Bank of America Tower Seeks Platinum Certification
 

The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park in New York City.

Upon completion in 2008, The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park will be the country's greenest high-rise building, demonstrating the state of the art in energy efficiency, indoor air quality, sustainable materials, and environmentally-conscious construction, operations, and maintenance procedures. Designed by Cook + Fox Architects, LLP, the 55-story, 2.2 million sq. ft. tower is the first to strive for the Platinum LEED designation.

Like The New York Times Building, this project was developed as part corporate headquarters, part speculative office space. Initiated by The Durst Organization, which in 1996 built New York's first green tower, 4 Times Square, the building has become a joint venture with the Bank of America, anchoring its New York City operations, including global corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management, and consumer and commercial banking businesses. Initially planning to occupy 1.1 million sq. ft., the bank recently expanded to take another 500,000 sq. ft., or more than three-quarters of the building. The remaining space will be leased by The Durst Organization to other tenants.

Highlights of the building's many green features include the following. An air filtration system removes 95% of particulates, as well as ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Air vented back to the city will be cleaner than the intake, making the skyscraper effectively a giant air filter. In the interior environment, the office tower employs filtered under-floor displacement air ventilation for the comfort and control of individual workers and carbon dioxide monitors that automatically introduce more fresh air when necessary.

Emphasizing transparency, the design uses low-emissivity insulating glass in floor-to-ceiling windows that permit maximum daylight and optimum views. An advanced double-wall system in portions of the facade further conserves energy. Perimeter daylight dimming and LED lights reduce electric usage.

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Cook+Fox Architects LLP
Rendering republished by businessweek online
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06...s/source/3.htm

A 5.1-megawatt cogeneration plant will supply 70% of the building's energy with a clean natural-gas burning power plant. For climate control, it will rely on a ground- water heat exchanger that is the first of its type and will make ice with excess thermal energy from the power plant, supplementing the air conditioning system and reducing the peak demand loads on the city's electrical grid.

The building will save 10.3 million gallons of water annually through such devices as waterless urinals and low-flow fixtures. A gray water system will capture, store, and re-use 100% of rainwater and recycle waste water and planted roofs, reducing the urban heat island effect. Bottom line, the Bank of America Tower will reduce energy consumption by 50%, potable water consumption by 50%, and create net zero carbon dioxide emissions.


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Cook+Fox Architects LLP.........................................................Cook+Fox Architects LLP
Rendering republished by Site Selection Online………....................Rendering republished by Popular Science Online
http://www.siteselection.com/ssinsid.../sf040816a.jpg.................http://www.popsci.com/popsci/bown200...ing/index.html


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Awesome stuff.

"carbon dioxide monitors that automatically introduce more fresh air when necessary"

Damn, no more falling asleep in board meetings and blaming it on the poor oxygen concentration in the building. :)

why isnt their a dedicated construction thread for this building?

There is, but for people interested in green architecture, the regular thread would just bury the discussion of the green aspects. Then again, based on the traffic in this subforum this is bound to spark almost no discussion.

Here's the regular thread: clicky clicky here here

thanks!

Wow, those are thick floors! The suspended ceiling and access flooring are redundant. I know underfloor is more efficient for HVAC, but all (or apparently most) projects are all about economics. Remove that access flooring and the developer could get another floor in.

It's not worth it. If the point of the building is to be green/LEED certified, and you want a certain amount of space, you build a certain number of floors.

A developer will build a building to make money, not to make it green. Some developers perceive sustainability as a marketing tool which will help attract buyers. That 'certain amount of space' you mentioned is generally based on zoning regulations. A developer will milk the property for all it's worth.

it's not as big a difference as you might think. in this case i assume they're using the ceiling plenum for return air and the access floor for supply air. if the ceiling had supply air as well it would be even deeper than shown. judging from the renderings (which is one of the nicest i've seen to illustrate this subject!) there is 4" at most more in the floor/ceiling sandwich than a traditional office building.