Burj Dubai now the tallest building in the world - unfortunately not a huge green accompli
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California to Institute First U.S. Green Building Standard
U.S. Expected to Lead World in Electric Vehicle Production
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World’s First Energy Positive Office Building!- New Home Builders Institute training curriculum Gives Workers Skills to meet growing Green
World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Plant planned near Abu Dhabi
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit
Written by: Ambika at buildaroo.com
Well it turns out the Sears Tower, the third largest building in the world and the tallest building in the United States, is following the trend by undergoing a similar retrofit. Why? The plan is to reduce electricity usage by 80% over five years, and water usage by 40%, certainly no small reduction in consumption. Sources said the Empire State Building retrofit added $20 million to the value of the building and increased rental income. We can only imagine the added value to the Sears Tower. But, there are some environmental motives here too. As Architect Adrian Smith says, "It [the Sears Tower] is a village in and of itself and "has a huge impact on society."
Indeed, buildings are a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions; among the largest contributors in the world. The Sears Tower, nearly double the size of the Empire State Building, will be saving the equivalent energy of 150,000 barrels of oil after the retrofit according to officials. With its existing green features and the new retrofit, the Sears Tower aims to achieve LEED Platinum - the highest designation of sustainability attainable under the LEED rating system.
Of course, none of this can happen without some serious green building. Here are a few of the features that will be implemented:
- Wind turbines on the tower's rooftops.
- Various green roofs to reduce storm water runoff, improve insulation, and help mitigate urban heat island effects.
- Solar panels.
- Replacement and glazing of the 16,000 single-pane windows.
- Upgrades to the boilers, equipping them with fuel cells that generate electricity, heat, and cooling.
- Upgrades to the tower's 104 elevators and 15 escalators, to cut electricity by 40%.
- Upgrades to restroom fixtures and water management systems, to conserve 24 million gallons of water.
- Installation of auto-dimming lighting that is based on the available natural light.
We at buildaroo love that some of the most impressive structures in the world are going green. But, we can't help but wonder, where does all the money come from? Current reports say that the Sears Tower retrofit is still exploring funding options, both private and public. For a project that is slated to begin the bulk of its building next spring, it seems a little late to be exploring the funding options. Furthermore, we expect quite a bit of energy to be expended on the remodel itself and more than just a few components that will need to be recycled after they've been replaced. But, the 4,000 jobs that will be created in the process are certainly welcome in our current economy.
The Sears Tower will be renamed the Willis Tower at the end of this summer, and when the retrofit is complete will be home to a public education center for redesign. What do you think about this retrofitting trend? Be sure to let us know in the comments!
Recommended for Further Reading:
- Burj Dubai now the tallest building in the world - unfortunately not a huge green accompli
- Serious Materials Performs Innovative Window Energy Retrofit of entire Empire State Buildi
- Affordable Green Housing Gets Boost from Billion Dollar Funds
- China's New Eco-tower Expected to be World's most Energy-Efficient Tower; Aims to be Net-Z
- Miapolis "Super Tower" could be the World's Tallest LEED Eco-Building
- Mc-Graw Hill Building is Largest LEED-EB Building in New York
- IBM's Aquasar Liquid Cooled Computer Heats Buildings
- California to Institute First U.S. Green Building Standard
- U.S. Expected to Lead World in Electric Vehicle Production
- California’s Green Building Portfolio Continues to Grow with 25 LEED State Office Building
- USGBC Lauds Brad Pitt-Led Green Katrina-Rebuilding Effort: 13 LEED Platinum Homes Already
- Autodesk Revit BIM Design Software: Sustainable, Energy-Efficient, Collaborative Design wi
- World’s First Energy Positive Office Building!
- New Home Builders Institute training curriculum Gives Workers Skills to meet growing Green
- World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Plant planned near Abu Dhabi
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://t.co/2ZvuMpqa #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://t.co/2ZvuMpqa #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Chicago's Sears Tower to undergo monumental retrofit and save equiv. of 150,000 barrels of oil: http://t.co/RiyQFDom #retrofit #green
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://t.co/2ZvuMpqa #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
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Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://t.co/2ZvzjZzk #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://t.co/2ZvzjZzk #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://t.co/2ZvzjZzk #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://bit.ly/cW4cUd #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://bit.ly/cW4cUd #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit http://bit.ly/cW4cUd #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
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You bring up a good point about the windows! There are actually a few products that people can use to upgrade the performance of existing windows and it really makes a lot of sense for the architects to consider using one of them rather than just throwing out the old ones.
One option is to use an insulating window panel such as the one manufactured by a company called Advanced Energy Panels. It's installed inside the frame of the old window, and insulates up to R-3. It's basically invisible and easy to maintain.
A second option is to use a insulated blind product such as sailshade so that when it is cold outside or the sun is bright, you can lower the blinds either partially or fully and block out the cold/heat. Sailshade contains multiple layers of insulating material and claims to insulate up to R-7.
Lutron created automated shade control systems that would enable the shades to raise and lower automatically based on a centralized computer system.
Any or all of these options would be a much better option (and MUCH cheaper) than replacing so many thousands of windows, and they should be able to find good things to do with the money that they save. (perhaps they just shouldn't spend it at all, which might make it easier for them to fund the project.)
Also think of all the construction waste that is going to result from all those removed old windows! Even if the old windows are recycled, it is a waste of resources to recycle rather than figure out how to continue using what they already have. If the old windows are still working, it's a much better option to figure out how to retrofit the old windows rather than putting in all new ones.
[...] Neat Link · Tagged Chicago, LEED, Sears Tower As you know, I love Chicago, so thanks to Buildaroo.com for detailing plans to retrofit the Sears Tower to be more [...]
[...] Furthermore, we wait quite a taste of forcefulness to be exhausted on the change itself and more than meet a some components that module requirement to be recycled after they’v e been replaced. … The Sears Tower module be renamed the Willis Tower at the modify of this summer, and when the retrofit is rank module be bag to a open activity edifice for redesign…. Read more from the example source: Another Skyscraper Goes Green with $350 Million Retrofit [...]
Seems like a good idea but changing all that glass seems excessive. Can't they just coat it with something?
Just like expensive cars, though, where the expensive gadgets eventually filter down to the more mass produced models, this too might kick-start the process of cheaper solar panels etc.
Saving energy and going green might have more impact than what anyone can possibly imagine. I've thought for quite a while now that the green economy will be likened to the industrial revaluation. It will touch on everything we know (houses, cars, everything) and bring use new technology that uses less energy and take us out of this dark age of fossil fuels and oil dependency that we've grown so used to.
Time to move on I people, there are better ways of doing things;-)
Seems like a good idea but changing all that glass seems excessive. Can't they just coat it with something?
Just like expensive cars, though, where the expensive gadgets eventually filter down to the more mass produced models, this too might kick-start the process of cheaper solar panels etc.
Saving energy and going green might have more impact than what anyone can possibly imagine. I've thought for quite a while now that the green economy will be likened to the industrial revaluation. It will touch on everything we know (houses, cars, everything) and bring use new technology that uses less energy and take us out of this dark age of fossil fuels and oil dependency that we've grown so used to.
Time to move on I people, there are better ways of doing things;-)
You bring up a good point about the windows! There are actually a few products that people can use to upgrade the performance of existing windows and it really makes a lot of sense for the architects to consider using one of them rather than just throwing out the old ones.
One option is to use an insulating window panel such as the one manufactured by a company called Advanced Energy Panels. It's installed inside the frame of the old window, and insulates up to R-3. It's basically invisible and easy to maintain.
A second option is to use a insulated blind product such as sailshade so that when it is cold outside or the sun is bright, you can lower the blinds either partially or fully and block out the cold/heat. Sailshade contains multiple layers of insulating material and claims to insulate up to R-7.
Lutron created automated shade control systems that would enable the shades to raise and lower automatically based on a centralized computer system.
Any or all of these options would be a much better option (and MUCH cheaper) than replacing so many thousands of windows, and they should be able to find good things to do with the money that they save. (perhaps they just shouldn't spend it at all, which might make it easier for them to fund the project.)
Also think of all the construction waste that is going to result from all those removed old windows! Even if the old windows are recycled, it is a waste of resources to recycle rather than figure out how to continue using what they already have. If the old windows are still working, it's a much better option to figure out how to retrofit the old windows rather than putting in all new ones.