Here comes the sun

It says something about the state of the discussion on climate change that the skeptics haven't spoken up this year. Usually it takes only a few days of cold, rainy weather — not an entire "summer" like this one in southern Germany — for them to start crowing and scoffing.

But even those who don't accept the idea of climate change are starting to sense a business opportunity. Americans are fascinated by the fact that a country with so little sun can be the world leader in solar energy and environmental technology — and they're starting to think that America ought to be able to do it bigger and better.

The last ten years have quietly seen the construction of giant wind farms in the American West. The U.S., in fact, overtook Germany last year to become the world's leading producer of wind power, without anyone noticing. This year, however, new projects in two major cities will literally have a higher profile.

The Empire State Building, built in 1931, is currently undergoing a $500 million renovation. In April, it was announced that $20 million more will be spent to make the building more energy-efficient. Adjustments will be made to the lighting, heating and cooling systems of the 102-story skyscraper, and a third layer of insulation added to its 6,500 windows. The measures are expected to pay for themselves in only three years, thanks to an energy savings of 38 percent.

It took only two months for America's "second city" to top its East Coast rival. The 110-story Sears Tower, built in 1973, is not only the tallest building in Chicago; it's the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. In a $350 million makeover, announced in June, the building's heating, lighting and cooling systems will be overhauled, and its 16,000 single-pane windows replaced; but a condensation recovery system will be added, along with solar panels, wind turbines and a rooftop garden to keep the building cool. The aim is to reduce the tower's energy usage by 80 percent.

The company that owns the Sears Tower (soon to be renamed the Willis Tower) also announced it will build a 50-story hotel next door with no energy footprint at all. "The hotel will draw net zero energy from the power grid," the architects claim. The new building is expected to be finished in five years.

Bureaucracy, logistics, detailed safety regulations and the necessity of inspections make environmental retrofitting a difficult process. But if the biggest buildings do it first, they can clear a path for others.

"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," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told The New York Times.

Former President Bill Clinton, whose office is in Manhattan, helped the Empire State project to get started through his Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI). The CCI is working with 40 of the world's largest cities to reduce the urban contribution to greenhouse gases.

"If we don't change our unsustainable practices and the amount of energy we consume, if we don't make our city more efficient, we're toast," says Anthony E. Malkin, whose company supervises the Empire State Building. "We won't be able to avoid the sort of changes that would spell a reduced quality of life."

Malkin's own quality of life will improve most: he'll be able to charge higher rents once the Empire State Building has been retrofitted. Money is a more powerful motivator than the environment, but green buildings appear to offer a win-win situation.