When the owners of the Empire State Building in 2007 decided to move forward with a new capital improvement plan, they were looking for standard improvements to get the building to Class A commercial status. At the time they were looking at traditional, "common sense" improvements, such as bringing the 25% to 30% of the building lacking air conditioning some thermal control.
Meanwhile, the Clinton Climate Initiative, which had just launched its operations in New York, was looking for an iconic project to announce its retrofit division to the rest of the world.