Enigin Update - Empire State Building gets Gold for Greening
NEW YORK’S Empire State Building has been awarded LEED® Gold for Existing Buildings certification as further recognition of the $550 million spent in improving energy efficiency and greening the building.
The Empire State Building is the tallest and most well known building in the U.S. to receive LEED certification for its Empire State ReBuilding programme.
The 2.85 million-square-foot building is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year while nearing completion of its renewal and repurposing to meet the needs of 21st Century businesses. It is one of a small number of U.S. National Historic Landmarks to earn the designation, which was established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).
The announcement was made jointly by Anthony Malkin, Empire State Building Company; Dana Robbins Schneider, Vice President of Jones Lang LaSalle, Programme Manager of the energy retrofit, LEED feasibility assessment and application process; and Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and founding chair of USGBC.
The retrofit will reduce the building's energy consumption by more than 38 percent and should save $4.4 million in energy costs annually, representing an approximate three-year payback of the cost of implementation. The building gained ENERGY STAR certification in 2010 and has maintained ENERGY STAR certification in 2011.
The improvements also reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 105,000 metric tons over 15 years. In January 2011, Malkin agreed to buy carbon offsets totalling 55 million kilowatt hours per year of renewable energy, making the Empire State Building carbon-neutral.
David Bragdon, Director of the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability stated: "When it was built, the Empire State Building instantly became an icon of its era. Now, due to this remarkable investment in energy efficiency, the Empire State Building will be an icon of the 21st century as well, leading our current era in the retrofitting and upgrading of existing buildings to meet modern energy conditions."
Malkin added: "LEED Gold certification is another win for us following our ground-breaking energy efficiency retrofit work. It is my hope that all future LEED certifications for existing building projects will require demonstrable, quantifiable improvements in energy efficiency, delivering economic returns for building owners, tenants, and the communities in which they are located."
"I thank Dana Schneider, our Empire State Building team, and the professionals at the U.S. Green Building Council for their hard work in this huge undertaking. I hope USGBC will be incorporating documented energy efficiency improvements into LEED 2012, which is now in public comment."
Schneider responded: "LEED certification is one of the top criteria for many tenants today, and it reinforces the strong business case we have made for a cost-effective energy retrofit that lowers tenant occupancy costs. We have continued our work with building ownership with LEED-level new tenant installations and tenant-based energy efficiency programmes, which are now being documented in a new programme with the Center for Market Innovation of the Natural Resources Defense Council, funded by a grant from the Goldman Sachs Foundation."
Fedrizzi said: "By earning LEED Gold, the Empire State Building has sent a powerful message that green buildings don't have to be new – even the most iconic, historic buildings, as grand in scale as in reputation, can be among the most high-performing, energy-efficient, green buildings. The leadership exhibited by Tony Malkin, and everyone involved in this project is monumental and should be applauded."
Schneider also noted that the energy retrofit and other actions leading to LEED certification also helped New York's economy by creating jobs for 250 people.
The efforts and savings at the Empire State building are an ideal example of what savings can be achieved through improved energy efficiency. With Enigin plc's EnergyMaps programme, using Eniscope Real-time and Analytics system at its core, decision makers and energy managers can monitor and manage where, when and how energy is utilised within a building, a floor, an office or even an individual piece of equipment.
EnergyMaps and Eniscope is available exclusively through Enigin Distributors worldwide, and will do more than save energy and money.
Picture of Empire state Building, NY by Ami, reproduced under CCL.
