Video Interview: Serious Materials on the Empire State Building

Buildings consume over 50% of the energy in the US, and over 50% of building energy consumed by buildings is in heating and cooling.  Serious Materials, a company dedicated to building energy efficiency, is curbing unnecessary heating and cooling losses with their window technology while making offices more comfortable.  In this interview, Brandon Tinianov, the CTO of Serious Materials, speaks about a Serious Windows install on the iconic Empire State Building in New York.    The Empire State Building underwent eight major energy efficiency measures of which one is in windows upgrade, with a 24% positive energy impact and a payback period was of 4.1 years.  The install improved energy efficiency, but also reduced peak demand by 25%.  Instead of replacing the windows with new glass, Serious Materials used the existing frame and glass and added a membrane between the panes to reduce air circulation and create better insulation.  In this retrofit, Serious Materials was able to triple the window performance while using the existing 425 tons of glass and preventing them from hitting the landfill.  Over 75% of buildings standing today will still be standing in 2050.  Thus, providing retrofit solutions such as those by Serious Materials to increase energy efficiency is an important part of the green building evolution.

http://vimeo.com/21033889

Connie Kwan is a GreenTech Marketing professional based in Silicon Valley, CA.  She is pursuing an MBA in Sustainability at Presidio Graduate School and blogs about sustainability and business at Sustainable Thinking: Applied. Follow her on Twitter @ConnieMKwan.