It’s been an eventful year for environmental and climate change policy. From Pope Francis’ historical remarks on the importance of strong action to combat global warming to the Volkswagen emissions scandal – there’s been plenty to talk about. To make things even better, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a new initiative to help building owners reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This announcement couldn’t have come at a better time, just a couple of short months before the United Nations Paris Climate Change Conference that will force global leaders to reach a strong climate agreement.

While the de Blasio administration has been vocal about its aggressive climate change agenda – releasing a number of publications such as One City Built to Last and OneNYC, and setting an ambitious goal of reducing 80% of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 –  the Retrofit Accelerator initiative announced on September 28^th is a real sign of policy action.

As approximately 75% of NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, the Retrofit Accelerator will focus on helping building owners who are interested in going green by making their water and energy use cleaner and more efficient. Registered building owners will be provided with free technical assistance and guidance from a team of energy efficiency professionals, who will not only assist in selecting the appropriate efficiency measures, but also help with permitting, financing, and training the building staff.

This program has a myriad of potential benefits. First and foremost is an estimated greenhouse gas reduction of 1 million metric tons per year by 2025, bringing us much closer to our 80×50 goal. But it doesn’t end there. The Retrofit Accelerator can also help property owners and tenants dramatically reduce their utility costs by an estimated $350 million a year, and also help create hundreds of local construction jobs.

This program really does sound like an environmentalist’s dream come true – so what’s the catch? Well, for now, this program is completely voluntary. Granted, laws like LL84 and LL87 mandate large buildings to benchmark and report on their energy data, but there is no mandate as of yet to do something about it. Only building owners who wish to reduce their carbon footprint, energy use and air pollution will receive guidance on how to do so.

While this is a step in the right direction, I am still skeptical of the potential success of this completely voluntary program. Twenty years ago would have been a good time to start this initiative so that by now it would have been gradually phased in as an all-encompassing mandatory program. However, we no longer have time to spare. Only time will tell if the Retrofit Accelerator will make a dent in New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions.