Located next door to Grand Central Terminal, this 67-story, Class-A office tower will be an iconic addition to midtown Manhattan. Set to open in 2021, this terra cotta and glass tower will be over 1500 feet tall and is designed to have 4 tapering blocks that interlock and end at different heights. The tower also features a retail podium at its base. Vidaris is providing both building envelope and sustainability services, including CFD modeling of the atriums and energy code progress inspections. The sustainability team is coordinating for a WELL Core & Shell Gold rating in addition to both LEED v3 Platinum and LEED v4 Gold certifications. Commissioning is being performed by LPI, an affiliate company of Vidaris.

This new luxury condominium tower in Chelsea holds 44 residences and features three penthouses, a double-height lobby. Vidaris provided consulting for the facade as well as the roof, design assist, witnessed the mock-up testing, and performed both shop and site inspections. The code advisory team reviewed documents regarding lot line windows, and the energy team provided energy code compliance calculations, including THERM modeling and CFD Analysis.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography

The House at Cornell Tech is a 26-story tower with 350 residences for students, staff and faculty. It includes many amenities including a gym, lounge, roof deck and media rooms. The project is the world’s tallest and largest Passive House building, using up to 70% less energy than a conventional high-rise with its 9-by-36-foot metal panels with 8 to 13 inches of insulation. Working closely with the entire team, Vidaris helped to develop details to satisfy Passive House requirements while managing the constructability, construction sequencing and budget. Vidaris also assisted with translating and incorporating European requirements into project documents, including specifications and architectural drawings; these documents helped to ensure details, like air barriers and insulation, met requirements. Because Passive House has conceptual standards that are catered to 1-2 story buildings, Vidaris helped drive the discussion to develop compromises and decisions, which satisfied all parties, that allowed the adaptation to high rise construction where sequencing and constructability are important factors.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography

The Pacific Design Center’s Red Building is the final building in the triad of towers designed by Cesar Pelli. Its design is comprised of two curved and sloping towers, the west tower at 5 floors and the east tower at 8, that connect by a common lobby. Above the general lobby sits the “Palm Court” terrace which is the slice between each tower, connecting each of the two double-height lobbies that correspond to each tower. 400,000 square feet of office space sits on top of 7 levels of parking. Each floor offers column-free, continuous-windowed spaces The Red Building is clad in transparent and fritted glass, held to its frames by silicone. Vidaris provided consulting throughout design development, contract document, bidding, performance and visual mockup, and shop drawing review phases, as well as monitored the site during its construction.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography

15 Hudson Yards will be the first residential tower to top out at Hudson Yards and will be integrated with The Shed at its base. It will have approximately 385 units in total between rental apartments and condominiums. Vidaris is providing a full scope of services across its building envelope and energy/sustainability divisions, offering consulting, shop and site inspections, energy code compliance and LEED consulting.

Vidaris collaborated closely with Renzo Piano Workshop, Cooper Robertson, and JBB to impart sustainable features to this remarkable museum. Vidaris performed LEED/Green consulting as well as Energy /CFD consulting for: LEED, Local Law 86, Energy Code compliance, NYSERDA incentives, and to forecast the effect on energy cost of alternative scheduling for opening to the public. Vidaris also performed Enhanced Commissioning, complementing JBB’s work on Fundamental Commissioning. The building is projected to use 25% less than code in regulated energy (exclusive of vertical transportation, plug loads and kitchen), and 24% lower overall energy use, that includes all energy uses. To meet the city’s high performance energy metric and to save energy, the building features highly insulated facades, clad in pale steel panels, and triple-pane glazing, efficient LED lighting, CO2 sensors with outdoor air modulation, airside and waterside economizer, high efficiency chillers and boilers, and a 75kW cogeneration engine. Captured storm water feeds the irrigation system and the cooling tower. In insulating the building’s billowing façade, Vidaris performed extensive CFD analyses to protect against moisture condensation within concealed cavities. Ultra-low emitting materials, enhanced outdoor air filtration and a building flush-out prior to occupancy insures both the occupants and artworks are protected from contaminants. Vidaris’ consulting was co-funded by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography

Constructed in 1929, the museum underwent building-wide renovations to provide better facilities for the artwork, enhance visitor experience, and reduce environmental impact. The museum has gallery spaces, classrooms, and a shop. The renovations occurred over three phases, so the museum could remain open throughout construction. Indoor air quality was of special concern, both during construction and after. In addition to low-VOC materials, the project has increased outside air delivery, and improved filtration with MERV 13 filters. Testing confirmed the achievement of these goals. Water use reduction was another area of focus. Vidaris professionals also worked with the design team to increase energy efficiency. The building achieved 15% savings over ASHRAE 90.1-2004. Significant aspects include

• Efficient lighting
• Modulation of outside air based on occupancy, with enthalpy economizers
• Efficient, VSD chillers with waterside economizer

This innovative exposed concrete-framed residential tower by Rafael Vinoly Architects, rising 1,397 feet tall, was the tallest building in New York City to roofline upon its completion. The 128 residences feature large glazed windows (10’ by 10’) and 12-foot ceilings. The base of the building has a three-story glass atrium retail component. As the exterior wall consultant, Vidaris assisted in delineating performance criteria for the large-sized windows, developing the details and technical criteria for weatherproofing them, and then monitoring the fabrication and on-site erection. Additionally, Vidaris performed building energy modeling, thermal analysis, sustainable design assist, specifications, as well as LEED monitoring during construction. LPI, an affiliate of Vidaris, performed LEED Fundamental and Enhanced Commissioning. The post-occupancy engagement process of the enhanced commissioning is in progress. To enable the client receives financial incentives from NYSERDA, LPI is also performing focused review and testing of select energy efficiency measures.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography

This new one-million square foot tower is built at the old Filene’s site in Downtown Boston and includes residential space as well as space for retail, a sports club, and parking. Its foundation was the largest single concrete pour in the history of Boston. Vidaris, as the building envelope and energy efficiency consultant for the project, worked with the design team and client to rationalize the performance and design intent in the context of an advanced, highly energy efficient and sustainable enclosure system, which happens to be a unitized curtain wall system. This included balancing a program for unitized construction that was consistent with an accelerated construction schedule. We provided consulting to meet LEED requirements, and with our registered NSTAR vendor status, we guided Millennium Tower through their participation in the NSTAR program. Millennium Tower is also subject to the Massachusetts Stretch Code, which requires energy performance 20% better than ASHRAE 90.1-2007, Appendix G.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography

The building is the first to rise on Columbia’s new 17-acre Manhattanville campus. The 9-story, 450,000 square-foot structure is designed to maximize creative collaboration among scientists. It includes connecting stairways and common spaces that link individual researchers and lab groups into a coherent community. The ground floor of the Greene Science Center includes the Center for Education and Outreach, a public education center dedicated to brain science, offering a variety of programs on the brain, mental health, and neuroscience for K-12 students, teachers, and the general public. A street-level screening facility serves as a first stop for area residents with concerns about brain and mental health. The Science Center includes 175,988 square feet of building envelope, consisting primarily of transparent floor-to-ceiling glass. The facade program incorporates six wall types, including high-performance structural facades, double-skin walls, metal and glass canopies, and vestibules.   Photo Credit: Pavel Bendov Photography