Iconic Innovations

Great Futures checked with iconic buildings and stadiums what innovations were being worked on. See the columns below.

“To be a forward-thinking 21st century building, structures must be energy efficient and create healthy and productive work environments for visitors and tenants. Not only does the Empire State Building three-year retrofitting project prove to be just as effective as building from the ground up but there is quick recoupment of the initial outlay. The process was created to define the steps to be taken, the costs, and the economic benefit to be received from them.”

“The international and local corporate tenant community has been greatly attracted to the Empire State Building after its upgrade. A significant component of that attraction is the fact that tenants at ESB consume approximately 50% of the energy of a comparable sized office in another building. At the Empire State Building, not only are tenant spaces designed to a greater energy efficiency standard, tenants also have access to a monitoring and measurement system which can inform them of how they are using electricity and gives suggestions on how they can use energy more efficiently.”

“The retrofit is guaranteed to reduce the building’s energy consumption by more than 38 percent, carbon emissions by an estimated 105,000 metric tons, and will save $4.4 million in energy costs annually. The process is replicable and, as part of a good deed by the retrofit partners, the process is fully transparent, was not patented nor does it require proprietary equipment. The groundbreaking work at ESB offers a clear path to adoption around the world leading signification reductions in consumption of kilowatts and BTUs, with the accompanying reduction in green house gas emissions.”

This response has been edited for clarity.