This world icon is getting a makeover. The ESB is “…undergoing a major sustainability retrofit to become a leading example of economic and environmental revitalization.” This is a critical milestone in the battle to lower energy use and thus lower GHG emissions because the building is so famous and glamorous. The project partners have created an informative website. You can “Solve the Retrofit Puzzle” in an interactive graphic and get a ton of more in-depth information.
There’s been plenty of media on this, as one would naturally expect. Retrofit of Empire State Building to Slash Energy Use by 38% is the story from EERE Network News. They report “Perhaps the greatest achievement of the retrofit project is the process used by the project partners, a process that can be applied to other building retrofits. The project partners used both existing and newly created modeling, measurement, and projection tools to analyze the Empire State Building and establish a full understanding of its energy use, as well as its functional efficiencies and deficiencies.” The excellent GreenerBuildings says here that the five partners are heavyweights in real estate and sustainable building design. They are the Empire State Building Company, Johnson Controls Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle, the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Rocky Mountain Institute. (I’ve written about the RMI and its guiding genius, Amory Lovins, a number of times, including at Good Grief, More Efficiency last June.)
As you know by now, energy efficiency upgrades, weatherization, and green building are on the agenda to stay.