Green Options

Building to cut energy consumption by nearly 40% in three years

Officials at New York’s Empire State Building today unveiled a new process for analyzing and retrofitting existing structures for environmental sustainability. As central elements of the $500 million upgrade program presently underway at New York City’s tallest building, the program is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 38 percent, providing a replicable model for similar projects around the world.

The program is being spearheaded by former President Bill Clinton’s Clinton Climate Initiative, as well as the Rocky Mountain Institute, Johnson Controls Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle.

“In this distressed economic climate, there is a tremendous opportunity for cities and building owners to retrofit existing buildings to save money and save energy,” said Mr. Clinton today at the announcement. “I’m proud of the work my foundation’s climate initiative has done with 40 of the world’s largest cities, including New York.”

While both presidential hopefuls addressed the morning plenary at the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Thursday, only Senator Barack Obama couched his remarks in terms of the CGI theme: making specific commitments.

After announcing yesterday that he would be suspending his campaign to work on the ongoing economic crisis, many in the room at the morning plenary session of the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative on Thursday were surprised to hear Senator John McCain basically give a version of the stump speech he’s been giving over the last several months.

Gore said for the carbon lobby to be trying to convince their stockholders that renewable energy is risky business and that climate change is a hoax, they are purporting a type of stock fraud that should be addressed by attorneys general across the country.

At the opening session of the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative in New York, Bill Clinton announced a joint commitment from AREVA and Duke Energy to proceed with the development of several woody biomass power plants in the United States.