How the U.S. Plans to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Its Buildings

As U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm was taking a tour of the Empire State Building to showcase a new energy efficiency initiative, she stopped for a photo op. Standing within clutching distance of King Kong’s giant fists in an exhibit, she called for help. Cameras flashed and she went on with her tour of the Empire State Building—where just minutes earlier, in the lobby, she spoke about the recent rollout of a federal blueprint to reduce the carbon footprint of America’s buildings. The Empire State Building has been one of the best examples of how older buildings can be made energy efficient—prompting the federal government to choose it as a model of success, and an ideal place to talk about their national decarbonization strategy.

“It’s not just one thing, it’s a series of things,” Granholm tells TIME. The Empire State Building replaced its windows to make sure they don’t leak heat in the winter or cool air in the summer; that helps save money on energy use. So does having energy efficient boilers and storing energy created by the motion of elevators, she notes.

In April, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a federal plan to decarbonize America’s buildings, which it says accounts for more than a third of domestic climate pollution and $370 billion in annual energy costs. The Energy Department aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2050. The plan states that this 90% reduction could save consumers more than $100 billion in annual energy costs, in addition to $17 billion in annual health costs.

As part of the April 18 ceremony, Granholm toured the Empire State Building with Anthony E. Malkin, chairman and CEO of Empire State Realty Trust. They hopped on multiple elevators, as they explored the boiler room as well as the building’s flashier exhibits—including the King Kong one. She sat next to bronze sculptures of construction workers amid sounds of machinery and walked through an immersive 72-screen 180-degree surround-sound theater featuring hundreds of iconic scenes from American pop cultures filmed at the Empire State Building. (Everything from superhero movies to romantic comedies.)

The Energy Department is particularly focused on reducing costs for everyday citizens and those in poorer communities, Granholm says. One in five Americans lives in a household that is at least one month behind on its energy bills, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey. While energy-efficient equipment can be relatively costly to set up, it helps save money in the long-term, she adds. The federal blueprint emphasizes affordability through reduced energy costs, in addition to measures that make these communities more resilient to power outages and extreme weather events.

Asked about the role of AI in generating clean energy, Granholm responds cautiously—noting “there’s a good and a bad” side. AI can help buildings be more energy efficient but it can also require a large amount of power to operate, she says.

Before the tour, next to a mock replica of the Empire State Building, Granholm also announced that the Energy Department approved New York’s funding application for the Inflation Reduction Act’s rebate program to help families save money on energy-efficient electric appliances. New York is the first state to have its funding approved and received an initial $168 million and so far 20 states have applied for their program funding; 6 states have had applications approved and funding received. “We want this to be the summer of rebates, not just in New York, but in other places around the country,” Granholm says.

Granholm is keen to get funding to states for rebates because once it’s approved, states will control the rebate programs. “If you roll them back, you’re only hurting the citizens,” she says, when asked whether a future presidential administration could undo progress. “From a political point of view, it would be sort of political malpractice to take away something that citizens have come to find to be entitled to.”