Empire State Building Going Green

In New York City, the majority of greenhouse gas emissions come from the buildings, 78 percent of the emissions to be exact. Twenty-five percent of these emissions are from commercial buildings--with electricity being the major reason. The Empire State Building has decided to drastically reduce their part of the emissions and reduce their overall costs in so doing.

The owners of the Empire State Building are already in the midst of alterations to which they have decided to add $20 million in greening the building as well. The plans in place will reduce the energy use of the building by 38 percent by the year 2013. The plans will also save approximately 105,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. 

The greening of the building will save the owners $4.4 million each year. Stated Anthony E. Malkin, who supervises the building for the owners, “People associate greening with expense and compromise. We’re trying to prove: no compromise and payback.”

Environmentalists and those involved with the green project hope that the Empire State Building can serve as an example of what can be done to green a building, especially an older, larger one. The Empire State Building was built in 1931 and was once the tallest building in the world. The building stands at 102 stories, has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators.

The numerous projects involved in the greening of the building include anything from window insulation to radiator insulation. The plans are to retrofit windows on site as to prevent additional transportation pollution as well. The actual method for the 6,500 windows will involve adding a layer of coated film between two glass panes thereby increasing insulation. This project alone will take a significant amount of time as only 50 windows per day will be able to be done.

The building will also have chillers rebuilt in the basement and upgrades to electrical and ventilation systems. Energy use will also be tracked by each tenant by web-based programs to ensure that energy use will be limited. The Empire State Building is hoping to be included in the top 10 percent of Energy Star office buildings, as rated by the EPA, when the projects are finished.