Landmark Empire State Building
New York City’s legendary Empire State Building recently marked a new milestone by reducing its energy bill a whopping 20%. This landmark has always been a top contender for representing architectural heights, and now shows there’s room for green technology – like a facelift remodel – for both people and things.
With Manhattan as the economic power center of the world, perhaps it’s fitting the Empire State Building has the good fortune (literally) to spend a total budget of $550 million dollars for retrofitting. Once completed, an estimated 40% reduction of energy use will be realized. This very ambitious undertaking is not surprising since the celebrated structure received the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Leadership Award in 2011.
Perhaps the best part about these green building projects is how many jobs they’ve created. Well, of course there’s always the positive environmental factor too! U.S. Green Technology took note of America’s tallest building back in March for obtaining LEED certification. The Empire State Building’s sustainability mission includes an enterprise of five companies that consult, design and construct: Clinton Climate Institute, Johnson Controls Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle, NYSERDA and Rocky Mountain Institute.
Proud to set an example of environmental sustainability and progress, the building’s total expected energy costs should be lowered by $4.4 million annually while creating 252 jobs. Additionally, Otis Elevator Company – part of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) was awarded a long term contract last year to first renovate and then maintain all 68 elevators for ten years.
This certainly seems to be one of the finest examples in the country of how a new DIT (Do-It-Together) commercial business partnership should be modeled.
The diverse projects and many green jobs being created by pooling resources is featured on the Empire State Building’s website. For example, escaping radiator heat reduced with barriers to create 8 jobs and annually save $190,000, and renovating insulation for all 6,514 windows adding 80 jobs with $410,000 saved per year. Upgrading electric cooling energy efficiency adds 12 new jobs for an annual savings of $675,000.
Also part of the overall solution are sensors to control light and air flow for a respectable 70 jobs and $1.76 million annual cost cut, plus energy trackers for tenants to follow their energy use will result in 30 jobs and is estimated to annually save $396,000. Project development, engineering and manufacturing carries 52 jobs and expected power savings are approximately $1 million dollars.
Energy efficiency is a critical component of environmental jobs and green technology, as well it should be. About 40% of Greenhouse Gases affecting our climate stress are due to our energy use in both residential and commercial buildings. As a symbol for even the most traditional, the Empire State Building proves how modernization can live and thrive in history resulting in a more sustainable established structure.
Maybe that’s what the greatest future for green technology is all about.
[nggallery id=1]
Related articles
