NEW YORK CITY-The Empire State Building, in the midst of an 80th birthday celebration, has achieved LEED Gold for Existing Buildings. This comes on the heels of the $550 million Empire State ReBuilding program. The achievement makes the iconic building the tallest in the US to get LEED certification from the US Green Building Council.

Anthony Malkin, of the Empire State Building Co., announced the designation along with Rick Fedrizzi, the president, CEO and founding chair of the USGBC and Dana Robbins Schneider, VP at Jones Lang LaSalle and program manager of the retrofit, LEED feasibility and application process.

Johnson Controls conducted a retrofit at the building that is anticipated to save roughly $4.4 million in energy costs annually. That retrofit, which is estimated to pay for itself in three years’ time, will reduce the Empire State Building’s energy consumption by 38%.