As editor of I enjoy a good story about a massive construction/renovation project, and this is a pretty good one. Window manufacturer Serious Materials Inc. is working with Johnson Controls Inc. on replacing all of the windows in New York's Empire State Building.
Serious Materials has put together a special Web site devoted to the project. One of the highlights -- the project will not create tons of waste that will head for landfills.
The project calls for reusing all of the existing glass, and creating super-insulating glass units in a dedicated processing space located on site, in the Empire State Building.
The existing glass of the building's 6,514 double-hung windows, more than 26,000 total panes of glass, will be removed from the window frames, separated, and cleaned. New super-insulating IGUs will be produced using the old glass panes, new spacers, suspended coated film, and special gas fill. These new IGUs then will be re-installed.
According to the companies, the new windows will increase the thermal performance of the building's windows by up to four times.
The window upgrade process is one of eight measures that are expected to reduce energy use by 38 percent, save $4.4 million per year in energy costs, and save 105,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 15 years.
While Serious Materials makes vinyl windows, the plastics angle here is less obvious. The new windows will feature a layer of suspended coated film, which the company said improves insulation without the weight and design limitations of triple-pane glass.