You’ve heard of this building. You’ve seen it in the movies. It’s a favorite of tourists of the human and ape variety.
It was called the “World’s Tallest Building,” when it opened to great fanfare in 1931. Its exhilirating height, its gleam, its limestone, its granite, it art deco look – all impressed the world. Attracting cameras (and tragic monsters clutching damsels and crushing airplanes) everywhere, it became a star.
But that star, in its own way, was a monster. It was an energy beast.
Portrait of the Beast
A review of The Empire State Building’s figures from the early 21st century century show that it would typically consume as much energy in one day as 40,000 single family homes. It was gobbling up energy, and wasting so much of it through its walls and stairs and halls and lights and, you name it.
And as the world has come to see the need for environmental fitness, we have seen that this colossus was also sadly out of shape.
The Empire State Building was not fit. It was time for a retrofit.
Going Retro
Wait – what? What’s a Retrofit?
As defined by the US government’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, retrofitting a building refers to the effort to “renovate, retrofit and refurbish existing buildings… to upgrade the energy performance.” It involves “passive measures” to improve the building’s ability to hold on to its heating or cooling (e.g., better insulation, double pane window glazing, etc.) as well as “active measures” to make lighting, heating, ventilation, electricity usage more efficient.
In other words, take that old building and shape it up!
Empire State of Fitness
So, NYC, committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, decided to get that exercise regimen happening.
Several city denizens will admit to seeing the tall building doing push ups up and down 5th Avenue. Though they will also admit to seeing the bottom of a bottle beforehand.
As of 2010, the Empire State Building has been involved in a huge retrofitting effort. Huge as in $550 million dollars. Huge as in turning the icon into a buff, head turning icon of energy efficiency.
Did it Work? Oh Yeah!
How’s this for fit –
- $4.4 million in savings from window replacement alone.
- 105,000 tons of greenhouse gas emission savings
- 38% overall energy reduction
Poster Child Again
All right, energy flab gone.
The cleaner, greener, Empire State Building is a shining example of retrofit success. It makes the iconic building a beacon for those hoping to make the retrofit buildings green success stories – better for tenants, better for landlords, better for the bottom line, better for the earth.
The retrofit Empire State Building better for the world, and all the people and giant apes therein.
And that’s something to pound your chest about.
