Abstract

This paper compares the relative opportunities of retrofit vs. replacement strategies for the tens of million square feet of commercial office buildings that were built in Manhattan from the 1950s through 1970s, most of which were built with single-glazed curtain walls. Designed in an era when energy resources were cheap and plentiful, these first-generation glass buildings were optimized to the standards and ideals of their day. Times have changed and we are now acutely aware of the demands buildings place on precious resources like energy and water. For other reasons, many of these buildings are no longer desirable as Class A office space. This segment of the city’s building stock needs to be overhauled; the question is how best to approach the task.

Based on in-depth analysis of a representative early curtain wall building, this paper explores three main conclusions: 1) Maintain, with an intermediate stage of energy savings; 2) Retrofit, theoretically achieving 40% lower energy use; and 3) Replace, could a high-performance replacement building increase occupancy while actually reducing total energy use? And, what are the environmental burdens?

Acknowledgements

Primary authors for this report are William Browning, Alice Hartley, Travis Knop and Curtis B. Wayne. Special thanks to Brandon Specketer, Scott Corey, Catie Ryan, and Namita Kallianpurkar for production assistance; Integral Group for energy modeling; and Maurya McClintock for façade expertise. In addition, Terrapin Bright Green would like to thank the following experts, whose input helped make this possible. The opinions of and conclusions in this report are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NYSERDA or the participating.

• Serge Appel, COOKFOX Architects
• Rick Cook, COOKFOX Architects
• Todd Coulard, Trane
• Fiona Cousins, ARUP
• Michael Deane, Turner Construction
• Alberto DeGobbi, Permasteelisa Group
• Liz Dunn, Preservation Green Lab
• Wendy Fok, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Bob Fox, COOKFOX Architects
• Scott Frank, Jaros Baum & Bolles
• Patrice Frey, Preservation Green Lab
• Ashok Gupta, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Elizabeth Heider, Skanska
• Michael Hsueh, Integral Group
• Mark Huppert, Preservation Green Lab
• Barry Langer, Vornado
• Valentine Lehr, Lehr Consultants International
• Richard Leigh, Urban Green Council
• Ken Lewis, SOM
• Maurya McClintock, McClintock Façade Consulting
• Chris Mills, Plaza Construction
• Steve Mosto, Mosto Technologies, Inc.
• Dan Nall, Flack & Kurtz WSP
• John Rice, AKF Group
• Mead Rusert, UTC Climate/Controls/Security
• Cecil Scheib, Urban Green Council
• Bill Sisson, UTC Research
• Russell Unger, Urban Green Council
• John Weale, Integral Group
• Don Winston, The Durst Organization
• Richard Yancey, Green Light New York