HIGH PERFORMANCE CASE STUDIES: 300-level
SESSION 33
DATE // START TIME // ROOM NUMBER:
Thursday, September 30, 2010 – 11:00am – Metro 4A
ABSTRACT:
This mixed-income case study of the Tapestry Building in New York City illustrates how high-performance building envelope design and energy efficiency contribute to improved quality of life in the built environment.
MODERATOR:
William Jose Higgins, Director of Green and Sustainable BuildingsTeam, EME Group
SPEAKERS:
Paul Freitag, Managing Director, Development, Jonathan Rose Companies
David Newman, Sustainability Specialist, EME Group
Herbert Mandel, Managing Partner, MHG Architects
Daniel Abatemarco, Acoustics Specialist, AKF Consulting Engineers
DESCRIPTION:
The Tapestry Building is a new 12-story, 185-unit mixed-income green residential development near the foot of the Triborough Bridge. The 50/30/20 residential development is made up of market rate, middle income and low-income apartments. The project, designed to Enterprise Green Communities criteria, is on target to earn a LEED-NC v2.2 Gold Rating and is participating in the NYSERDA Multifamily Performance Program.
Reducing energy usage alone does not fuel the pursuit of a high-performance building envelope. An additional impetus is sound control of the busy inner city noises as desired by the project developers and New York City Zoning Regulations, which require a Sound Control Coefficient (STC) rating of the building façade. Energy efficiency and sound control are both increased by moving from an air-cooled, hydronic PTAC system to water source heat pumps, a mix of double- and triple-glazed high-performance windows, and higher-insulated and tighter exterior walls.
The water source heat pumps reduce the number of exterior wall penetrations in comparison to a typical PTAC system that would penetrate the wall at each air-cooled unit; this assists in saving energy through a more continuous exterior wall and a more efficient HVAC system, and also reduces sound transference.
Double- and triple-glazed high-performance windows reduce the heat and sound transference while allowing for natural light, mitigating the conflict between the desire for abundant natural light and the need for sound control and energy efficiency












