Empire Efficiency

Posted by Energy Wire on March 9, 2010 at 2:15 PM

Early in my career I spent a few years hanging out on the high reaches (72nd floor) of the Empire State Building, working for a small B2B agency.
Besides the spectacular view north to the then Pan Am building (now MetLife), I recall the paint-encrusted, creaky steel windows that actually opened, if only a crack.

Well, now those windows are headed for the recycling bin. According to a post at Triplepundit (http://bit.ly/9tJRHX), the landmark building, finished during the depths of the Great Depression, is about to undergo a significant energy efficiency retrofit, including thin-film, inert-gas-filled windows, new lighting, and a new HVAC system.

Triplepundit reports that the retrofit team (Rocky Mountain Institute, Jones Lang LaSalle, Clinton Climate Initiative, and Johnson Controls) estimates a remarkable 38% reduction in energy consumption. Not bad for 79-year-old Art Deco spire.

Once the world's tallest building, today the Empire State Building ranks as the __ tallest in the world today. (Make your guess in the comments section.)