NYPA also partnered with the Office of General Services to replace nearly 1,700 lights in the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building in the heart of Harlem with energy-efficient LED lighting fixtures. The lighting improvement projects directly support BuildSmart 2025, a statewide energy efficiency program administered by NYPA, aimed at reducing energy usage in state facilities by 11 trillion British Thermal Units by the end of 2025—the equivalent of removing nearly 500,000 cars from the road.
“As one of the nation’s most iconic buildings, One World Trade Center is a landmark in lower Manhattan and must be a part of New York’s energy efficient future,” Hochul said. “By supporting lighting improvements in this world-renowned building, we will help reduce its carbon footprint, lower operating and maintenance costs, and ensure state-of-the-art energy efficiency at One World Trade Center for decades to come.”
At One World Trade Center, which opened in 2014, more than 6,500 fluorescent light fixtures were replaced with state-of-the-art energy efficient LED lights as part of the nearly $3 million project, which will reduce the building’s annual carbon emissions by nearly 130 metric tons and save the Port Authority $64,000 each year in energy and maintenance costs.
The new lights were installed in the tower’s corridors, stairwells, hallways and mechanical equipment rooms and have a ten-year life span and use 60% less energy than the previous lights.
Power Authority support for the lighting project, which began in April 2022, stems from the Lower Manhattan Energy Independence Initiative, a $25 million fund established by New York State in 2006 to provide support to lower Manhattan with energy efficiency improvement projects in the area.
The nearly $1.7 million upgrade will save OGS nearly $20,000 in annual operation and maintenance costs and reduce carbon emissions by more than 30 metric tons annually—the emissions equivalent of burning more than 3,300 gallons of gasoline. The installation of the energy-efficient light fixtures began in September 2022.
The LED lighting installation at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Office Building is the latest energy efficiency project implemented by the Power Authority for OGS. Since December 2013, NYPA has completed 26 projects totaling more $75 million for the agency, reducing annual carbon emissions by nearly 12,000 metric tons—the equivalent of removing more than 2,600 gas-powered cars from the road. In total, the projects have saved OGS $4.5 million in annual energy and maintenance costs.
