New York City Department of Buildings
At a Glance
Industry
Government/Public Administration
Project Types
Commercial Energy Efficiency, Engagement and Behavior Change
Year
2020
Location
New York, NY
Summary
Rachel Vranizan created a stakeholder-centered communications plan for a groundbreaking law to reduce building emissions in New York City.
Goals
New York City’s innovative Local Law 97 of 2019 sets greenhouse gas emissions limits on the largest source of emissions in the city – buildings. Tasked with overseeing implementation and compliance with the law, the Department of Buildings must balance the interests of a wide range of stakeholders with the law’s detailed requirements. Identifying the need for a central messaging and communications plan, the Department engaged Rachel Vranizan to study opportunities for strategic communications in aiding implementation efforts.
Solutions
To establish a baseline, Vranizan first conducted a review of existing publications and resources, culminating in an extensive index to aid the work of the Department and consulting industry professionals. Vranizan analyzed the requirements for outreach within Local Law 97 and realized the diversity of impacted audiences called for a stakeholder-centered approach to communications. Conducting a comprehensive stakeholder analysis laid the foundation for the communications plan, which she designed as an adaptive document suited to the Department’s needs. To kickstart implementation of the communications plan, Vranizan drafted key outreach documents for publication on the Department website as a resource for building owners and industry professionals in New York City.
Potential Impact
Local Law 97's impact is significant, covering approximately 50,000 buildings in New York City with potential annual reductions of over 30 million metric tons CO2 by 2050. Successful strategic communications can engage and galvanize building owners to accelerate collective progress towards this goal.
Facing firm deadlines established by the law, time efficiency is vital for the Department. In completing a comprehensive and actionable plan, Vranizan accelerated the internal timeline on communications planning by three to six months.