7 World Trade Center has been a fresh image representing new growth in downtown Manhattan. This 52-story tower is a model of simple form and functional representation, but moves beyond these precedents through contemporary building enhancements that have created a new model for life safety and sustainable design. It was the first building in New York City at the time to receive a U.S. Green Building Council Gold Certified rating. As one of the first buildings to be completed near the World Trade Center site after September 11, and as the building envelope consultants, Vidaris worked closely with architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to ensure that this building was not only sustainable, but safe. Vidaris monitored the blast mitigation for the glass and cable net wall testing. The curtainwall employs a low-iron glass with a reflective glass cladding and blue stainless steel trim, designed to reflect and transmit light which produced a highly variable façade. The highly luminous façade includes glass panels that overlap the building’s floor plates and a spandrel system that reflects light from behind the panels, creating light. The storefront or lobby utilized a blast mitigated cable net curtainwall system. Vidaris was also retained by Silverstein to provide Flood Mitigation Consulting Services at existing ground floor pedestrian and overhead doors, and basement level spaces. Our consulting services consist of: shop drawing review and coordination; anchorage details; mock-up reviews; inspections; design of cellar level strategies including floodproof doors and structural hardening and waterproofing of existing walls; and, peer review of flood mitigation strategies for the ConEd Substation.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography

World Trade Center (WTC) Tower 4 is part of the World Trade Center redevelopment project taking place in lower Manhattan. The building will consist of an estimated 56 floors of office space and five floors of retail and access to the PATH entrance. The building will be clad in a floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall. Vidaris assisted the client in evaluation of several innovative glass compositions to help achieve the architect’s elegant design. Vidaris played a key role in the design assist process that spanned many months working along side the client, architect, project engineers and the curtain wall vendor. Construction administration services provided by Vidaris include shop drawing review, witnessing of laboratory and field mock-ups and site/shop monitoring to ensure conformance with construction documents. Vidaris developed the overall green/LEED thrust for One World Trade Center; this direction was subsequently used for the three other Silverstein towers of the World Trade Center complex. For Tower 4, Vidaris performed a three-dimensional heat-flow analysis of the building envelope, in an area where the steel structure penetrates the glass enclosure. This analysis was intended to highlight means of reducing the potential for moisture condensation. Vidaris had an early involvement with the World Trade Center buildings. We provided green/sustainable consulting to the Beyer Blinder Belle team who developed the first master plan of the area, following the Port Authority plan for a dense construction plan that was eventually not followed. Adrian Tuluca was on the committee that provided commentary on the LMDC World Trade Center Sustainable Guidelines.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography

30 Park Place located in Tribeca, NYC is a limestone-clad and precast concrete creation from Robert A.M. Stern Architects that will be the tallest hospitality/residential building in lower Manhattan upon completion, as well as the tallest precast-clad building in the US. Once finished, the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building will stand at 926 feet tall and include 157 condos, as well as a 189-room Four Seasons Hotel.

Built in 1891, Carnegie Hall is both a national historic landmark and New York City landmark, and is one of America’s most prestigious concert halls. This building is one of the only remaining buildings in NYC constructed out of masonry without a steel frame. Vidaris provided both building envelope and sustainability consulting services, which included performing energy modeling and extensive green consulting in support of both environmental and LEED goals. Sustainable development was an important objective. The massive renovation created new spaces dedicated to music education on the existing upper floors of the building while also refurbishing backstage areas - including restoring all 450 existing windows - and creating a roof garden for nearly 50% of the roof. Other sustainability measures included selection of sustainably sourced materials with low VOC and measures for protection of indoor air quality. Energy conserving strategies focused on high-performance glazing (windows and skylights), high efficiency lighting, efficient fans and pumps and additional small chillers which run during times of low occupancy. Vidaris building envelope team inspected the entire building envelope and developed a comprehensive façade maintenance program for providing restoration repairs to the building’s masonry, terracotta, copper cornices and roof systems.

2 Waterline Square consists of two residential towers and a ground floor retail podium project at Riverside Center on the west side of Manhattan. The two towers are 37 and 24 story’s tall respectively. Vidaris’ scope of services includes exterior wall, roofing and waterproofing (above grade and foundation) consulting and construction administration monitoring services, which subsequently includes NYC DOB TR-1 special inspections for shop fabrication and job site inspections and TR-8 energy code compliance inspections for building envelope.

The 244 Greene Street project included the complete renovation of an existing eight story masonry building, approximately 100 years old, which was part of the NYU campus. The renovated facility will be used for faculty and administrative offices, meeting rooms and reception areas. There were limited changes to the building envelope- the brick walls remain intact, the windows and roof were partially replaced. The mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems were all updated. All interior finishes were replaced at Levels 1-8, with some finishes remaining at the cellar level. The design team included Marble Fairbanks Architect and Thomas Polise Consulting Engineer. Vidaris provided energy modeling, NYSERDA new construction and LEED services. The project achieved Gold certification within the LEED-NC v3 rating system. Modeling was done in accordance with the District Energy System option, allowing the project to take credit for campus plant cogeneration instead of being limited to energy efficiency measures within the building renovation. Vidaris modeled their campus plant which allowed an earning 17 EAc1 points. In addition to pursuing LEED certification, the building was designed in accordance with the NYU Design Standards and Guidelines, September 2009 edition. Sustainable features of the project include the following:

• Energy efficiency measures including improved wall and roof insulation, new windows, CO2 sensors, air-side economizer on AHU, and VSD on chilled water pumps in addition to the campus plant cogeneration. Overall, the project is expected to be 40.87% more efficient than a building designed to meet the minimum requirements of ASHRAE 90.1-2007.
• Efficient lighting design with, occupancy sensors and lighting power densities significantly lower than ASHRAE 90.1-2004. Design will also minimize light pollution.
• High SRI value roof membrane minimizing heat island effect
• Water use reductions for plumbing fixtures of 27%, compared to fixtures that meet the minimum federal requirements established in the Energy Policy Act of 1992.
• Over 96% of the existing structural elements (walls, floors and roof) have been preserved
• Recycling of 75.6% of the construction and demolition waste generated during the project
• Use of 10.0% by cost of materials containing recycled content including concrete, steel, insulation, acoustical ceiling tiles and gypsum wallboard
• Use of 10.1% by cost of regionally-manufactured materials (extracted and produced within 500 miles of the site)
• Outside air ventilation more than 30% above ASHRAE 62.1-2007 minimums.
• Implementation of an Indoor Air Quality Management Plan throughout construction and building flush-out
• Use of low-emitting adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings and flooring materials
• Composite wood which is free of urea-formaldehyde resin

  Photo Credit: archphoto

121 Seaport is a new, Class A office building. Unlike its neighbor 101 Seaport, the oval-shaped tower sits above a rectilinear base containing a three-story lobby and two stories of retail amenities totaling 50,000 sq. ft. The project also includes rooftop terraces, a fitness center, below-grade parking and waterfront access. It utilizes twice as much vision glass as typical office buildings, with a composition that is structural steel, concrete core, and 80% glass. Energy efficiency measures include:

• use of a rain reclamation system
• abundant natural daylight
• chilled beam mechanical system
• its streamlined shape reduces lateral loads and increases construction efficiency
• high plumbing fixtures throughout the building

  Photo Credit: CCAP

390 Madison is the first 21st-century institutional building in midtown and the first full-block development on Park Avenue in nearly 50 years. The 24-story building has been completely redesigned; it features a new exterior, higher ceilings and a new floor plan. Two full floors were removed and the height of the building increased by eight new floors while maintaining the same 900,000 square feet of floor area. By remassing the building, and pulling out 20% of the existing structure, eight outdoor terraces and column-free spaces were created. As both Building Envelope and Energy consultants, our integrated team worked together to achieve the architect’s and client’s vision of a comfortable, energy-efficient building. Vidaris also helped the project earn energy efficiency incentives for efficient chillers, low power lighting and controls, and low-flow faucets through NYSERDA. Finally, we performed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis for two atriums with large and tall glass areas to assess HVAC and envelope characteristics needed to reduce the risk of moisture condensation.

1 Hotel is a high performance building designed and built to reduce environmental impacts. The base building was designed in accordance with LEED for New Construction version 3.0 to attain a LEED Silver certification. The project was a renovation of an existing building at 1414 Avenue of the Americas and is now a nineteen floor hotel with approximately 118,500 sq. ft. of gross floor area. The building includes hotel guest rooms, dining space, amenities and back of house spaces. A window replacement with added insulation increased the efficiency of the envelope. With high expectations of sustainability, the project utilized regional reclaimed barn wood that was available due to storms in the region while also paying special attention to the VOCs in building materials. Energy efficient and sustainable features for the project include: the mechanical system was retrofitted from a PTAC system to a four pipe fan coil system; use of low flow water fixtures; additional insulation; High performance fenestration; Reclaimed & regional materials; Occupancy sensors; Key card system; and High efficiency HVAC system.