NEW YORK CITY-The Empire State Building, in the midst of an 80th birthday celebration, has achieved LEED Gold for Existing Buildings. This comes on the heels of the $550 million Empire State ReBuilding program. The achievement makes the iconic building the tallest in the US to get LEED certification from the US Green Building Council.

Anthony Malkin, of the Empire State Building Co., announced the designation along with Rick Fedrizzi, the president, CEO and founding chair of the USGBC and Dana Robbins Schneider, VP at Jones Lang LaSalle and program manager of the retrofit, LEED feasibility and application process.

Johnson Controls conducted a retrofit at the building that is anticipated to save roughly $4.4 million in energy costs annually. That retrofit, which is estimated to pay for itself in three years’ time, will reduce the Empire State Building’s energy consumption by 38%.

“LEED Gold certification is another win for us following our ground-breaking energy efficiency retrofit work,” Malkin said in a prepared statement about the LEED Gold designation. “It is my hope that all future LEED certifications for existing building projects will require demonstrable, quantifiable improvements in energy efficiency, delivering economic returns for building owners, tenants, and the communities in which they are located,” Malkin said. “I thank Dana Schneider, our Empire State Building team, and the professionals at the US Green Building Council for their hard work in this huge undertaking.”

In additional to Johnson Controls’ retrofit of the 2.85-million-square-foot building, other initiatives helped to bring about the LEED Gold certification. These included the installation of ultra low-flow fixtures in bathrooms, the use of green cleaning supplies and the creation of a tenant management system.

Instant Insights /

Empire State Building Gets LEED Gold

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