not building performance.
Does being in the dataset mean a building must comply with Local Law 97?
Not necessarily. Benchmarking under Local Law 84 and emissions caps under Local Law 97 have related but distinct coverage rules. Verify any specific building against the Department of Buildings or the relevant city agency; this is general information, not legal advice.