Half of the Emissions from NYC Buildings Come From 2% of the Properties

In terms of energy consumption, all skyscrapers are not equal. Energy consumption, measured in Kilo British Thermal Units (KBTUs), can be compared with emissions used in creating that energy. Using that information, New York Communities for Change and other environmental nonprofits calculated the emissions of buildings around New York City and found that 2 percent of those buildings were responsible for half of the emissions from buildings in the city. By looking at KBTUs per square foot, one can go beyond buildings and even roughly calculate the emissions of individual units in the building.

"That club is the biggest contributor to carbon dioxide pollution in New York, where just 2 percent of buildings produce nearly 50 percent of the city’s climate-altering emissions, according to a report released by New York Communities for Change, the People’s Climate Movement NY, the Working Families Party and two other city-based environmental nonprofits," Alexander C. Kaufman reports for the Huffington Post. President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner's, families own multiple properties in that group.

Mayor de Blasio has tried twice to put forward legislation to limit emissions from buildings, but neither has gone into law.