As part of an overall
sustainability program,
Reckson Real Estate
has made capital
improvements to
retrofit several properties, including the
137,589-square-foot
1010 Washington Blvd.
and 181,800-square-
foot 1055 Washington
Blvd. (shown), both in
Stamford, CT.
to the cost to retire the debt service.
“Basically, the energy savings pays for the
tax,” he sums up.
Another advantage of the PACE program is that building owners can have a
completed energy-retrofit project that is
paid for over multiple years and can be
transferred with the sale of the building.
“That was a big deal for commercial property owners,” White notes.
One of Johnson Controls’ largest energy-retrofit projects is the ongoing program at
the Empire State Building in New York City.
Back in 2009, the Clinton Climate Initiative;
Rocky Mountain Institute; Johnson
Controls; Jones Lang LaSalle; and the building owner, the Empire State Building Co.,
announced the launch of the program at
the storied tower. The $20-million first
phase was part of a $500-million overall to
the 2.85-million-square-foot building.
Johnson Controls was the design/build
contractor and energy-services company
for the project. The first phase was completed in the spring of this year and has
resulted in a 38% energy savings and an
estimated reduction of 105,000 metric tons
of carbon emissions over a 15-year period.
The program is projected to save Empire
State Building Co., headed by Anthony E.
Malkin, $4.4 million in annual energy costs.
White adds that the energy-load reductions
implemented also allowed the building
owner to shelve the need to add cooling
capacity.
Among the improvements at the building was the refurbishing of approximately
6,500 windows with new components that
will substantially reduce summer cooling
load and winter heat loss; the addition of
insulation behind radiators to reduce winter heat loss and summer heat gain; and the
upgrade of tenant and common-area lighting with controls and sensors to lower electricity costs and cooling loads. Other
upgrades included the installation of what
Johnson Controls describes as “one of the
world’s largest digitally controlled wireless
networks” that enable 24/7 monitoring
and control of every steam valve, pump,
louver, fan and other elements of the building’s HVAC system; and the integration of a
new building management system to monitor and optimize HVAC, lighting and other
building systems.
Federal initiatives are also helping the
drive toward greater efficiency. In April,
Reckson Real Estate, a division of SL Green
Realty Corp., became the latest real estate
concern to sign a Memorandum of
Understanding with the US Environmental
Protection Agency to improve energy and
water efficiencies at its properties. Reckson
owns 17 assets in Westchester County and
90 buildings in the overall New York metro
region.
Jay Black, director of architecture and
sustainability for Reckson, relates that the
company had been in discussions with the
EPA for about a year on the MOU and realized that many of the initiatives the agency
was suggesting were areas Reckson was either
already involved in or was looking into.
“We saw it as a natural fit,” Black says. “It
solidifies our commitment to developing
energy efficiency and healthier work envi-
ronments. We’re trying to incorporate sus-
tainability as part of our business strategy.”
Reckson began its sustainability program
in February 2007 through expanded con-
struction recycling efforts. It then engaged
in enhanced recycling efforts and, later,
energy-efficiency initiatives. Phase One of
its program involved working with Alliance
Energy Solutions on a $1.4-million lighting
retrofit program that addressed core/com-
mon and garage areas portfolio-wide.
Thanks to incentives from state and utility
agencies, the initiative will have a 1.3-year
payback. Other efforts include having its
portfolio achieve energy benchmarking for
the EPA Energy Star program by June 2011
and the installation of a photovoltaic sys-
tem at its 500 West Putnam Ave. office
building in Greenwich, CT.
Reprint orders: www.remreprints.com
