The owners of the Empire State Building will buy 55 million kilowatt-hours of wind energy certificates annually, enough to cover the landmark tower’s yearly electricity needs, according to a New York Times report. The two-year deal with Green Mountain Energy, a renewable energy and carbon offset retailer recently acquired by NRG Energy, makes the 80-year-old building the biggest commercial purchaser of green power in New York State.
A year ago, the owners of the 102-story building began renovations that will cut energy use in the building by 38 percent by 2013, including a retrofit of its windows, improved insulation, and renovations to the cooling plant located in the basement. Anthony E. Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, which supervises the building, said the effort to make the building more green “gives us a competitive advantage in attracting the best credit tenants at the best rents.”
