GENEVA (AP) - The United Nations is taking steps to renovate its European headquarters, which is saddled with old wires, energy-leaking windows and 40 kilometers (25 miles) of rusting pipes, officials said Friday.

The renovation will leave the 80-year-old Palais des Nations (Palace of Nations) looking inside and out much as it did when it was handed over to the U.N.’s predecessor, the League of Nations, in the 1930s, American architect Michael Adlerstein said.

Adlerstein, who is leading renovation work already under way on the U.N. headquarters in New York, said he hopes to complete an initial study in Geneva this year. That will be followed by a more detailed study to determine what needs to be replaced and what can be left alone.

It is already clear that much of the building’s internal systems will need to be replaced, said Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the U.N.’s top official in Geneva.

"Most of electrical installations, wiring, pipes, sanitation, and windows in the old building have passed their life span," he said. "Many of the materials used are not durable and are disintegrating."

Replacing 1,680 windows alone will cost $18 million, according to a U.N. estimate.

"Around 100 kilometers (60 miles) of electric cabling in the old building need to be replaced to conform to modern standards," the estimate said. "The concrete has cracked in a large number of places."

There is danger of concrete breaking off from the roof and falling, it said. Some meeting rooms are dilapidated.

It said the complex has 200 kilometers (120 miles) of pipes, at least 40 kilometers of which are rusting and need to be replaced.

"The rust increases the risk of leaks and subsequent flooding," the estimate said, noting that the U.N. library in Geneva had been flooded three times from leaks since 2003, damaging books and records.

The sprawling Palais has 157,348 square meters (38 acres) of floor space set in a park of 46.6 hectares (111 acres). It has 34 conference rooms used for meetings of human rights, disarmament and other bodies, and more than 4,000 employees working in 2,800 offices.