"We're using the world's most famous office building as our pilot project," said Raymond Quartararo, international director at Jones Lang LaSalle, which is managing the project. "The real message is that this need not be confined to the Empire State Building," added Quartararo during Monday's press conference at 350 Fifth's 80th-floor observatory. "This can be done in thousands of buildings around the world." Added Mayor Michael Bloomberg, "They're showing the rest of the city that existing buildings, no matter how tall they are, no matter how old they are, can take steps to significantly reduce their energy consumption."

Spearheaded by the Empire State Building Co., which owns the property, the project is claimed to be the first integrated program that models the steps for reducing energy consumption and projecting cost savings, and also makes details of the process available to other landlords. A website describing the project in-depth is now live at www.esbsustainability.com. JLL's partners on the project include the Clinton Climate Initiative, the Rocky Mountain Institute and Johnson Controls.

Quartararo tells GlobeSt.com that the green retrofit, in the works since early 2008, was integrated into an already-planned $500-million capital improvement program at 350 Fifth. "We stopped the capital program in its tracks and re-evaluated every step," he says. The building's owners, including Anthony Malkin of Empire State Building Co., gave JLL and its partners a mandate to "think outside the box" and go beyond easy solutions.