Rising from up from the fossil fuel ghetto Chicago's Sears Tower gets a "Green" make over. The gives the Jefferson's saying "Movin' On Up" new meaning...
Image via the New York Times
Via TreeHugger
The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere is getting hooked up with a $350 million boost that will include wind turbines and extensive energy efficiency improvements. The Sears tower is on track to become the biggest, greenest building in the US.
The turbines are only the tip of the transformation. The plan, to begin immediately, aims to reduce electricity use in the tower by 80 percent over five years through upgrades in the glass exterior, internal lighting, heating, cooling and elevator systems — and its own green power generation.
And beyond the PR effects, the renovation itself will be massively environmentally beneficial. After all, the tower houses a whopping 4.5 million square feet of retail and office space and over 100 elevators. There's a lot of room for green improvement. And the work will pay off big time:
Buildings are among the world’s largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions. After the retrofit, energy savings at the Sears Tower, which is to be renamed the Willis Tower this summer, would be equal to 150,000 barrels of oil a year, officials said. The savings are expected to help redeem some of the project’s cost.
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