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Empire State Building Plans Environmental Upgrade

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By David M. Levitt
April 6 (Bloomberg)

The Empire State Building, New York’s 1931 signature skyscraper, is undergoing a $20 million environmental efficiency makeover to compete in the 21st century.

The project, which includes building an on-site facility to remake all 6,500 windows in the 102-story tower, aims to cut energy use by 38 percent, said Ray Quartararo, director of development and project management for renovation supervisor Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

“We have to prove it’s good economics and we have to prove we know how to do it,” former President Bill Clinton said at a news conference on the building’s 80th floor. “I can’t tell you how important this day is.”

Buildings account for 72 percent of the nation’s electricity consumption and emit 38 percent of its manmade carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, a Washington-based organization that rates properties for their effect on the environment.

Empire State Building tenants will save on heating and air conditioning bills after the renovation, Quartararo said.

“We’re trying to do something that is very new,” said Anthony Malkin, whose family owns the Empire State Building Co. together with the Leona Helmsley estate. The company owns the operating lease for the building.

“By proving that this works, we empower people to argue that this is what should be done, and possibly not by option. Maybe this is something that should be required to be done.”

The building, which changes the color of its nighttime lights to commemorate various events, will be green tonight to mark the initiative, Malkin said.

Clinton Foundation Backing

His team is pushing for an “Energy Star” rating of 90 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meaning a building is more energy efficient than 90 percent of offices. They also plan to seek a “gold” rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the Green Building Council.

The initiative is supported by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Clinton Climate Initiative, part of the former president’s philanthropic foundation.

“You will never solve an environmental problem unless you show everybody it’s good business,” Bloomberg said. “This is showing the rest of the city that existing buildings, no matter how tall they are, no matter how old they are, can take steps to significantly reduce their energy consumption.”

New York Emissions

Buildings account for about 80 percent of New York City’s carbon “footprint,” the mayor said, referring to the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by vehicles, smokestacks, and all other human activity.

Buildings make up a higher proportion of New York’s greenhouse gas emissions because the city’s extensive mass transit network reduces the need for cars and trucks. Still, New York’s sheer size means it emits more greenhouse gases than the country of Portugal, Bloomberg said.

The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

In 1929, former New York Governor Al Smith led a partnership including Pierre S. du Pont and Jacob Raskob in constructing the Empire State Building in 18 months. The 1,250- foot tower edged out the Chrysler Building, also then under construction, for the title of tallest in the world. It held that honor until the World Trade Center topped it in 1970.

$600 Million Project

The environmental makeover falls under a renovation that could cost as much as $600 million, Malkin said. It’s designed to help the 78-year-old tower, once more the city’s tallest, compete with newer skyscrapers. The Malkin family decided in February to pay for the overhaul with rental income rather than by taking out a second mortgage.

They plan to combine small offices into larger ones to attract more creditworthy tenants.

New windows will be triple glazed and insulated for better heat retention and to reduce the need for summer air conditioning. Plans also call for insulating the building’s radiators, installing occupancy sensors to reduce electricity use, and modernizing the building’s mass air conditioning unit, known as the “chiller.”

The plan also calls for a Web-based monitoring system to alert tenants about their energy use and help them maximize efficiency, said Iain Campbell, a North American general manager for Johnson Controls Inc., a Milwaukee-based building equipment supplier that consulted on the project.

More than half of the improvements, including the new windows, should be in place in 18 months, with the rest likely completed during the next five years.

Wary Tenant

The improvements should generate an annual energy savings of $4.4 million once the project is complete, Quartararo said.

Many environmental innovations common in new skyscrapers aren’t feasible, Quartararo said. New York’s newest tower, Bank of America Corp.’s One Bryant Park, boasts waterless urinals and a rainwater reuse system, which the Empire State Building can’t accommodate, Quartararo said.

James Catafago, an attorney with offices on the 48th floor and president of the Empire State Building Tenants Association, said he was wary of the changes. He pays $31 a square foot for a 4,000-foot suite, and about $3 a foot for utilities, he said.

Though he called the building “a charming old warhorse,” he said the 40 percent energy savings could easily be eaten up by a rent hike.