In 1931, the world's most iconic building opened it's doors. Standing over a quarter of a mile high in the heart of New York City's midtown skyline, the Empire State Building has long been a symbol of progress, triumph and American ingenuity. With recent aesthetic restorations completed in the lobby, hallways and other common areas, this world renowned New York resident has had another recent transformation of sorts. In an effort to bring 21st century sustainability practices to this eighty year old edifice, a collaboration of players - the Clinton Climate Initiative, Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI), Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), and Rocky Mountain Institute - converged to create millions of square feet of earth-friendly office spaces.

With over 2.8 million square feet of leasable office space in the Empire State Building, the task of 'greening' it was no easy feat. From over sixty vetted energy-saving ideas, eight were finally chosen. The results were astounding: over 38% energy savings for the building as a whole with annual cost reduction in the neighborhood of $4.4 million. As part of that energy savings package, the Empire State Building has developed the first LEED Platinum pre-built space in the city to serve as a model for all office spaces in the towering structure.

To make that pre-built space happen, the Empire State Building team turned to Herman Miller and its local dealer partner Benhar Office Interiors. Using a mix of the most sustainable products and services on the market, the final solution included:

• Convia, a Herman Miller company that acts as an electrical infrastructure used to monitor, measure and control HVAC, lighting and plug loads in any space
• Energy Manager, a Herman Miller product that can offer energy control and monitoring at the workstation level
• Herman Miller Greenguard certified products such as Ethospace, Intent and Geiger

The Convia technology has played a critical role in the energy management of the Empire State Building's pre-built tenant space. The building owners are looking for tenant participation to reduce energy consumption by 17 percent. Together, HVAC (30% - 35%), lighting (30% - 40%) and plug loads/office equipment (12% - 18%) account for nearly 93% of the total energy use within a building. Convia addresses all three of these areas with a simple and intelligent control and management platform. Within the prototype space, the Convia technology offers a whole building level of control, providing sustainable solutions for everything from the building infrastructure to the individual workstation, including new advancements in plug load control through Herman Miller's Energy Manager device.

Energy Manager, which is embedded in Herman Miller's Intent and Ethospace workstations in the space, is a device that senses occupancy and controls power in the open plan furniture to save energy and lower costs. When a person sits down to work, an occupancy sensor detects their presence and turns on the devices in the cluster plugged into those two circuits, known as 'plug loads' (e.g. task lights, printers, monitors or chargers). When the cluster is unoccupied, the devices automatically shut off. With plug load energy expected to rise by 70% over the next decade, Energy Manager provides an effective solution to control this energy. In addition, Energy Manager can help track real time occupancy data, potentially saving a corporation on real estate costs.

But not to worry fellow New Yorkers. There are no plans yet to shut off those famous, evincive lights adorning the buildings summit just yet!