EMPORIS' SKYLINE RANKING METHODOLOGY IS SEVERELY FLAWED!

1. Floor count is a poor approximation of actual height. Residentials, for example, tend to have lower ceilings than office buildings.
   
2. Building cross-sectional areas are not taken into account. Massive structures such as the MetLife (Pan Am) Building are scored the same as thin buildings such as Langham Place Office Tower.
   
3. The point allocation scheme is discontinuous and arbitrary, thus exaggerating small differences.

Consider Hong Kong's skyline:

Skyscrapers ranked by roof height.
Skyscrapers ranked by floor count. (Emporis' approach)

When ranked by floor count, both the Sorrento (256.3 m) and Harborside (255.0 m) are taller than the Bank of China Tower (305 m). Tregunter Tower 3 (202.0 m) is taller than the Cheung Kong Center (283.0 m). With regards to the point allocation scheme, Emporis awards 300 points to the 73 story Highcliff (252.4 m) but only 100 points to the 59 story Langham Place Office Tower (255.1 m). Emporis consistently scores short residentials higher than tall office buildings.


Here's a diagram of Hong Kong and New York skyscrapers:

Skyscrapers ranked by roof height
Skyscrapers ranked by floor count. (Emporis' approach)

Emporis' discontinuous point allocation scheme awards 300 points to the Trump Building (282.5 m) but only 200 points to the GE Building (259.1 m), simply because the latter misses the 70 floor cutoff by one floor. More egregiously, Emporis awards Manhattan's 3 Lincoln Center Condominiums (181.0 m) 200 points and Citigroup Center (278.9 m) 100 points even though the Citigroup tower is 54% taller!

Note how Emporis scores all those diminutive Hong Kong residentials higher than taller and more massive Manhattan office towers because the latter have fewer floors:

Highcliff, Hong Kong, 252.4 m, 73 floors: 300 points
Citigroup Center, New York, 278.9 m, 59 floors: 100 points

The Pinnacle, Hong Kong, 145.0 m, 50 floors: 400 points (4 towers x 100)
Condé Nast Building, New York, 246.6 m, 48 floors: 50 points

The four towers of The Pinnacle have a combined floor area of 95,656.8 m². Each floor is about 2.9 m high; hence, the towers have a combined volume of about 277,404.7 m³. The Condé Nast Building has a floor area of 149,000 m². Each floor is about 5.1 m high; hence, the building has a total volume of about 765,487.5 m³. The Condé Nast Building (satellite photo) is literally 2.8 times more voluminous than the combined towers of The Pinnacle (satellite photo), yet Emporis gives the latter eight times the number of points!* There are undoubtedly absurder examples than this one.

In summary, Emporis' skyline ranking methodology is severely flawed and grossly aggrandizes cities with many residential towers.

*This is 64 times the number of points per cubic meter!!!>