BUILDING CASE STUDY REFURBISHMENT HEIGHT
OF SUSTAINABILITY O
A major refurbishment of an iconic American skyscaper is projected to slash energy use and pay for itself within a few years. Andy Pearson reports
n 17 March 1930, at the height of the Great Depression, construction began on the edifice that was to become
an icon of the New York City skyline – the Empire State Building. Now, in the midst of a new economic crisis and growing concerns about climate change, the 102-storey, 2.85 million sq ft art deco skyscraper is undergoing a major retrofit aimed at transforming it into one of the United States’ most energy efficient buildings. In August 2006, a $550m investment
programme was launched by the building’s owner, Malkin Holdings, to comprehensively upgrade it. And while this programme was being rolled out, the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) was in discussion with Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin, about the possibility of turning one of America’s most famous buildings into an exemplar of sustainability. The CCI hoped the kudos of turning the Empire State Building green would inspire the owners and operators of less prestigious structures to do the same. The subsequent sustainability programme
for the Empire State Building was founded on a commercial business model – one that sought to cut energy consumption by nearly 40%, double that of a typical commercial building retrofit, and with a payback period of only three years. In April 2008 a team of specialists was
assembled, including energy services company Johnson Controls, environmental organisation Rocky Mountain Institute and project manager Jones Lang LaSalle. It took seven months of audits, brainstorming,
www.cibsejournal.com
energy modelling and financial analysis spread over four phases to determine what it was possible to achieve within strict cost parameters. In the first phase, the sustainability goals
were integrated with the existing capital refurbishment programme to improve their cost effectiveness. The capital project team of Jones Lang LaSalle, TPG Architects and MEP consultant Lakhani & Jordan worked with the sustainability team to review and identify sustainable alternatives or modifications to existing capital projects to achieve higher standards. Since upgrades such as resealing all the windows were already in the capital upgrade programme, it made sense to analyse whether it was cost effective to invest more, further improving their performance to achieve significantly higher energy savings. An important element of the second phase
of the sustainability initiative was to narrow down the number of potential energy saving solutions to a manageable number. As part of the process the team did a lot of work on quantifying energy efficiency. Malkin was a critic of the silo approach to energy efficiency in multi-tenanted buildings where the focus was individually on lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, pumps and elevators. In the document Lessons Learned Retrofitting an American Icon, he argues that ‘true cost savings come when the projects are considered as one integrated package’. This was true for the Empire State
Building, where some of the biggest cost savings are expected to come from upgrading the chiller plant rather than replacing it. This was only possible, however, because of a
November 2011 CIBSE Journal 29
The 1930s art deco Empire State Building (above and left) has undergone a major eco-refurbishment
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76