INTRODUCTION
ENVIRONMENTAL
CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
GOVERNANCE AND TRANSPARENT REPORTING
APPENDICES
Leadership in Innovation
Letter from Our Leaders
Company Profile
Awards and Achievements
Our Approach to Sustainability
Strategies and Components
Goals for Quantifiable Improvement
Integrated Building Performance
Industry Participation
Leadership in Innovation ESRT’s thought leadership explores new tactics and technologies in the real estate market to provide data for decisions and a blueprint for action. We routinely and methodically assess progress toward our objectives. We leverage a variety of technologies, automation platforms, and real-time data to gain a comprehensive understanding of consumption and performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and validate the impact of measures we implement.
ESRT’S EMPIRE BUILDING CHALLENGE PROJECTS FOCUS ON:
ESRT was an original participant in the NYSERDA Empire Building Challenge, which supports dialogue among real estate, engineering, and technology providers to identify and implement innovative solutions that reduce energy usage in high-rise buildings. ESRT was the first company to be awarded the newly updated NYSERDA Real Time Energy Management (RTEM+) incentive in 2022 to support the advanced management and reduction of tenant energy use through cutting-edge strategies and initiatives. In 2024, ESRT received incentives from Con Edison’s Clean Heat Statewide Heat Pump Program to advance the adoption of efficient electric heat pump systems within our buildings. We also partnered with NYSERDA to secure an incentive to support our groundbreaking geothermal study at the Empire State Building in 2025.
• Advanced building management system (BMS) upgrades and optimization • Energy recovery systems • Steam efficiency and reduction technologies • Partial electrification through water- and air-source heat pumps for heating and cooling and pilot heat pump systems for domestic hot water
Our portfolio is a dynamic living laboratory that enables us to explore and evaluate new and evolving technologies that will propel our industry forward. We manage risk in our portfolio through the implementation of physical and operational resilience techniques in each building, and we amplify and distribute that information in an open-source manner so that others can benefit from our experience.
Empire Building Playbook In April 2022, we published the Empire Building Playbook: An Owner’s Guide to Low Carbon Retrofits. Co-developed with NYSERDA, the innovative guide outlines the step-by-step process for existing commercial buildings to develop a pathway to energy reduction with positive financial returns. Based on insights and successes gained through real-life case studies of large, complex buildings, the resource is openly available online. In 2024, ESRT and NYSERDA expanded the Empire Building Playbook and launched The Retrofit Playbook for Large Buildings to demonstrate further the business case for energy efficiency at large commercial and multifamily buildings and to enhance scalability and educational tools so more owners can leverage our tools and lessons. To scale this model, we convened other leading multifamily owners in New York City along with a manufacturer’s consortium to partner on the necessary development and scale of technologies. As we advance our analysis and implementation of deep energy retrofits across the portfolio in 2025, we continue to partner with NYSERDA and Con Edison to advance the modernization and performance of our buildings and to share these lessons, technologies, and tools openly throughout New York City, New York State, and around the country.
These partnerships between technology innovators and the state’s real estate leaders will advance scalable decarbonization solutions
that reduce emissions from high-rise buildings while growing the clean energy economy.”
Doreen M. Harris NYSERDA President and CEO
12 EMPIRE STATE REALTY TRUST 2025 CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
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