By Joshua Burd
A local team is touting its role in helping to bring renewable energy to a series of properties held by the owner of the Empire State Building.
The energy advisory firm, known as 5, announced recently that it worked with Empire State Realty Trust Inc. to purchase wind electricity for its entire 10.1 million-square-foot commercial portfolio. The property owner did so through a newly signed, three-year contract with Green Mountain Energy, making it the nation’s largest 100 percent user of green power in real estate.
Based in Irving, Texas, 5 has a local presence in northern New Jersey.
“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,” said Dana Robbins Schneider, senior vice president and director of energy, sustainability and ESG at Empire State Realty Trust. “We have purchased renewable power from Green Mountain Energy for the World’s Most Famous Building, the Empire State Building, for a decade. We now expand that to all properties in New York State with an additional Direct Energy contract for our Connecticut properties.
“We continue to advance our commitment to solutions that reduce our environmental impact. Our tenants now work in carbon-neutral offices and the investment community can recognize our leadership.”
In a news release, ESRT said its new three-year expansion will result in the purchase of more than 300 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy and avoid the production of 450 million pounds of carbon dioxide. Comparable equivalent measures would require every New York State household to turn off all their lights for a month, the removal of all New York City taxis for one year or the addition of two Central Parks to New York City.
“At Green Mountain, we’re encouraged by the sustained and vocal advocacy from Empire State Realty Trust that continues to lead New York’s transition to renewable energy,” said Mark Parsons, vice president and general manager of Green Mountain Energy. “As the longest-serving competitive green energy provider, our mission is to use the power of consumer choice to change the way power is made, and we are committed to helping New Yorkers reduce their carbon footprint.”
Green Mountain Energy secured the electricity contract after a bid process that involved multiple electricity providers and was facilitated by 5, which serves clients throughout North America, the news release said. The advisory firm worked with Green Mountain to create a custom rate structure for ESRT’s New York properties that leveraged favorable market conditions for both energy and capacity, and which is expected to result in more than $800,000 in savings to ESRT for the first year of the contract.
“We were excited to advise ESRT on the electricity procurement strategy for the Empire State Building,” said Taylor Duncan, vice president of 5. “As our team continued to help ESRT, we were able to expand our impact to include powering the entire ESRT portfolio throughout New York and Connecticut with renewable wind electricity.”
ESRT’s Empire State Building was one of the first to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its use of green power as an effective way to reduce the environmental impacts of electricity consumption, the company said. The iconic tower also underwent a groundbreaking energy and efficiency retrofit, which began more than 10 years ago as part of the $550 million Empire State ReBuilding restoration program and has already delivered a 40 percent reduction in energy use and emissions.
“We are happy to serve as a groundbreaker in sustainability,” Robbins Schneider said.
