Running fully on clean energy, New York’s iconic Empire State Building is what our sustainable, eco-friendly dreams are made of.
Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) – the company that owns the Empire State Building – has made a deal to renewably power the iconic building and the others in its portfolio.
Under a newly-signed contract with Green Mountain Energy, 100% of the building’s electricity (which comes out to around 55 million kWh) will all come from wind power. Yay!
The move has been lauded by proponents of green energy. Considering the size of ESRT’s portfolio (10.1 million-square-foot), the change is the emissions equivalent of removing every single taxi that operates in New York City, for an entire year.
Big businesses have an important role in promoting the clean energy transition. Kudos to ESRT! Their large commitment to buy renewable energy has signaled to investors that there’s $$ to be made in taking action on climate. And it’s market driven. #💯%wind https://t.co/5atB6AGedn
— Zaurie Zimmerman (@zauriezim) February 4, 2021
According to Electrk.com, buildings generate more than two-thirds of New York City’s carbon emissions. Considering this, ESRT’s decision to go 100% green energy is a massive step forward for renewables and sustainability efforts in the development sector.
“Local policies may ruffle some feathers, but if we are to achieve the lofty decarbonization goals, government intervention is a necessity.”@RMIBuildings comments on @EmpireStateBldg transitioning to clean energy, by @blkahn. https://t.co/nlzOrcinR9
— RMI Carbon-Free Buildings (@RMIBuildings) February 3, 2021
Dana Robbins Schneider, director of energy at ESRT, said of the decision: “ESRT is the leader in sustainable operations with a viable example of how to scale carbon-neutral technologies, strategies, and policies to balance with an effective economic business case.”
The Empire State Building and its sister buildings are now completely powered by wind energy. That’s more than 10M square feet of buildings going renewable 💨 pic.twitter.com/PSeUXJYNcT
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 4, 2021
The company that owns the Empire State Building just bought enough wind energy to keep the lights on in every New York State home for a month.
Scooplet about the biggest real estate company to run on 100% renewable energy:https://t.co/K0l4oN6Rt5
— Sarah Kaplan (@sarahkaplan48) February 3, 2021
