An Executive Summary of the white paper “A Landmark Sustainability Program for the Empire State Building”
Adapted for CATALYST by Dante’ A. Clemons
Owners of multi-tenant buildings, which comprise the bulk of office space in the United States, are primarily motivated by return on investment. To justify the costs associated with energy efficiency retrofits, owners must be convinced that the investment will be repaid by some combination of reduced operating expenses, higher rental rates and greater occupancy levels. In general, the incremental cost of retrofitting older buildings to achieve improved energy performance is more expensive than the incremental cost of achieving the same performance in a new building.
This context underscores the extraordinary nature of the commitment that Anthony E. Malkin of Empire State Building Company has made to establish the Empire State Building as one of the most energy efficient buildings in New York City, and arguably the world’s most environmentally conscious office tower built before World War II. Just as extraordinary as Malkin’s commitment to retrofitting the Empire State Building was his decision to make the process transparent so that other building owners, particularly those with pre-WWII or landmark properties, would have an example to follow in pursuing their own green projects.
The Empire State Building Energy and Sustainability Team
- The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), a project of the William J. Clinton Foundation, was founded in August 2006 to create and advance solutions to the core issues driving climate change. Acting as facilitator and convener, CCI helps further develop and validate the owner’s vision, and introduce potential implementation mechanisms for the team.
- Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate services firm with the industry’s leading sustainability services program, serves as the program manager and the owner’s representative, guiding the team through the highly collaborative process and taking the lead on areas of integrated sustainability beyond energy efficiency.
- Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit organization recognized as a leader in energy efficient solutions, provides vital expertise and conducts peer reviews on technical and design elements of the energy work in the building.
- Johnson Controls Inc., a global Fortune 100 company focused on creating effective interior environments, performs the engineering, procurement, and construction work under a performance contracting framework that guarantees savings and provides long term energy management.
- Empire State Building Operations acts as the site champion, to ensure that operations are not disrupted by the retrofit.
Between April and November 2008, the collaborative team followed a comprehensive process to determine which energy and sustainability strategies could be implemented at the building, and what costs and obstacles might arise for each strategy. The purpose was to determine where cost and benefit intersected to result in the most sustainable building possible within reasonable cost parameters. Incorporating comprehensive sustainability initiatives with the aggressive energy reduction projects, a plan was developed for the Empire State Building to achieve LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance Gold Certification. Under the initial proposal delivered in April 2008, the four phase analysis included:
Phase I: Inventory and Programming
Phase II: Design Development
Phase III: Design Documentation
Phase IV: Final Documentation
The four phases were completed in seven months!
Empire State Building Company accepted the team’s proposed solution in its entirety, allowing the team to move forward immediately to implementation. The thorough and collaborative process had resulted in a strong consensus backed by transparent information. Tools were developed to measure and give feedback on building-wide and tenant improvements. The team now had a mandate and a plan to move forward swiftly and with confidence that the framework for decisions would continue to yield positive results, ultimately serving the goals of the Empire State Building owners and tenants as well as overall environmental goals. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2013.
The Empire State Building is just one drop in an ocean of commercial buildings that must undergo some form of rational energy and sustainability retrofit in the next several years if we as a society are committed to reducing the impact of buildings on the environment. However, the process of retrofitting such a historic building has established a framework that other designers and real estate developers can use as a strategic guide to achieve similar results. It is hoped that by making available documentation and information such as this report, the Empire State Building sustainability team can clear a path for thousands of other buildings to follow.
For a summary of key lessons learned, download the complete White Paper report. To download additional tools visit www.esbsustainability.com
