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The Empire State Building is in the midst of a project designed to cut the building's total energy use by up to 40 percent and could set an example for additional green renovations on some of the city's older office buildings.
The 102-story building was completed in 1931 and held the title of the city's tallest building until the World Trade Center was completed in the early 1970s. After the attacks, the building regained the title and was the focus of a renewed effort to bring the building up to modern standards.
While consumer energy use is often the target of campaigns designed to reduce energy use, 80 percent of New York's electricity consumption comes from its commercial buildings. Older buildings that were constructed without regards to energy use can often be the worst offenders with leaks and inefficiency driving up energy use.
Over the next 15 years, the building's green renovation could cut its carbon footprint by 100,000 metric tons or the equivalent of taking 20,000 vehicles off the road. If just one-fifth of the largest buildings in the United States were able to make similar cuts, it could save 2.3 billion metric tons of carbon emissions or the equivalent of Russia's greenhouse emissions for an entire year.
One concern for many green projects is the cost / benefit of projects but the green renovation project is expected to cut the building's energy expenses by 40 percent and could pay for itself in just three years. Considering the benefits, hopefully other commercial building owners follow in the same footsteps.
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