New York’s most famous building just became a gold beacon of sustainability.

The 80-year old 2.85 million-square-foot Empire State Building is completing its $550 million renovation to achieve LEED Gold certification. The project includes an extensive energy efficiency retrofit that is predicted to reduce the building’s energy consumption by over 38 percent, saving $4.4 million in energy costs annually. Not only will it pay for itself in 3 years, but it required only an additional $0.25 per square over a design not built to LEED standards.

Standards that require improvements in energy efficiency are the simplest and most cost-effective way to decrease energy use, save money, and reduce carbon pollution. Buildings use 40 percent of the energy in the United States, and create 40 percent of the carbon pollution. LEED is just one of many standards or codes than can help achieve carbon reduction goals through buildings. The green building improvements to the Empire State Building will reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 105,000 metric tons over 15 years. Add to that the carbon offsets totaling 55 million kilowatt hours per year of wind energy purchased by the Empire State Building Company and the Empire State Building becomes carbon-neutral.

This renovation is an important example of the possibilities of energy improvements to our existing building stock, and is not new to Minnesota (Minnesota ranks 19th in the country for LEED-certified buildings). But big leaps in improving the energy efficiency of our buildings won’t happen without the help of good public policy and standards improvement and adoption. So what is happening in Minnesota to help increase the number of more energy-efficient buildings in the state? Below are a few examples of adopted policies that will help promote energy-efficient buildings in Minnesota. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about how to get engaged in making buildings better in Minnesota, contact Alison Lindburg at 651-278-2529.

• The Next Generation Energy Act of 2007, signed by then-Governor Pawlenty, established a goal of 100 commercial buildings achieving LEED or Green Globes certification by December 31, 2010, and created a roadmap requiring utilities to provide technical assistance for commercial or residential projects that incorporate green building principles in their construction.
• The city of Minneapolis currently requires that future municipal buildings or major renovations of buildings over 5,000 square feet be built to LEED Silver standards.
• The city of St. Paul requires that new or significantly renovated municipal facilities receive LEED Silver certification or utilize the Minnesota State Guidelines on Building, Benchmarking and Beyond (B3). If constructed or renovated to LEED standards, it must meet the more stringent state guidelines related to “Energy and Atmosphere,” including exceeding the energy code by at least 30 percent. The State Guidelines related to Performance Management requirements must be adhered to. The policy also requires staff from various city departments become LEED accredited. St. Paul also requires private developers of new construction projects that receive more than $200,000 of public financing achieve LEED Silver certification or its equivalent, including utilizing Green Globes, Minnesota State Guidelines Building Benchmarking and Beyond (B3), Minnesota GreenStar, or Green Communities (Minnesota Overlay). Additionally, all covered projects must comply with elevated mandatory minimum requirements, known as the Saint Paul Overlay.
• The city of Bloomington gives projects pursuing LEED certification the eligibility to zone for bonus floor area; LEED Certified or Silver projects are eligible for one-quarter square foot of a additional area per square foot; LEED Gold or Platinum are allowed one-half square foot of additional floor area.

Photo from http://northamericatravel.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/the-empire-state-building/

New York’s most famous building just became a gold beacon of sustainability.