The iconic Empire State Building is undergoing a multimillion dollar green renovation, which includes the purchase of wind power for all its electric needs.
After being the world’s highest building for nearly four decades, New York’s tallest building is now making some green records as well. The building authorities will buy 100 percent wind power from Texas based Green Mountain Energy Company.
The two year contract is for 55 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy annually, which will help prevent nearly 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide emission each year according Green Mountain. The CO2 reduction is the equivalent of nearly every house in New York state turning off their lights for a week or planting nearly 150,000 trees- more than six times the number in Central Park.
“It was a natural fit for us to combine 100% clean energy with our nearly completed, groundbreaking energy efficiency retrofit work,” Anthony E. Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, which runs the building, said in the announcement. “Clean energy and our nearly 40% reduced consumption of watts and BTUs gives us a competitive advantage in attracting the best credit tenants at the best rents.”
As part of its green retrofit, the Empire State Building has hired Serious Materials to remove, retrofit and replace each of its 6,514 double-hung, dual-pane windows. It’s also adding insulation and other upgrades.
