The A-through-D label on your lobby wall names how inefficient your building is. Under Local Law 33, the city penalizes owners for not posting the grade — not for earning a bad one. The financial enforcement is a separate law entirely.

The letter grade near your building's front entrance — the one that gave the place a D — tells you how much energy the building wastes. It does not require the owner to fix anything.

The grade comes from Local Law 33, passed in 2018 and amended by Local Law 95 in 2019. Buildings over 25,000 square feet that are required to submit annual energy and water data under Local Law 84 receive a score from the EPA's Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool and a corresponding letter: A for a score of 85 or above, B for 70 to 84, C for 55 to 69, D for anything below 55. A building with an Energy Star score of 2 out of 100 earns a D. Under LL33, owners face fines only for failing to post the grade — $1,250 a year — or for skipping the underlying benchmarking submission: $500 a quarter, capped at $2,000 annually. There is no penalty for earning a low grade, and no mandate to improve.

The law with financial teeth is different: Local Law 97, passed in 2019, sets carbon emission caps for covered buildings and fines owners $268 for every metric ton they emit above their limit. Those caps took effect in January 2024. First compliance reports were due to the Department of Buildings by May 1, 2025, covering calendar year 2024.

DOB has not yet released official 2024 enforcement results. In the meantime, Urban Green Council's January 2026 analysis of benchmarking data found that 54% of covered multifamily buildings have not yet met their 2030 carbon targets — meaning owners who haven't cut emissions face mounting fines, regardless of whether the D-grade label went up on schedule.

The grade names the problem. LL97 is what prices it.