The Empire State Building Exceeds Energy Efficiency Projections

For the second consecutive year, the world’s most famous office building, the Empire State Building in New York City, has exceeded energy efficiency savings. The innovative energy efficiency program has saved $2.3 million in energy costs and serves a model for building retrofits nationwide.

In 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, President Bill Clinton and the Empire State Building itself launched a comprehensive retrofit to reduce costs, increase real estate value and protect the environment. In 2011, the Empire State Building beat its first year energy efficiency guarantee by an astounding 5 percent, saving $2.4 million. In the second year, the building surpassed its guarantee by nearly 4 percent.

“The Empire State Building retrofit project is two for two, dramatically exceeding projected energy savings for the second straight year and reducing costs by millions of dollars,” said Anthony E. Malkin of the Empire State Building. “This effort clearly demonstrates the sustainability leadership of The World’s Most Famous Office Building and that integrating energy efficiency into the building upgrades can significantly enhance the value of any real estate asset while also protecting the environment.”

The core base building energy efficiency retrofit at the Empire State Building is complete, with the balance of the projects to be finished as new tenants build out high-performance workspaces. Once all the tenants have upgraded, the building will save $4.4 million per year, reducing energy use and carbon emissions by at least 38 percent or 105,000 tons during the next 15 years.

In the United States, 40 percent of energy is consumed by buildings, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. If every commercial building in New York City followed this blueprint, carbon emissions would be reduced by 4 million tons – the equivalent to that generated by a typical coal-fired power plant.

Source: Empire State Building