The owners of the Empire State Building announced Monday they will invest $20 million in the 80-year-old skyscraper as part of a plan to cut the building’s overall energy use by 40 percent.
Projections from the Clinton Climate Initiative, Johnson Controls, Inc., and the Rocky Mountain Institute showed the building will save $4.4 million a year—and qualify the building for a LEED Gold certification—after the project is complete in a few years.
The thing I like most about this project is how they’re going to save that energy and cut their carbon output: They’ll be retrofitting windows and radiators, and installing new lighting and ventilation systems—all in the name of efficiency.
The Rocky Mountain Institute and its founder, Amory Lovins, have been promoting energy efficiency for more than two decades now. As Lovins told Mother Jones last May, it’s one of the cheapest and best ways to save money and cut carbon.
MJ: If you had $1 million to invest in the energy sector, where would you put it?
AL: Efficient use. I want to do the cheapest things first to get the most climate protection and other benefits per dollar. Buying micropower and “negawatts” [Lovins’ term for efficiency measures] instead of nuclear gives you about 2 to 11 times more carbon reduction per dollar, and you get it much faster.
In other words, owners of older buildings don’t have to wait around for cleaner energy—and a smart grid to supply it—to proliferate before they can cut carbon output and energy use. And Lovins thinks the this project in particular could “help inform and inspire [similar] initiatives.” In a building so iconic, the project certainly sets an example. If the cost-saving projections hold, it should turn into a trend.
